[Plura-list] "Carbon neutral" Bitcoin operation founded by coal plant operator wasn't actually carbon neutral

Cory Doctorow doctorow at craphound.com
Fri Aug 9 08:46:48 EDT 2024 

Read today's issue online at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/09/terawulf/

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I'm at Defcon! TODAY (Aug 9), I'm emceeing the EFF Poker Tournament (noon, Horseshoe Poker Room), and speaking on the Bricked and Abandoned panel (5PM, track 1). TOMORROW (Aug 10), I'm giving a keynote called "Disenshittify or die! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, track 1).

https://defcon.org/html/defcon-32/dc-32-index.html

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Community voting for SXSW is live! If you wanna hear Rida Qadri and me talk about how gig workers can disenshittify their jobs with interoperability, vote for this one!

https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/150498

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Today's links

* "Carbon neutral" Bitcoin operation founded by coal plant operator wasn't actually carbon neutral: Score one for Hunterbrook Media.

* Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.

* This day in history: 2019, 2023

* Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.

* Recent appearances: Where I've been.

* Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.

* Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.

* Colophon: All the rest.

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🛀🏻 "Carbon neutral" Bitcoin operation founded by coal plant operator wasn't actually carbon neutral

Water is wet, and a Bitcoin thing turned out to be a scam. Why am I writing about a Bitcoin scam? Two reasons:

I. It's also a climate scam; and

II. The journalists who uncovered it have a unique business-model.

Here's the scam. Terawulf is a publicly traded company that purports to do "green" Bitcoin mining. Now, cryptocurrency mining is one of the most *gratuitously* climate-wrecking activities we have. Mining Bitcoin is an environmental crime on par with opening a brunch place that only serves Spotted Owl omelets.

Despite Terawulf's claim to be carbon-neutral, it is not. It plugs into the NY power grid and sucks up farcical quantities of energy produced from fossil fuel sources. The company doesn't buy even buy carbon credits (carbon credits are a scam, but buying carbon credits would at least make its crimes nonfraudulent):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/31/carbon-upsets/#big-tradeoff

Terawulf is a scam from top to bottom. Its NY state permit application promises not to pursue cryptocurrency mining, a thing it was actively trumpeting its plan to do even as it filed that application.

The company has its roots in the very dirtiest kinds of Bitcoin mining. Its top execs (including CEO Paul Prager) were involved with Beowulf Energy LLC, a company that convinced struggling coal plant operators to keep operating in order to fuel Bitcoin mining rigs. There's evidence that top execs at Terawulf, the "carbon neutral" Bitcoin mining op, are also running Beowulf, the *coal* Bitcoin mining op.

This is a very profitable scam. Prager owns a "small village" in Maryland, with more that 20 structures, including a private gas station for his Ferrari collection (he also has a five bedroom place on Fifth Ave). More than a third of Terawulf's earnings were funneled to Beowulf. Terawulf also leases its facilities from a company that Prager owns 99.9% of, and Terawulf has *showered * that company in its stock.

So here we are, a typical Bitcoin story: scammers lying like hell, wrecking the planet, and getting indecently rich. The guy's even spending his money like an asshole. So far, so normal.

But what's interesting about *this* story is where it came from: Hunterbrook Media, an investigative news outlet that's funded by a short seller - an investment firm that makes bets that companies' share prices are likely to decline. They stand to make a *ton* of money if the journalists they hire find fraud in the companies they investigate:

https://hntrbrk.com/terawulf/

It's an amazing source of class disunity among the investment class:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/08/money-talks/#bullshit-walks

As the icing on the cake, Prager and Terawulf are pivoting to AI training. Because of course they are.

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🛀🏻 Hey look at this

* The neverending griefing discussion https://www.raphkoster.com/2024/08/07/the-neverending-griefing-discussion/

* The Ghost and the Golem https://www.choiceofgames.com/ghost-and-the-golem/ (h/t Ben Rosenbaum)

* Warner Bros. Discovery Says Its TV Channels Are Worth $9 Billion Less https://www.indiewire.com/news/business/warner-bros-discovery-says-tv-channels-worth-9-billion-less-1235033624/ (h/t @jgriffaz_)

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🛀🏻 This day in history

#5yrsago Bernie Sanders killed it on Joe Rogan https://jacobin.com/2019/08/bernie-sanders-joe-rogan-experience-podcast/

#5yrsago Whatsapp, Slack, Skype and apps based on popular Electron framework vulnerable to backdoor attacks https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/08/skype-slack-other-electron-based-apps-can-be-easily-backdoored/

#5yrsago Billionaire who gave Jeffrey Epstein power of attorney in order to manage his finances says Epstein stole “vast sums of money” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/business/wexner-epstein.html

