103. Closed-Source is Retarded: Building Bitcoin Miners for Homes, Businesses, and Beyond
Wed Feb 04 2026
In this episode, eco & Tyler Stevens, CEO and founder of Exergy Heat, to dig into why open-source hardware and firmware are critical for the future of Bitcoin mining, especially for heat reuse in homes and businesses. We had a surprise visit from Skot and Joe Nakamoto dialing in from El Salvador, providing us with updates from the Plan B conference. We talk candidly about the constraints of closed, proprietary miners, shifting hardware trends (hydro-only, three‑phase, fewer 240V options), and how that undermines innovation, safety certification, and reliable product planning. We highlight the emerging open-source mining stack from the 256 Foundation, Mujina (firmware), open hash boards, control boards, and Hydra Pool, plus thriving communities (OSMU Discord, Hashrate Heatpunks, Jua Kali) that are lowering the barrier to actually build hardware with pick-and-place machines. We also cover real-world reference designs like a fully integrated sous vide heater driven by Miner power management and sensor feedback, the Heatpunk Summit bridging HVAC pros and mining devs, and Tether’s open-sourced MOS fleet platform. We close with mining-for-heat deployments (from buildings to towns), new pool dashboards, and how anyone can support decentralization by pointing hashrate to our donation-only Hydra Pool instance for the 256 Foundation.
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In this episode, eco & Tyler Stevens, CEO and founder of Exergy Heat, to dig into why open-source hardware and firmware are critical for the future of Bitcoin mining, especially for heat reuse in homes and businesses. We had a surprise visit from Skot and Joe Nakamoto dialing in from El Salvador, providing us with updates from the Plan B conference. We talk candidly about the constraints of closed, proprietary miners, shifting hardware trends (hydro-only, three‑phase, fewer 240V options), and how that undermines innovation, safety certification, and reliable product planning. We highlight the emerging open-source mining stack from the 256 Foundation, Mujina (firmware), open hash boards, control boards, and Hydra Pool, plus thriving communities (OSMU Discord, Hashrate Heatpunks, Jua Kali) that are lowering the barrier to actually build hardware with pick-and-place machines. We also cover real-world reference designs like a fully integrated sous vide heater driven by Miner power management and sensor feedback, the Heatpunk Summit bridging HVAC pros and mining devs, and Tether’s open-sourced MOS fleet platform. We close with mining-for-heat deployments (from buildings to towns), new pool dashboards, and how anyone can support decentralization by pointing hashrate to our donation-only Hydra Pool instance for the 256 Foundation.