In this compelling episode, we explore the intersection of Bitcoin mining, energy sustainability, and environmental impact with Alana Mediavilla, director of the documentary "Dirty Coin." As a former Google corporate filmmaker turned independent director, Alana brings unique insights into how Bitcoin mining is revolutionizing energy access in remote communities while addressing environmental concerns.
Through her global documentary journey, Alana reveals how Bitcoin mining operations are transforming communities from energy scarcity to abundance. Her work showcases innovative solutions to environmental challenges, particularly focusing on methane reduction and energy efficiency. The documentary provides a fresh perspective on how Bitcoin mining can contribute to sustainable energy practices.
Drawing from her extensive media background as founder of Mediavilla Holdings and Filmkik, Alana shares powerful stories of community resilience and technological innovation. Her experience collaborating with tech giants like PayPal, Porsche, and Google enriches the conversation about Bitcoin's role in decentralizing energy production and creating more equitable access to electricity worldwide.
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(00:00:00) Introduction to Bitcoin's Impact on Energy Poverty
(00:01:24) Meet Alana Medevia: Director of Dirty Coin
(00:03:35) The Journey to Bitcoin and Dirty Coin
(00:10:52) Understanding Energy Literacy and Poverty
(00:18:20) Bitcoin Mining as a Solution to Energy Challenges
(00:29:01) Decentralization and Energy Independence
(00:39:39) The Role of Bitcoin in Global Energy Security
(00:50:02) Balancing Motherhood and Filmmaking
(01:02:13) Feminine Energy and Empowerment in Bitcoin
(01:13:42) The Future of Dirty Coin and Global Impact
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[00:00:00]
Unknown:
If you guys are interested in learning about how Bitcoin mining is helping people who are energy poor, who are suffering in places where you can't even refrigerate medicine or do medical procedures because all they have is candlelight, My guest, Alana Medevia, is the producer, director, and writer of Dirty Coin, the film, and it's so amazing. You guys have to tune into this. She went all over the world and gathered a lot of different information and really connects the dots of how Bitcoin is helping people get out of a state of poverty, out of a state of suffering, and then how we're also cleaning up parts of the environment and parts of the energy sector that are polluting like methane. So tune in. You guys are gonna love Alana. She is a wonderful woman and a dear sweet soul sister. Enjoy.
Hey, aloha. Get ready for an epic episode. And if you love it, please share it. You know why? Because you got the love. Enjoy, my friends. Hey. Aloha, Love Tribe. Thanks for tuning in. I have somebody here with me that I have been fond of chasing after watching her, been really excited about the transformation that she has been teaching people about Bitcoin and energy and mining and why the environment is actually gonna be better off because of Bitcoin. This is Alana Mediavia, the director of Dirtycoin. Welcome, my sweet, sweet soul sister.
[00:01:50] Unknown:
Thank you. Thank you. I remember the first time I saw you was the women in brunch, the not this year, but the year I wanna say 1 year ago. And you had this bright pink dress and we had the pink heart glasses. Yeah. I was like, wow. I wasn't expecting such a, like, feminine, a so much feminine energy at a Bitcoin conference, and it was awesome. And I love that it was right at the beginning of the conference because I felt like I had left that brunch with so many girlfriends, so many people that I could, you know, see. It's sprinkled amongst the dudes.
[00:02:27] Unknown:
And that yeah. That was such a special event. And, obviously, Natalie Brunell and Callie Bailey were are the, you know, the the spearheads of this. And and I got to go the year before, you know, and it was in a smaller venue. It was just at a restaurant, and I got to meet Spetzky, god bless him, because I was wanting to you know, I just started learning about Bitcoin. And then he was doing some dinner thing, and I was like, I don't know anybody. I'm gonna go to the Bitcoin conference. What do I do? You know? And he's like, go see Natalie. Go do this, da da da. And and it was just such a great sweet event, you know, at the very beginning of this massive, massive, you know, tens of thousands of people conference with mostly dudes. Right? And there's some of us women, and we're like, what do we do? And so I love that Natalie put that together, and I got to volunteer and help and participate because, like you said, when you meet people at the very beginning and then you're, you know, going through all the rest of the event and you see each other, and if you have those pink glasses or whatever, you're like, I I see you. We were there together. What's up? High five, sister.
And so the community is so key, and the energy of the community is so key. And so, obviously, you're bringing people together with Dirty Coin, and you're educating different people all over the world about why Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining is something is is positively transformational for the environment and for society. So maybe you can give everybody a background of who you are, how you got to Bitcoin, and and, you know, what's going on with dirty coin.
[00:03:58] Unknown:
Those are 3 huge questions.
[00:04:02] Unknown:
Completely huge questions. Do do do.
[00:04:05] Unknown:
Well, I am the executive producer and director of Dirty Coin. And, in 2020, I quit my corporate job at Google as a filmmaker at Google, to pursue my own projects. I really loved working at Google. I loved my team. I loved the global team. I loved my access to to people, like, really, really smart people all over the world. It was awesome. Mhmm. And I learned to think really big and, like, next 1,000,000,000 users, you know, n b u n b u next 1,000,000,000 users, and how are you creating content for the next 1,000,000,000 users. And that was my job. So I was making, like, videos for that for with that idea.
And so I really loved, you know, kind of expanding my my view of the earth and actually having really awesome friends all over the world that were helping me on these projects. And so I felt like if I can continue to leverage what I have learned, with my own movies, like, I wanna be able to choose what it is that I talk about. I was kinda tired of making, like, corporate documentaries, and it's funny because then I end up with another data center documentary which is which is dirty coin. But, you know, go with what you know. Right? And I knew that I was good, but I wanted to prove myself with my own concept, not just a concept of somebody else that was basically, like, this is a feature that we're going to be pushing, so please make a movie about it. And I really enjoyed it, but I was ready for kind of finding my own story.
And I felt that, you know, Bitcoin had been something that I had seen kind of grow in Silicon Valley. And it was something that not a lot of people would talk about it because it kind of meant that you were on Silk Road. You were buying drugs on Silk Road. I mean, you know, if you had Bitcoin and or you were doing just something illegal. It had this kind of dirty reputation to it. And but I remember kind of seeing it a little differently because I found out about, you know, Cubans that were sending Bitcoin to Cuba, and then there were, like, people in Cuba that were turning it into their local fiat. So this was a way that, like, family were was able to send money. Expat family is able or the Aspura family is able to send money back into the island.
And I thought that was really interesting. And then I started kind of digging down that rabbit hole of, like, kind of borderless Internet money. And I thought that was really interesting. And so that's one of the reasons why I felt like Bitcoin was just kind of something to keep an eye on. And then I saw the rise of crypto, and I wasn't really working in Bitcoin. Like, I was working in tech, and I knew about Bitcoin, but and, you know, I was involved in Bitcoin in some ways, but not, not really in, like, working towards getting anybody else involved or buying Bitcoin or anything like that. For me, it was a very personal thing. I felt like, honestly, I was a huge degen for buying Bitcoin and learning about it and, you know, losing keys and all of that. So I kinda didn't want other people to have some of the negative experiences that I had had in my early days in Bitcoin, so I would just not really talk to people about it.
But then in, like, 2019, 2020, I started noticing more of a rise of an anti Bitcoin retort because of its energy consumption. Mhmm. And I was like, It's bad for the environment. And I'm like, man, it's bad for the environment. This sucks. You know? It's like finding out that your, like, favorite burger shop does everything with seed oils. You know? You're like, no. We don't know. Can't eat you anymore. So that was kinda how I felt. But then, when I so I started looking into it. Like, okay. Well, then why is it bad for the environment? I wanna find out. And then they're like, well, have you seen, like, the computers that run this? And I had been working at Google Cloud, so I very much was very aware of what data centers look like. And before Google Cloud, I did work for other, AI powered machine learning, companies, so I knew exactly what the physical footprint of our digital lives entailed.
