Bitcoin Mining, Policy, and Power: Infrastructure Is the Real Battleground

Elizabeth Duchek (Bitdeer) joined a discussion with James Cheng (Canaan) and Darcy Daubaras (Hive Digital) at PubKey DC during the DC Blockchain Week. Elizabeth outlined how Bitcoin mining has shifted from a fringe topic in Washington D.C. to a central issue spanning energy, financial services, and industrial policy. The conversation focused on how miners are increasingly positioning themselves as digital infrastructure operators, where control over power defines long-term competitiveness.

A lightly edited transcript follows.

An introduction to Bitdeer

Jesse (Blocksbridge Consulting): Can you briefly introduce yourself and the company you represent?

Elizabeth: Hi, everyone. My name's Elizabeth Duchek, and I am the Associate Director of Government Relations for Bitdeer. We are a NASDAQ-listed digital infrastructure company with three main business verticals. That includes Bitcoin mining, ASIC design, and AI/HPC.

We are headquartered in Singapore, but we have a global reach with a very quickly expanding footprint in the United States. A little over half of our global power capacity is located in the US, deployed across several states, Texas, Ohio, Tennessee, and a manufacturing facility upcoming in Nevada.

From fringe to policy priority

Jesse: Can you share your general perspective about what you have been able to observe at the DC Blockchain Summit, and, in general, during your work here in DC, when it comes to the policy side of Bitcoin mining?

Elizabeth: Yeah. The interesting thing on the policy side is how quickly it has evolved to become so widespread. I'm a former Senate staffer. I was on the Hill less than ten years ago, and Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining were really not a topic of discussion. It was still considered sort of a fringe topic.

In the last two years, it's just exploded policy-wise, and it's touched almost every area of policy. It's touching financial services and energy. And something that I wish more policymakers knew is that Bitcoin mining can be an ally to energy infrastructure as opposed to a detriment.

I think when it comes to Bitcoin mining, a lot of policymakers hear their constituents talking about the cost of living, inflation, and energy prices. Bitcoin mining becomes a convenient, albeit inaccurate, scapegoat. The industry has a lot of work to do in educating policymakers on how Bitcoin mining can be an ally to their communities.

Mining as digital infrastructure

Jesse: Most people don't understand the size of the operations of Bitdeer, the power capacity the company has, and how widespread it is worldwide. Do you want to add anything to the way Bitdeer thinks about power, and what we were talking about?

Elizabeth: At Bitdeer, we consider ourselves a digital infrastructure company. But Bitcoin mining is always going to be the core tenet of our operations because we see Bitcoin mining as the building blocks for AI, laying the foundation for AI expansion as it grows across industries.

There's a little bit of an identity crisis amongst some of the companies. You know, are you a data center? Are you a Bitcoin miner? We are. Our answer is yes, and Bitcoin is always going to be the sort of central tenet of that.

What will matter by 2030

Jesse: What do you think is going to be a successful Bitcoin mining company in 2030 and 2040?

Elizabeth: I think in 2030 it's going to be less about how many Bitcoins are left to mine, and more about who controls the energy infrastructure behind it. And that's why for Bitdeer it's so important that we're vertically integrated, that we are able to own and operate the energy that we produce for our Bitcoin mining.