#5yrsago Baking bread from dormant, 4,500-year-old yeast extracted from Egyptian bread-making ceramics https://twitter.com/SeamusBlackley/status/1158264819503419392

#5yrsago Monsanto ran a psy-ops war-room to discredit journalists and spy on Neil Young https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/aug/07/monsanto-fusion-center-journalists-roundup-neil-young

#5yrsago Wisconsin commissioned an independent report on how to fix the Foxconn deal. Result: it can’t be done. https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/6/20747166/wisconsin-foxconn-deal-state-report-lcd-factory-innovation-centers

#5yrsago As New York State’s shareholder suit against Big Oil for climate denial proceeds, Exxonmobil caught intimidating witnesses https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09082019/exxon-climate-fraud-investigation-witness-pressure-investors-new-york-attorney-general/

#5yrsago After student arrested for carrying laser-pointers, Hong Kong protesters stage “stargazing” laser-protest https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-49280030

#5yrsago Warshipping: attack a target network by shipping a cellular-enabled wifi cracker to a company’s mail-room https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/06/warshipping-hackers-ship-exploits-mail-room/

#5yrsago Billions on the line as Facebook loses appeal over violating Illinois facial recognition law https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/8/20792326/facebook-facial-recognition-appeals-decision-damages-payment-court

#1yrago Private equity plunderers want to buy Simon & Schuster https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/08/vampire-capitalism/#kkr

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🛀🏻 Upcoming appearances

* EFF Charity Poker Tournament (Defcon, Las Vegas, Horseshoe Poker Room), Aug 9 12h
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/betting-your-digital-rights-eff-benefit-poker-tournament-def-con-32

* Bricked & Abandoned: How To Keep The IoT From Becoming An Internet of Trash (Defcon, Las Vegas, Track 1), Aug 9 17h
https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=54844

* Disenshittify or die! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification (Defcon, Las Vegas, Track 1), Aug 10 12h
https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=54861

* Launch for Madeline Ashby's *Glass Houses* at Chevalier's Books (LA), Aug 16
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-madeline-ashbys-glass-houses-tickets-965286486867

* Disenshittify or die! (Burning Man, Palenque Norte, 7&E), Aug 27, 13h

* Talking caterpillar Q&A (Burning Man, Liminal Labs, 830&C), Aug 28, 12h

* Albacon (Albany/remote), Sep 13-15
https://albacon.org/2024/

* TusCon (Tucson), Nov 8-10
https://tusconscificon.com/

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🛀🏻 Recent appearances

* Enzittification with Ed Zitron & Brian Merchant
https://omny.fm/shows/better-offline/enzittification-with-cory-doctorow-brian-merchant

* The Paradigm Shift
https://paradigm-shift-on-4zzz.pinecast.co/episode/dbf12eaf/tech-criticism-with-cory-doctorow

* How To Fix The Internet (EFF)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/podcast-episode-fighting-enshittification

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🛀🏻 Latest books

* The Bezzle: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (the-bezzle.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3062/Available_Feb_20th%3A_The_Bezzle_HB.html#/).

* "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies (https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/)

* "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245).

* "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. Signed copies at Dark Delicacies (US): and Forbidden Planet (UK): https://forbiddenplanet.com/385004-red-team-blues-signed-edition-hardcover/.

* "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com

* "Attack Surface": The third Little Brother novel, a standalone technothriller for adults. The *Washington Post* called it "a political cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance." Order signed, personalized copies from Dark Delicacies https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Available_Now%3A_Attack_Surface.html

* "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism": an anti-monopoly pamphlet analyzing the true harms of surveillance capitalism and proposing a solution. https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59?sk=f6cd10e54e20a07d4c6d0f3ac011af6b) (signed copies: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html)

* "Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583; personalized/signed copies here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html

* "Poesy the Monster Slayer" a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627. Get a personalized, signed copy here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2682/Corey_Doctorow%3A_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer_HB.html#/.

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🛀🏻 Upcoming books

* Picks and Shovels: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books, February 2025

* Unauthorized Bread: a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2025

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🛀🏻 Colophon

Today's top sources: DSHR (https://blog.dshr.org/).

Currently writing:

* Enshittification: a nonfiction book about platform decay. Today's progress: 766 words (35444 words total).

* A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING

* Picks and Shovels, a Martin Hench noir thriller about the heroic era of the PC. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS JAN 2025

* Vigilant, Little Brother short story about remote invigilation. FORTHCOMING ON TOR.COM

* Spill, a Little Brother short story about pipeline protests. FORTHCOMING ON TOR.COM

Latest podcast:
  AI's productivity theater https://craphound.com/news/2024/08/04/ais-productivity-theater/

This work - excluding any serialized fiction - is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution.

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"*When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla*" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla
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