And so I was like, well, this is just a data center, but, okay, these chips run hotter. They're only doing the one thing over and over again. Let me continue to look into it. And what I found was not only was it not bad, it's like such an incredible solution, multifaceted solution for different places. It's not just one solution for one place. It's Yeah. It kind of transforms to become a different solution. It's like a magical key that kind of changes shape depending on the keyhole. Yeah. And and there are keyholes that it doesn't work it as well, but it's still this magical key. And I felt like, wow. Well, this is something that my really smart friends, my smart engineer friends, my smart you know, these are smart people that are saying these things that Bitcoin is bad for the environment, but it's because they didn't do the, you know, the 100 hour deep dive that I did. And so whenever that conversation would come up, how do you synthesize this this wealth of time that you have spent learning about something into, like, cocktail conversation.
It's tough because it come we also have an energy illiteracy that's kind of like at the bottom of, like, our mining, misunderstanding. So I I decided, like, this is something that is worth talking about because it affects everyone. And I started seeing regulation kind come in against Bitcoin mining, and I saw that the way that it's worded, this is something that's going to throttle data center growth, all kinds of data centers, your information, your your AI, your websites, all kind of data center growth. The the legislation and the kind of the the narrative that's coming will affect everything. So nobody's gonna be paying attention because it's just Bitcoin and they're not involved in Bitcoin, so whatever. But this is going to affect and it's already affecting their daily lives. So so I felt like I wanted the overall mainstream, like, most people to at least understand what is mining, what does it look like, and just gain kind of like a a level of understandings because these conversations aren't gonna go away.
So then let's gain a level of understanding so that we can have kind of a a a more intellectual conversation about it and not just be like, well, it's bad for the environment because that's it it that's just headline deep, you know, and also depends on the publication, which which headline.
[00:10:28] Unknown:
Yeah. Totally. Well, 2 things you mentioned, like well, one was energy illiteracy. Right? And I think that's something I've certainly have and continue to try to battle and learn about, like, why, you know, it's better the more electrified and the more energy we have on planet Earth, the the more healthy and prosperous and and safe our world can be. You know? And I think a lot of people don't understand that. So can you you know, I think about energy you know, I had, Elliott from Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol on, is talking about energy poverty. A lot of people don't understand that, you know, we need more electricity and energy on planet Earth for us to continue to thrive and why societies that don't or, you know, cultures and and, you know, communities that don't have energy are at such a giant disadvantage compared to, other societies and cultures that do. And so can you help people understand who are listening, you know, more energy means more love, more peace, more prosperity?
[00:11:34] Unknown:
And higher GDP. You know? Yeah. And and higher GDP tends to also, you know, contribute to happiness. It contributes to fulfillment. It contributes to pride. You know, live the pride of a country. And it's interesting because so higher GDP, high high more capacity to produce. You have a higher GDP. You can produce much more. Yeah. And you have these countries that are energy rich. Let's say, for example, you have a country that has, like, Paraguay, for example. They have Itaipu. They have this incredible dam that produces so much electricity. They have all of this energy.
In their case, they already have a dam, but there are places that they don't even have a dam, but they have the the water. And so they could actually create a hydroelectric, infrastructure, but then they don't have the funds to do so. Right? And these same countries that are energy rich, and this is what it mean this meant by energy rich yet energy poor, because then you have people that don't have access to electricity even though they're sitting on so much energy. But what's missing is being able to turn that energy, that available energy into something that can be used by people into electricity. And it needs to be turned into and transmitted to them as well. So there's this whole infrastructure, capital investment that needs to go in to and in order and it's it's kind of a chicken before the egg situation because you need capital to develop the electricity, but you still don't have demand for that electricity.
Yeah. These people that don't have electricity, like Bondo in Malawi where we phone for dirty coin Yeah. They don't have also a need for it. They don't have a refrigerator that's there. They don't have, an electric car. They don't have even a TV in some cases. Right? Now they're starting to get more electricity, but these are people that didn't have electricity, so there's no demand. And yet they're then kind of stuck in where you know, what they can do with the available energy that they have, and and available energy is in the form of burning wood. You know, there's other ways of creating energy to to meet our needs, to heat our homes, to heat our food, to cook. So, you know, but then that's kind of it. And so other countries that have more access to electricity are then able to create and, you know, buy an air fryer, for example. You know, you have just more things that you can that you have a a access to be able to do. So, you know, I I personally dealt with, so for Malawi, I didn't go personally. I sent a crew and I zoomed in or WhatsApp, FaceTimed, or any way that we could get connection in to them, and I was a part of it there. And we were in, certain villages or certain parts of the village that had no electricity at all, and so it was very dark in some areas. But I could hear people, like, singing and laughing and talking to each other, and I could hear all this human energy.
And then when we would get closer towards areas that, you know, had a TV, there was a lot of people, like, kind of gathered on the TV. We were closer to electricity, but then kind of the human energy would go down because everybody was just kinda staring at the TV. And so that was a kind of an interesting situation for me because it's not like, oh, these poor people in where they're at. They're just they're not there's nothing they're they're doing great. They're happy. But then, you know, electric the bringing of electricity doesn't necessarily all always mean, something positive. It could mean now you have the news on to wrap your brain all day long.
But that also means refrigerator at the refrigerators at the corner shop so that they can sell cold items. I mean, I just feel like, the electricity and the Internet is like it's a weapon. It's a tool and it can be used for good and it can be used for for evil. But it's still something that I'd rather have I'd rather live with than without because I know I live in Puerto Rico. We lose electricity once to twice, a week. And, you know, I lose Internet. I don't have lights in my office. I there's we can't put a fan on. It's hot. If it's raining, we can go outside. I mean, it definitely lowers the the quality of life at least that I've been, exposed to and expecting.
And so I'm very aware of how, never having an interruption in your electricity, access kind of creates this bubble that where you can't really understand what it is to live without it. But in a modern world, it's kinda very tough to live without it.
[00:16:11] Unknown:
It it is. It's super tough. And I just earlier today, I was dealing with, you know, the Internet being out and all this before, you know, the the the interviews with you and with Brandon, and it's just like, oh, no. There's no no Internet. What are we gonna do? And it's like, you're gonna deal. Like, it's either not gonna happen or it's gonna happen, but we're so tapped into that consistency of connection to the electrical grid, to the, you know, the the communication grid that exists. And so, I I loved hearing you say just about hearing the human energy sounds. You know? And and, yeah, I just finished reading this book called Bringers of the Dawn by Barbara Marciniak, and she talks about, like, turning off all of your TVs, turn everything off because it's just like this brain suck. You know? And it's just constantly pulling us away from source and this energy of love and, you know, in the infinite. And so I think a lot of us are so indoctrinated into, you know, turn on your phone, turn on the the social, and da da da da. You know, we're forgetting to turn onto each other as human beings. You know? And and, you know, you see all those pictures in social media where people are at the restaurant and everyone's just kinda doing this. And it's like, that's your new date model for, you know, the the the the new century kinda thing. And I'm like, that doesn't sound very fun. You know?
One thing that I I I remember seeing when we were in, Madera was and this and this touched me so much was the surgeon. You know, do you wanna talk about you know, because because we think about capital expenditures, and we think about why it's so important. Like, how does Bitcoin and how does Bitcoin incentivize this, you know, taking the energy, whether it's a river, whether it's volcano energy, whether it's the, you know, the the waterfalls, etcetera? How can Bitcoin serve as a, a way to bring human flourishing using natural resources that isn't, you know, polluting and and then the CapEx is there?
