Plamenko closes up Empower 2023 with Tom in Houston, TX. Tom shares how he and his team are combating the many issues of ASIC hosting, the importance of being community-oriented as a Bitcoin miner, and what he thinks the future of Proof of Work will look like.   Tom Merkle is the Founder and CEO of Hashbranch. Hashbranch is a marketplace for verified goods and services in the Bitcoin mining industry. They focus primarily on finding quality hosting companies, and help connect them with customers who are looking to deploy ASICs. With the amount of headaches surrounding hosting, it's clear why Hashbranch is vital to a healthier mining community.   SUPPORT On-Chain BTC Wallet: 38yjk4PN9fyXyzrz34m2G3Rs8FVaafZYXa Lightning Wallet Address: ghastlybeast15@walletofsatoshi.com   EPISODE LINKS Hashbranch Twitter: https://twitter.com/hashbranch Hashbranch Telegram: https://t.me/hashbranch_discussions Hashbranch Website: https://app.hashbranch.com   PODCAST LINKS Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Pi60eXnxVK7Y7olWpmzNo?si=f7e256ad7c584ddb Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stackin-sats/id1669828369 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/stackinsats/feed.xml Full Episode Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZVMR1eHq9HsuayGJ2epKxAkxZrFWY2Hg Episode Clips Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZVMR1eHq9HsJ5RgwH1bQ0tMopUm5rlpR   INQUIRIES Email: hello@fourspacemining.com Telegram: https://t.me/plamenko_4space Nostr: npub13qp4c97ww2u3877xnanmwwrwr5wtuxnu2wc5lca5tjgmqz5d5zyq5eeeqf   TIMESTAMPS (0:00) - Intro (3:44) - Tom’s Background and Hashbranch (7:51) - Hurdles of Hosting Operations (10:47) - Due Diligence of Hosting Providers (13:25) - Key Features of Hashbranch (19:03) - Scaling Your Mining Operation (24:10) - Being Community-Oriented as a Miner (28:01) - Combating Bitcoin FUD (33:33) - Bitcoin Mining Benefits Rural Communities (36:59) - Future of Proof of Work (42:28) - Outro & Last Words   WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS Website: https://fourspacemining.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/plamenkovasic/ Telegram: https://t.me/fourspacemarketplace Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/4SpaceMining/