Does that make sense? I don't know. It's a weird question. Yeah. Okay. I know you'll get it. So
[00:18:20] Unknown:
I mean, you need you need, you need that capital to turn that energy, that potential energy into something that could be into power. Right? It's just something that can be used by people. And in the case of Bitcoin mining, you can do Bitcoin mining anywhere. All you need is electricity and a little weak signal. Like, we don't they Bitcoin mining means less Internet bandwidth than what you and I are using right now in in this in this way. It's, it's just it's, I mean, it's it's a very, very simple thing that mine that miners are doing and that it's it's very light and and it's and that's why you have certain conversations about block size and every and then everything because it is an advantage for it to be so light. And so Bitcoin miners can go and they can basically mine, or how about this, people, because this is something that it's often I caught myself in discussing it with somebody when I say Bitcoin miners can do this.
People then think, oh, well, this is a category of person outside of me. You know? That's like saying, like, rocket scientists can do this. You know? Well, I'm not Mhmm. Whatever. But, really, anybody, any human being can buy a Bitcoin miner and plug it into a source of electricity, and it's a little bit more complicated than that and there are, like, workshops and stuff to really learn how to do it. But then, basically, you can start anybody can mine Bitcoin and they can do it from anywhere. And so that's a big difference then, like, can you put a factory anywhere? You can't really put the put a factory in the middle of a very, very rocky terrain, but a factory can is the one that is consuming a large amount of electricity. And very often, for example, Puerto Rico, we have a lot of our electricity. When you look at its development, it was developed to reach areas of manufacturing or areas of, you know, industry load. They were the ones that were, like, kind of they financed that expenditure for, for the for the electric company. Right? It's not like individual people. It's these big, big customers of electricity.
Normally, these big customers of electricity have a large footprint, a physical footprint. They are, they have trucks coming in and out. They have dyes. They have chemicals depending on what they're doing. Right? And they're dumping those in the river and they're we've had a a terrible, kind of, we all know what factories and industries are capable of doing, the kind of damage they're capable of wrecking. But, anyway, they need a lot of people coming in and out and everything. Now a Bitcoin mining operation, a facility of that mines Bitcoin can consume the same amount of electricity as a huge factory or even a city in a a a small city, but in a, Bagon, sometimes my English goes away from speaking Spanish all day. A trailer, like, a just one trailer. Yeah. So it's very condensed, and you can just drop that trailer or in the case of, gritless in some areas, literally bringing in each computer. They would bring in, like, 2, 4, 6 at a time, and then they would put them up. And by the time they're all up, they are consuming an industry load, small industry in their case, but in other cases, you can go as high as you want, size you can.
And you can consume all all of the wasted electricity that's there, and you can pay for that electricity as well. I think it's really important to note as well that because anybody in the world can just buy a computer and plug it in, you're gonna see all kinds of stuff. You're gonna see it's like bad neighbors. Right? You're gonna see people that just don't that leave all their trash in the front yard. You know? That's just kind of like the human experience. So when it comes to talking about Bitcoin miners, that's like you're literally talking about humans, people. And so there's gonna be a lot of different, applications.
I definitely spoke with I think that what I noticed in my journey, I spent 2 years interviewing Bitcoin miners all over the world. What I noticed was that the irresponsible ones, like the bad neighbors, they don't tend to last long. They can't. You know? The the their local like, they don't pay their bill. They get kicked out. They they they do something that they just cannot it's a very, very competitive industry. And if you're not doing it right, you probably won't last long. So I used to get upset when I used to see somebody. I'm like, oh, this person, they're just they're not doing it right. And then I'm and then, like, a few months later, they went out of business. I'm like, oh, okay. I kinda saw that, like, happen more and more. And then I thought, interesting. It's interesting how those things take care of themselves. And, so, you know, it's such a it's just such an interesting thing for you to be able to plug an appliance into your house and mine what some say is the most precious asset in the world.
I mean, it's crazy. It's crazy that anybody can do this. And it's not them. It's not the miners. It's anybody that can buy a miner and hook it up to the Bitcoin network.
[00:23:18] Unknown:
Yeah. It's pretty accept like, nothing else out there is actually producing value if I were to go plug in my heater. You know, if I wanna go heat my house, any of this. Right? It's like, okay. I'm just consuming, consuming, consuming, but I'm not producing anything with that, you know, that heat. And so I think about, like, you know, there's a lot of folks out there who are trying to figure out, like, how do you do home heating? How are you doing you know, I'm heating up the Olympic sized swimming pool with the the excess heat from all of these Bitcoin miners. And so, you know, most people don't understand, you know, when we think about flared methane, we think about all the the the the things that are polluting the environment, and now we're gonna have regulations that say, hey, you know, gas fields, whatever, you need to go cap that stuff or figure out, you know, how to go, deal with it. And Bitcoin miners are showing up like, hey. I'll I'll take care of I'll pay you to do that instead of you having to go put all this expenditure out there. And so can you talk about that a little bit? I live in Colorado, and, you know, I look out on the plains and the fields and, you know, at 3 o'clock in the morning because I'm in an Etamek. I wake up and I see these big flames out there, and I'm like,
[00:24:29] Unknown:
where is that? We need to get the Bitcoin miners because I know they're flaring gas. So can you talk about that a little bit? I think this is one of the best This is one of the parts that when I speak with environmentalists, I think that this is one of the most interesting parts that it's we're so used to things being good or bad, but things aren't like that, you know, they we only yeah. It's it's just harder to sell, you know, gray and nuance, but definitely there's a lot of nuance. And kinda going back to you can mine Bitcoin anywhere there's electricity and you can get a moderate, signal.
You can then go to where these, when you drill for oil, methane comes up with everything, comes up with a bunch of stuff. But methane, if there's no if there's not a lot of it or there's no easy access to a pipeline, they have to burn it in order because methane is 26 or 36. The the figure is in my movie, but I forget. Or is it 86? It's 86.
[00:25:27] Unknown:
Eighty 6 times more than carbon dioxide. Yeah. It's, like, over 80 times more. Yeah. Yeah. 86% more warming. Times, not percent, times. Times. Yeah. In fact, the times. Yeah. Times.
[00:25:38] Unknown:
Yeah. Thank you. There's a lot of figures in the movie. So, 86 times. And, you know, if they just flare it, that would be 86 times more warming than burning it and just turning it into c o two. And so that's usually what happens. That's what you see a flare is. It's just that methane being, burnt into the air. Now a couple things. Methane, it's 86 times more warming because it is a very, very potent energy molecule. Mhmm. And so that energy molecule can and should be used. It's just that there's not like I said, there's not always like a financial or there's no there's not an incentive to do so, and so it gets flared. But really nobody wants to be throwing away this incredible molecule when it could be used. And so you have companies that are, creating, gear, like, for example, upstream where you can go and you can, you know, harness that stranded methane and just turn that into Bitcoin, and you're doing that also off grid. And so it's not affecting the grid at all. There are some countries and states where the grid is already so sensitive that the idea of having a Bitcoin miner come and or any or or or just a large load come and consume electricity from that grid is not really viable, or at least depending on that's the thing about mining as well, which is kinda fun. It's you don't need you can mine with few computers or a lot. It's like Lego pieces. So you don't always have to be the size of a Costco.
Sometimes you can be the size of a corner store and you could still actually be helping. So again, back to the nuance, it's very nuanced. But for the most part, it doesn't always from a large industry scale, it doesn't fit in every grid. But you can go into the middle of nowhere, into the middle of the desert or in beautiful Denver and you can or Colorado, and you can, you know, drop your trailer there and you can mine. And you have companies like Crusoe that are doing that as well. They're doing that across Montana and a few different places, and they're taking the equivalent of, Chase says the measure in the film, of and I'm not gonna repeat it because I don't wanna butcher it, but many, many cars off the road for them, getting, like, basically using that stranded methane. So you're not putting that c o two in the air. You're not putting that carbon in the air, and you're also using it. So here you are burning, like, something really valuable, and you could be using it, and you could be turning that energy into into Bitcoin.
So, you know, and a lot of people are doing it. I think a lot of people are not are currently not being very vocal about the fact that they are mining Bitcoin just because you don't really have to tell anybody. It's just you and your computer. You know, you don't really have to I admire the people like Marathon and CleanSpark
[00:28:20] Unknown:
and all these big miners that I mean, I guess they're publicly traded, so it kinda makes sense they have to, you know, be out there, but still, like, they don't necessarily have to be out there. And I admire them for, like, kind of being the punching bag for Bitcoin miners because Bitcoin miners is, again, any human that can buy a Bitcoin mining machine and connect it. Well, let's let's talk 2 things I wanna bring up. So we'll do one about the the shipping containers or bringing, you know, Bitcoin miners into these remote locations that aren't even attached to a grid. And then second, we'll talk about decentralization and, like, BitX and all the other little tiny things that are coming up so that we can secure the grid.
You know, what I what got caught my attention, you know, was, wow. Like, anybody can show up at these remote locations that aren't gonna have enough ability to generate enough energy to attach to a grid because, obviously, just getting lines to attach to a grid is extremely expensive. And so, you know, if you're able to be remote and and moving around and flexible and you can say, cool, I'm gonna bring this, you know, a shipping container or a half of a shipping container. I'm just gonna plop it here and stick my generator. I'm gonna go do this and I've got Starlink and off we go. I'm I'm helping the environment and I'm earning a little bit of Bitcoin as I'm doing it and I'm stabilizing, you know, the grid the the the network, not the grid.
And so I've loved you know, because a lot of people are just like, what? What do you I've gone to tons of of of, like, nature conferences and climate conferences with an ex of mine, and, you know, I would have these conversations and people would be like, Bitcoin's bad for the environment. It's boiling the oceans. It's terrible, and the energy and this. And I'm like, well, what are the solutions for all of these, you know, stranded, you know, wells out there that are just, you know, spewing the methane and whatnot? And they're just like, That's kinda neat. You know? So can you help people understand why, you know, everything's not gonna get attached to a grid? And and it's not about producing electricity. It's just about capturing that that the the heat or the the toxic methane.
[00:30:35] Unknown:
Well, you have situations like, landfills, for example. Landfills also are sources of methane, and and there are cities where they do extract methane from the landfill like in LA, and they use it to power their grits, like, partially, of course. But sometimes the landfill isn't large enough, to make sense because it's not just that it's expensive to create transmission lines. You're also going through, like, people's homes, you know, and people then complain. They're like, you can't, you know, you can't put that pipeline through my house. So it's really tough to get things going and, like, the government, the United States government has been sitting on a beautiful beautiful new energy project, and they have the money, you know, and the government always has the money. They can just print the money.
And they haven't been able to do it because there it goes through so many different state lines and so many different, like like, properties that it's just, like, a huge pain. And so that so it's not just the money. This is something that even the government can't always, like, just just do. So, it's to be able to have something come and consume this stranded, energy, this stranded methane, this stranded, solar that here's another example. Let's say you have a solar or wind development. You need to build that where there is abundant land and abundant of that natural resource. That's not always where the grid has connectivity already to. So for, a renewable energy project to say, okay. We want to, you know, ask for a loan or ask for an investment and say, okay. We're going to make this this facility happen, and connectivity lines are not, like, interconnection lines are not going to come in for another, like, 5 years. You know, you just create the infrastructure and it's just gonna sit there, but they're not going to produce make the transmission lines until we for sure are there.
So then, you know, you're gonna you're like, okay. Well, I'm gonna give you, like, a ton of money, and you're telling me that maybe in 5 years, there's going to be a buyer of that electricity. But with Bitcoin mining, you can do both immediately. You can set up fill solar, and you can set up the the mining equipment. So I think that, I'm an environmentalist in in the sense that I want to do whatever I can to be a good citizen of the north, and I like to clean up after myself when I go to the beach. I I do volunteer hours with my daughter cleaning up beaches, cleaning up rivers. I believe in being a good citizen. And so in that regard, I am an environmentalist because I will do what I need to do to leave the earth, and its people in a better condition than I found it, or at least I'll try. I'll die trying.
You know? But so but I feel like the term environmentalism has been co opted by certain, industries that like like solar, light wind, light batteries, like electric vehicles, that it's like, you know, that meme that says, taking Aunt Jemima off the syrup bottle but leaving a corn syrup is exactly the type of policies that just kinda don't work. I think it says something different, but it's kinda to that effect. And I feel like, yes, it is important to be good citizens and good people. And if we are doing things that are harming others, to do something to right it. But to only do it from a surface level perspective that appears to be green or appears to be what the environmentalist wants and creating a narrative around your product is very biased and misleading. And, unfortunately, I feel like the environmentalist movement, just like every other movement. Right? At some some people say that in some ways, Bitcoin has also become co opted by certain folks and stuff.
There's always when there's when there's a force going in a particular direction, why stop them when you can just kind of nudge them and, you know, to kinda go towards where you want them to go? And so that has been an issue. And so I do, approach my friends and the conversations that I have with people that don't necessarily do a lot of research, but they kind of are just on the left. They're on the side of whatever Gavin Newsom says it's okay. I've never been to California and seen the streets, but whatever that guy says is must be fine because look at that smile, You know? And it it's something that I I I hear in Europe, I hear in South America, like, oh, California. And I'm like, have you been? Have you been? I mean, a, it's beautiful. I love California. But, b, I mean, it's it's in spite of some of the things that are going on there.
So, yeah, I really hope that we can kind of change that narrative and perspective that, if you don't abide by the commandments of the environmentalist that you are then therefore you don't care about the planet. I think it's more of you look at, you know, what the checklist is and you use your own judgment and you make sure that you don't leave the culture stagnant and you move forward and you explore new ways of creating electricity. You look at 0 point energy, you understand nuclear, you start looking at energy independence. How is it that, you know, most solar panels are made? If not, it's like 99% of them are made in China. So do we want our source of electric production to be in the hands of and like manufactured in the hands of a country that could potentially be our, enemy in the future or currently?
And that could be China. That could be Russia. That could be Argentina. That could be Chile. You know? Like, this is, kind of the story as old as time. And I don't think that kind of when we started talking about this, we were talking about how progress is linked and GDP is linked to electric consumption. So we've already determined that being able to have access and control energy and use it to to turn that into something creative, to turn that into a a pencil, into a paintbrush, into a trip somewhere, into a movie. You know, we turn this energy and we, as humans, we we just turn it into something else, something hopefully better, something that can have a bigger impact, than than what it was as just stored electricity.
So we wanna we since that is so important in order to kind of move humanity forward, then we need to make sure that we are in control of our production of electricity and not put that in the hands of another country. And same goes the other way. If I were in China and there's something we're depending on the US, I would say the same thing. I mean, it's it's just important to be sovereign. I believe in sovereignty. I believe in the dual sovereignty. And from a country's perspective, I see Bitcoin mining based on, you know, what I saw in our in our, you know, two and a half years. We're going on 3 now working on this film. Is that the countries that have embraced, like, better why, the states that have embraced it, like Texas, Tennessee.
Wait. No. I want I wanted to say actually South Dakota, not Tennessee. Tennessee has some it's super cool too, but South Dakota. I mean, the the the people that are playing ball with bigger minors are, they're putting, improvements on their electric infrastructure. They're building new substations. They're building new transmission lines. They now have a client where they didn't before. In places in Ohio where factories are no are no longer there, there's no longer that large load because these large loads moved to overseas. We have this grid that was built for this large load, and now you just have the residents paying for that capacity.
And so you need that large load. And who's going to who's building new factories in Ohio? There are some people and I do I'm not saying there's nobody. Right? But not that many. So but Bitcoin miners are willing to go to where the electricity is, and they're willing to, buy that cheap electricity that nobody else is buying. That's why it's cheap. So it's important for sovereign countries and sovereign individuals to understand mining specifically because very likely they are coming up. They aren't already on an energy crisis and to ignore mining, because of, again, removing angemima from the package and not really understanding what is underneath and what is what are we really doing here with mining.
I just think, you know, whoever whoever doesn't get it, they're gonna they're gonna regret it in, like, 10, 20 years. And they're gonna see countries like El Salvador, Paraguay, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, even Puerto Rico, Texas, you know, including states. They're gonna see those have kind of like a crazy unfair advantage and that unfair advantage was Bitcoin and it was available to them all along. It's kinda how I see it. I don't know. Let's see this video again in 10 years.
[00:39:35] Unknown:
I know. It it can you imagine everything we've done 10 years from now? We'd be like, oh my gosh. Look at all the things that happened. You know, I I your point about security, right, and, obviously, energy security is is huge. Just today again, today, like, not having the Internet working over here at my house, and it's like, oh, no. What do we do? The the the social unrest that happens in places where we don't have energy security, where we don't have food security, where we don't have financial security, and we don't have communication security, those four things. So we talk about the World Economic Forum and Klaus Schwab, and he's like, oh, if you control the, who was it? Kissinger. He's like, you control the money, you control the food, and you control the energy, you can control the world.
I'm gonna layer the 4th element in there, which is the communication layer, which we're seeing decimated as we speak. Yeah. On a second by second basis as we're watching what's happening in the UK where they're trying to censor x and all of it and just that absolute nonsense. To me, the peace, hopefully, to have a peaceful world and a peaceful planet that I think we all strive for. You know, we have to have these fundamental elements in place in Bitcoin because it can produce this this way for electricity and energy to be spread and have security in these local environments, whether it's in your own home, you know, whether it's in your city, whether it's in, you know, your state, whether it's in your country, it can't be talked about enough.
Like, if we have to be slaves to another entity's form of the food, the electricity, the money, or the communication, we are never gonna be sovereign individuals, and we will never have inner peace. We will never have peace within our families. We are constantly gonna be operating as slaves. And and that's unfortunately what these centralized powers that be want, you know, so that they can manipulate and control and extract value from us, in exchange for nothing. And so I wanna talk about decentralization. You know? And and, you know, that's not a phrase that I even really understood before becoming a Bitcoiner. I read this book called the what is it? Starfish and the Spider. And this was years ago. This was before Bitcoin was even in in you know, discovered, revealed, invented. And it talks about the decentralized organizations versus centralized organizations. And you think about, like, AA and the 12 step program. Like, anywhere you go all over planet Earth, if you go to an AA meeting in Lithuania or in Thailand, for the most part, it's gonna be sort of the same process, but, you know, you're in these different locations versus something that's central and you've got a leader, etcetera. And so, you know, decentralization to me is something that I think is is a is a inner and outer security issue on all four of these fronts. And so do you wanna talk about, like, how the the energy production of, like, why Bitcoin mining is so important that we all should have at least 1 miner in our houses?
[00:42:47] Unknown:
Yes. I mean so I have no financial like, they haven't even sponsored the movie, but, you know, the BitX miners are really small, little things. And somebody mined a whole block. So a lot of people don't understand how mining works. You can either mine solo, and I think with better access, the only way you can mine. You mine solo, meaning you are putting these lottery tickets in with one little miner, and you're putting as many as you can, as many as your miner can give you. And if one of your lottery lottery tickets comes up, the block is yours. Or you can contribute your lottery tickets to a pool. And if the pool wins and everybody does. There's a lot of different other people that are putting in their lottery ticket.
And they get rewarded for the quantity of lottery tickets that they put in if that block and when that block wins the block. Most miners mind this way because it's the most consistent way of of making income. And my the a solo block is kind of like a lottery, like, legit, like a lottery. And some people don't wanna do it that way because, you know, it's hard to just count on luck. So those are the 2 ways that you can contribute. So you don't need to have, like, a huge operation. You can have something as small as this. You can have, a couple of, ASICs, like, a couple of bigger Bitcoin miners have just have more chips, And you can use the excess heat to heat your home if you want like some people do. I live in Puerto Rico, so I would not be able to do that. Mhmm. They're also kind of noisy. So there are, there have been people that have created, like, kind of like quiet shells for them. Again, Upstream again, Upstream has not given me any money or anything or sponsored, but I am familiar with everybody in the space and and they're not the only ones. Basically, this was happening even from data centers. You can put your machines in, like, a pool of oil, and you you know, it's not as as it's much more quiet and you don't you can also direct the heat more directly to a particular location. So there's a lot of different, iterations of miners and it's basically just chips and something to cool the chips and that's it. It's pretty simple, hardware to use. But to your question of decentralization, decentralizing energy production is also really important. And you see that in some countries where you have, like, all of the production in one island, like, for example, in the Philippines.
And then from there, there is transmission lines that kind of, like, take it across the different islands. That means that each island is not energy sovereign and there's a centralization of energy production in one. So there's an issue, it kind of screws it up for everybody else and then everybody else loses their electricity. Now if you have, you know, your solar battery combo or your diesel generator in your house, then you're independent. It doesn't really matter. Like, I have a neighbor that as soon as our electricity goes down, I hear his generator wrong and he gets, like, less than a second interruption, to his life and, you know, he has, like, a nice big generator and he can be going through a hurricane with electricity on. That guy's energy independent.
So but let's say, for example, our whole community were to invest instead of in, like and, again, I've been studying a lot of Puerto Rico's electricity production because we have a lot of issues, and I've just kind of it's just what's local to me, so I've been looking into it a lot. And it's also very representative for how energy production was done, you know, a 100 years ago. So we started a long time ago in some in some countries to produce electricity. So a lot of our hardware is very old, very efficient. And so we do need to make them more efficient. And as we do, I am in the camp of decentralizing production so that if you have, you know, a natural disaster hitting one side of the island, you can still have the other side be able to produce. Not only is it good for them, it's also good for the for the resiliency of the system in general. And we see that with Bitcoin. Right? Or we see that with, you know, anything that centralized can be hacked. It's a single point of failure. Yeah. Single points of failure.
Versus when you decentralize it, you now have then multiple. And so it actually makes the whole system a lot more resilient. So, you know, a lot of what I've learned in Bitcoin, I've then see energy, and then I learn from energy. And then I look at Bitcoin, and it's been this really beautiful kind of back and forth where I've been able to learn about things that, as a filmmaker, I hadn't really learned about.
[00:47:20] Unknown:
Yeah. I think it's it's for a lot of people who think like are they're so tapped into the central nervous system of how communities work, whether it's your water, whether it's your electricity, whether it's your Internet. We're just on autopilot a lot of times, and we just think, like, it's always there. I don't have to think about it. You know, that's what those people over there do. You know, I used to live in Hawaii, and we had a lot of folks who lived off grid. And, you know, some of them were connected to the grid, but for the most part, they're pretty much self sufficient. And I I think, you know, for all of us to have a mindset of the hybrid approach.
Right? Like, the grid is very important for all of us to be able to continue to to fortify, to grow, to be a part of, but it's also very important just like your neighbor, and I have one too because I'm up in the mountains, to have some form of energy production that is, well, shit hits the fan, if there's an, you know, a hurricane or, god forbid, you know, some kind of violence that happens, like, you and your family are gonna be okay for x period of time with, you know, some food or with some energy or with whatever it is that you need. And so, you know, rather than an either or situation, I think it's important that we think about what's the blended situation for us and how do we, you know, keep ourselves secure.
I just think Bitcoin is such an interesting I know I'm looking at this. It's an ICO. Yes. Here we go. I I think it's an interesting tool that will pay our it'll pay us back to do the decentralization and to to, you know, have home heating. I have somebody, Tyler, who's here in Colorado, and he's working on lots of different ways to, like, how do you recycle all of your heat, you know, from the Bitcoin miners? And obviously, we're in Colorado, so there's lots of need for heating for, you know, 8 to 9 months out of the year. So it's like, is it economical for us to go get a couple ASICs and plop them in instead of, you know, using the the floor heat or whatever is going on. So I think it's, you know, there's just so much creativity and entrepreneurship and everything that's going on out there in the community.
What have you so let's let's let's come back to you, beautiful Alana. And, you know, one thing I I love about you is you're a mom. You're a mom, and you're busting ass going all over the world being a supermom, being a creative, being an advocate and an evangelist. Like, how are you managing all of this in your life? Because that's a lot to balance or harmonize. I never say balance because balance is bullshit.
[00:50:02] Unknown:
Yeah. I agree. I agree. Because balance implies 5050. And it's something like 5050.
[00:50:07] Unknown:
Yeah. It implies, like, static. It implies a static state. And Yeah. We're never in a static state. We're always dynamic. So I think of harmony. How are you harmonizing your life as a as a mother and an entrepreneur and a creative?
[00:50:20] Unknown:
Well, and a wife because the husband also wants Oh, right. That that too. Don't forget.
[00:50:24] Unknown:
Sorry, miss Brown. Husband.
[00:50:26] Unknown:
Yeah. Well, I mean, it's it's definitely a harmony. I agree with you. It's not I also don't say balance because it just again, there's a lot of implications. And there are some days where, you know, I so what I I really wanted freedom and I that was one of the reasons why I left my job and sucked to seeked sucked seeked to, you know, be my own person. And I am the the breadwinner of my family. My husband and this goes into how I'm able to do this. My husband homeschools our 3 children and he is the he fixes our leaky roofs and he makes sure that we're all eating healthy and, you know, he is like the the the the boss of the house, which is really interesting because he runs it like a man. He doesn't run it like like I do. Like, I would do it. He runs it like a dad. Like, a dude would run a house is how he runs the house. And all I have to do is put money in the bank and he even administers the money and, you know, I'll I'll I'll do some things on my own, but he really enjoys that part and I'm like, just let me make it.
So for us, I mean, I never I I started working when I was 20 and I was pregnant with my daughter. I became pregnant when I was And Wow. In school. And we were like, okay. You're gonna finish school and I'm gonna start, like, a graphic design freelance kind of business. And I started a magazine in Brooklyn. We were living in Brooklyn and started doing a lot of people's, like, logos and menus and whatever. I I would literally walk from store to store and I would just offer them my menu of services. And with that, we bought diapers, with that, we bought everything, and we survived. And not only survived, we thrived.
And then when I moved to New York, to when we lived from New York to Silicon Valley, which is where my husband's from, he's from Santa Cruz, I continue working on graphic design and animation, started getting into flash animations and flash websites back in the day, and got a job at a video game company over there. And and we were both applying for jobs, and I was the one that got a job first. So I we never said, like, you will be the breadwinner and you will like, it was never that way. But all this to say that I've always worked and been a mother. And I kind of was launched from being a girl to being, like, a person that has to provide and a person that has to nurture and love and take care of the family.
It's, at the same time. Like, I didn't become an adult and then I became a mom and then I became a wife. And, you know, I kind of became an adult as I was kind of folding into all of these hats at the same time. And so we just created our own harmony, what works for us. And I'm still with the same guy that, you know, he's the same father of all my kids and he's my boss, Fran, and we get along really well. And so I've always really treasured good people in my life and I feel like that's something that I tell my kids, like, don't waste your time with bad people. Like, just don't because you never know if you're gonna end up with that person or whatever. And so just if you never if you're never surrounded by bad people, you never have to think about, well, how do I shake them later? Like, no. You just shake them the sooner the better. So just always shake those those people out, those bad energies out.
And so I still I'm a surfer, so I also just am, like, I I communicate with with the water. I can feel the energy. I can feel the swell. I can look at other surfers. I can see is this the camp should I be swimming for this one or somebody else swimming for it? I mean, so I feel like I've had a lot of, really good experiences in my life that have kind of led me to, trusting my gut and trusting that there's something leading me sometimes, that I might not understand or maybe it's the higher me that understands something that the kind of lower me is still hasn't, like, figured out yet. So but I but I definitely trust that there that there's just so much more than my own consciousness, and and other people's consciousness and and what how do those affect me? And so with the children, I have 3.
They're incredible. They know that mom works. They know mom makes movies, and they're really proud. I was able to take them to Warsaw, and they were able to see, like, you know, me go as presenting my film. The theater roaring was, like, 350 people, like, there, and, and then watch me get an award. So they were it was it's it's challenging at times but you choose your hard and this is definitely a hard that I'm willing that I want. I'm doing a woman's studies class with the 2 girls on Mondays. So, you know, I I create my own schedule, so I'm just like, Mondays, this is what I do. And, you know, the world seems to have a huge confusion about what is a woman and I didn't want my daughters to have it. And so we're their homeschooling, so I'm going to I've I've put together a really great program for them, that we're going to be covering the whole year, and it's about being a woman and what that means from the anatomy all the way to historical women.
Being a woman in Bitcoin, I often get asked, like, how do we get more women in Bitcoin? Or just just the idea of of getting women more involved and or there aren't enough women. And I I believe in the power of words. And so if we just keep saying there aren't enough, then that's it. Just put that on loop. There aren't enough. There aren't enough. There aren't enough forever. What about when there are a lot? Like, what are you gonna say? Like, get ready for the next thing. Get ready to say the next thing. Start saying it already, you know, start making it real. And so I am a huge feminist in the in the sense that I believe in equal equality of opportunities.
I believe that a woman can but I but I I just don't think that we are the same. I think that the female energy and what we bring is so special and different. And for the longest time, I would think that me being a woman was, like, a a a point against me being in production and being in tech because in some ways it was, you know, it would in some ways it was a point against me. There there are men that cannot have a professional relationship with women. There are men that cannot communicate with women. But in a way, that was a great way for me to filter creeps because for the most part, men can communicate with a woman without it having to be like a sexual interaction.
Yeah. And so in in a way, it was a a natural filter for me to then communicate with high quality men that do see the value of all people or the value that people can bring regardless of who they are. And so, I don't I don't I guess I'm a different kind of again, going back to movements that have been co opted, just like I feel like I am an environmentalist and I feel like I am a feminist, both of those movements have been have kind of been turned into a corporate, agenda that Yeah. I cannot abide by.
[00:57:36] Unknown:
Yeah. I hear you. And I feel like, you know, and and this is one thing I'm I'm so attracted to you by because you are so feminine and you are so powerful and you're such a great example and inspiration for, you know, how to be a wonderful mother. Oh, the lightning just went off here with the thunder. Oh, you just got thundered and lightning. I don't know if shit's gonna go off now. Wow. But We have a generator. You're you're yeah. Right? But but you do. You harmonize the masculine and feminine, and I just had Spetzky on, I think it was last week, a few you know, a little bit ago after the whole stuff that's going on with the Olympics. Right? And that's been just like, what is a man? What is a woman? What's female? Da da da da, all of this. And it's just like it's it's insane, the conversations that people are having and the the the way that they're getting stuck in certain narratives and they're being you know, it's just like, it's okay for us to be fluid in certain things, but there is exactly what you said.
We're not the same, you know, and we're not supposed to be the same. Nobody wants an androgynous, homogenized humanity. Like, the feminine and masculine energy and the polarities that we possess were given because, you know, that's what makes the world go around. Right? This kind of opposition or masculine feminine thing, and it doesn't mean that you're all one and not the other. That's not harmonized. Right? You're never getting to go dance between the 2. But we we we certainly have concentrations in one area versus the other. You know? And some of us are like, you know, obviously, I'm more sparkly and you know, but I still consider myself quite masculine compared to a lot of women, you know, because it seems like the the professions that I choose, it's very male dominated. There's you know? I mean, back in the day, it was like there's 1 female DJ to every 500 male DJs. Right? And same thing with Bitcoiners.
There's 1 Bitcoiner woman. If you go to the bathroom line at the conference in Nashville, there's a 100 dudes in line to go pee, and the women's bathrooms are completely open. So, you know, we're in these different fields, but we're still able to be present in our femininity and in in our motherhood and in our nurturing, you know, and in our creativity. So that's just something I've I've, you know, been admiring about you. And it's just like it's not about one or the other. It's just like, where do we where do we get to dance and and find that?
[01:00:09] Unknown:
I value experiences that I've gone through as I get older, also as a as I get older, as a woman, as I have 2 daughters, as I have a son, as I see my daughter's friends, as I, you know, just, there's a saying in Spanish, must The the devil knows more because he's old and not because he's the devil. I mean, there is no such value in in getting older. And, you know, I I in filmmaking, I was very often and still am, sometimes the only woman on set. I was a director of photography, still am, but now I hire more directors of photography. But I was a director of photography. I was the only woman, and I would come in with my year and people would be like, where's the DP?
Me, motherfucker. Like, I'm the DP, you know. Yeah. So there, you know, there are a lot of there are a lot of moments where I just struggled. But when I would get an interview when I would sit down and get an interview from somebody, I would get a different reaction from the people that we were interviewing than my male counterparts. Mhmm. When I was negotiating certain certain things, I would get a different reaction from the people that I was negotiating with than my male counterparts. Yeah. There were some areas where I started to realize, like, I don't need to be a man. I don't need to, act like a man. And I feel like in a way that has it's like a psyop to teach us, how to ignore our feminine, like, guts and our feminine powers.
And I do believe that women are, we're tapped into something special. And I think it's part of how we protect our our families. It's how to part out we protect our communities. And we have been kind of trained away from understanding and seeing that. And I think if everybody were to come into their power, whether it's feminine or male or somewhere in between or whatever, I think that we're all gonna do so much better because we can all really, like, could decentralize human creativity and decentralize human progress where it's not just one way that things go well. It's there are many different ways. And, yeah, as a woman and as a mother, it's just not something that I'm just so proud of of being able to do it. And in today's day and age, you know, we have a very we're super conservative for some things and super, you know, Bitcoiners in other ways, like believing in in certain things like, you know, you could live on a Bitcoin standard for example. So there's I it's so beautiful to kind of go through life and change and learn and being open but not so open that you're channeling the signal and the noise the same way. You know, you need to be able to filter out, be open enough that you are kind of aware if in case something is in signal that you can incorporate, but there's a lot of noise out there. And there are such people are so so so so open minded or filmmakers that are so so so so open minded and fair that then there's nothing of substance that comes out of their films. And that for me was something in that with dirty corn, people would ask me like, oh, but are you gonna are you gonna are you gonna show both sides equally? And I'm like, no. Because the opposition is like 2% of the 100%.
That would not be equally. So so, no, I'm not gonna give them 50% airtime just because they are the opposition. I mean, no. We have some really great stories that the New York Times is not reporting on, that Time Magazine isn't reporting on. We already have the other side, this these blown up cases on the other side. You guys can go and watch that. This is going to show you everything else that is under the the curtain that they're not letting you see. And, yes, we are going to incorporate some of these other stories, but they're going to get as much airtime as the reality that they at that they exist in this space, which is look. All of this is being done. None of it is being reported by these major outlets, and they are blowing these small problems completely out of proportion use continuing to use bogus science.
Why would I give something that I've already discovered to be unscientific airtime?
[01:04:21] Unknown:
It well and and, again, like, we think about how how are we processing information as humans, especially the new ones and the people who aren't familiar with Bitcoin and familiar with, you know, this new thinking about energy as something like we want in a more electrified world. And so if and I love what you're saying. Like, you don't wanna give too much airtime to the bullshit. However, if we're not acknowledging that it exists and this is a counterpoint to it, you know, we do sound like we're in a cult. And so does, you know, The New York Times and Times and all the bullshit. Right? And so it's just like the the things that I see, like, you know, like, I I I remember the first Bitcoin conference I went to, and it was like there was mining, and then the next track was or the next presentation was about the memes.
You know? And I was just like, whatever. I'm not gonna sit here. And then I was like, fuck it. I'm gonna sit here and listen to the memes. It was still, to this day, the best presentation I've seen at any Bitcoin conference. Here's why. Our cricket grasshopper minds and attention, it's like, okay. Oh, next thing, sparkles, squirrel, you know, the whole thing. If we can't capture something very quickly in a political cartoon or in a meme or anything, you're gonna lose the ability for somebody to click deeper and go deeper into their rabbit hole thought process. You know? And so I think it's important that we keep remembering, like, we're lucky because we're already in the hole in the rabbit hole, and we're dancing with each other. And isn't this fun? But, like, 99% of the people are still way the fuck out here. You know? And so it's like, what's their little amuse bouche? What's their entry point into the the this this journey? And so not that there's one right way to get anybody interested in, you know, dropping their ego and understanding this new way of thinking.
It it was just it was like these little tiny compare and contrast. Like, here's this world, and here's this new world. Here's this in one little square in a picture. You know? And it's like, how the heck can these meme guys or girls do this? You know? And and so from the memes all the way to the beautiful documentaries that you've created, you know, it's like, how do we help people on their user journey, on their on their discovery into, you know, what is their truth? What is the new way of looking at the world? And so I love that you are taking all this wonderful time and energy out of your life to educate us and to educate the masses on this. And I think about, like you know, I wanna circle back really quick with empowerment because you had said something about feminine empowerment and female empowerment.
Rachel Guyer do you know Rachel who's La Femme Orange? Right? And so she spoke at, in Madera, and she was talking about, like like, women's empowerment is bullshit. Like, don't ever say that word or don't ever say that phrase. I was like, okay. Why? You know? And she's just like, we're already empowered, but we're we're we're we've got stuff that's covering us up. So our job is to, like, move that stuff out of the way so that, like, what's true and natural, which is the feminine essence, can shine for forward. You know? And I love that because, like, we think about, like, we have to add to something and get more empowered. No. We don't. We have to delete what is unnecessary. Like, a sculptor will delete all the the things to create the new piece of art.
And so I think about all of us, it's just like, what has been put upon us as women, as men, as a society, as everybody in between? Like, what needs to get removed so that the core essence of us can shine forward, you know, and shine true. So so I feel like that's what you're doing.
[01:08:03] Unknown:
Thank you. I love it. Thank you. I want to continue to do more of it because people have responded really well. And when I started this, a lot of people were like, we don't need another Bitcoin documentary. And I'm like, like, you don't get it. This is different. Everybody says that. I'm like, no. But this time, it's like true. It's like, it's different. And then same FTX with Doge. It's different. No, it's the same, but it's not. You know, and I have been able to trust my gut and I could peep nobody's gonna go to the movies to watch it. Well, we've already been selling out screenings literally all over the world and we're going to theaters on Halloween. So I at the end of the day, we're all I think we're all spiritual beings and our bodies are our vehicles on earth and our bodies have certain advantages and disadvantages. Right? It's like some people have a Corvette, some people have a truck. You know? They have different different things. But, ultimately, the driver is, the I think the most important part of the whole of the whole thing, of the whole equation. And I refuse to believe that people don't wanna know. I think that some people, you know, they don't know that they don't know. You don't know what you don't know. Exactly.
And when you then empower them, I do think that people want to be empowered. That's how suddenly everybody was like a Ukraine expert overnight. People want to know. They wanna know. They wanna find out now where they're finding out about things and all these things are to or it's an interesting situation there, but those that's breaking. That's breaking apart. I mean, look how Trump and Elon Musk yesterday spoke for 2 hours on x, and they even received a letter from the European Commission, what, ACH. Correct me here. I'm filling the blanks.
Thank you. You know, we are witnessing that these mainstream media, the grasp that the mainstream media has had on people's minds, it's it's breaking apart and it's being replaced. And, you know, it's it's a little bit of a shit show at the moment because the Internet kinda opened the doors to everyone. But, you know, my daughter has learned to play piano on the Internet. I've learned to do half of the things of my job on the Internet. So, you know, you can learn how to build a bomb. You can learn how to, you know, create a career and live back in your island of Puerto Rico making movies. So I think it's important to understand that every every tree that reaches high also reaches low and but stay true to to yourself. And I think that people wanna know. And I do I disagree that people wanna stay ignorant. I think that people it's time for people I don't think it's time for people to wake up. I think people are already waking up. And what are they waking up to? And I and that's why I also don't wanna add to the noise of the problems. So if I were to instead make a documentary on how trans men are or trans women are, like, doing x y z, I'm kind of again shining a light at the problem. So if you're waking up, what are you waking up to? Are you waking up to, oh, look at how we can produce electricity in a decentralized way for energy sovereignty in this, like, what are we spending our time having a conversation on? Yeah. And I much rather spend my time doing interviews like this than talking about how, countries can become sovereign again, how they can become energy abundant, a tool that is not controlled by the central bank.
And I rather have these conversations than to just kind of air out the dirty laundry that humanity has had. And in a way, we just kinda have to wash our hands and move forward with respect and looking at what is really at the foundation of a lot of the other problems that we're talking about. Because there's a lot deeper, more closer to the core things that I think are bigger issues. I can have an opinion over women's sports and all of that. And but I feel like if we kind of go back to the the core, we're going to kind of handle that as well. We don't necessarily need to talk about specific sports players. That's just too myopic of the situation because the problem is much, much larger, or the situation. The and that's where the good stuff is. You know? The good stuff isn't in the in the headlines. You know? You got little human rats talk about this for a week.
The the the deeper stuff is where where the real change is going to happen. So I'm excited. I I live in a bubble full of really smart, freedom minded people. You know, let's just let's just try our best until our time is up.
[01:12:34] Unknown:
It's so important, and I love what you said because it's like, and and I get Velcroed into the bullshit sometimes because I'm just like, oh, I'm picking up the thing. And, I get the outrage, and I'm like, yep. As as planned, there you go. So we're not I don't think any of us humans are completely immune to it, but the more that we can redirect our focus to building is, I think, where we're gonna find all those great solutions and where we're gonna obviously have, like, our you know, we're talking about energy, and I I talk a lot about I meditate and I teach meditation. I think about energy hygiene, like our own internal energy hygiene. And so if we're not conscientious about what we're letting come in to this up here, like, we're gonna constantly be hijacked by anything, you know? And so it's like we have to have those healthy boundaries in our minds and in our internal operating systems, you know, and so that we can keep building the future that we wanna build. Otherwise, we're gonna be at the the the whim of these powers that be that constantly wanna extract from us. And so so I think energy on all of these levels is such an important conversation. And and I love so much that you didn't listen to anybody who told you, don't make another Bitcoin documentary.
Like, I am so glad because your your film has is is completely different, and everybody needs to go watch it. And whether you're a Bitcoiner or not, it's like understanding how things work out there is super duper important. And, where where can everybody find you next with the film? Like, where's what's happening on the agenda for you?
[01:14:10] Unknown:
So this documentary has been completely done independently. I raised every single dollar myself, and, yeah, I contacted that film later. And now that being said, I raise every single dollar from a lot of people that were helping. So I I wasn't alone. I was just alone as a captain, but definitely not alone at sea. You know, I had a lot of people that, you know, helped along the way, and I'm really grateful for the people that I've met. But the movie has been called Dirty Coin since day 1. So people had to really trust me to sit down for an interview for me because I could've, you know, it said it. They were signing a contract that said Dirty Coin the movie, LLC.
I knew what they were getting into and they still sat down and, you know, they had to trust me. So every single person that sat down for an interview had to know me, and had to kind of understand what it is that I was doing. I told everybody I will present what I see. I had to tell my investors this too. So I kind of set myself up to make the hardest movie that I could make. You know. The studios don't wanna know about Bitcoin or crypto, especially during crypto winter. Bitcoiners don't wanna, you know, they've been rug pulled enough, and they don't wanna get involved in things that are gonna be another rug pool. Investors don't wanna invest in films because only 3% of independent films make their money back.
Like, where they're gonna give money to this girl that says she's gonna, like, interview minors and call the movie Durry coin, another Bitcoin documentary. I mean, it all of it was it was very gut driven, and I think that the people that went with their gut are now kind of excited and happy. So what's next? What's next is that I'm also independently distributing it. Because here's another thing people kept telling me, people are not going to come out to the theaters to watch this. And I'm like, I think that they will. I think they will. Like, Bitcoiners, they they have meetups. There's a community. I think there's something really beautiful about being together in person. Yes. You know? Who are you going to meet at a at a Bitcoin documentary about mining? You know, you're gonna meet people that are curious about it, that are aware of it. You're gonna possibly meet new people. You can go to, a meetup after. You can discuss what you saw. You can tear the movie apart. You can say all the things you wish the movie would have had. That conversation is probably gonna be even more valuable to people than having watched the film, but that conversation can't take place if they don't watch the film together. And so since, we premiered on the day of the having in Warsaw, which was another, like, just angelic moment right there, it was so cool, for 2024, we premiered dirty corn. And since then, we've had 11 screenings, and it's been around, let's say, 22100 people that have watched the film.
And that's not a lot of views on YouTube. Right? You look at YouTube, you're like, oh, only 2,000 views. But or 10,000. This is better than that. Oh, I hate that this only has 10,000 views, but imagine 10,000 people together. That's Exactly. Intense. That's beautiful. And that is one of the things that I want. I wanna I'd rather have 20 people in a theater, just 20 watching it together in unison at the same time, coming out of the theater at the same time and then discussing it. The people that are into Bitcoin are rocket scientists, techs, engineers, tech engineers, doctors, mothers, husbands, fathers. I mean, there's so many incredible incredibly smart people out there that are curious about this that I feel like, you know, once you see, you can't unsee. You can't put that blindfold back on. And so I want to make sure that those experiences are happening, in the space with other people. A lot of the scenes cost me a lot of money to make. So I personally love seeing them on the big screen because I'm like, because in the phone, it's like you know, it's just like a little stamp. And on the big screen, you can really you can really appreciate it. All of the music was made, like, here in Puerto Rico, a musician friend of mine. So there's also a better speaker so you can really hear everything that we did with the sound.
We did 51. So, like, we really created something really good and on the phone, it'll just all get compressed. So we'll get to streaming later, but for the moment, there are a lot of documentaries online. So people can go and watch one today or they need to get their Bitcoin documentary fixed. But for me, I those moments of bringing people together and getting them to watch this and have this experience together, is just so powerful. And I believe in the movie theaters as well. I think that things are changing. And as a filmmaker and executive producer, I am, now basically flexing flexed being a director making a movie. People like it. Yay. It done.
But then now it's like, as an executive producer, then how do we make sure that this film gets seen? How do we make sure that this film makes money? Money, it can be seen by more. We can translate it to more languages. We can get it into more theaters. We can get more people to find out about this. And so that's what I'm working on right now. We're going to theaters on Halloween, and I'm aiming for 2,000 screens. Oh, I heard the thunder again. Yeah. Halloween. You just said Halloween. Oh my god. Halloween. Yes. Halloween is where we're gonna go to theaters. I'm aiming for 2,000 screens. This is everything.
Movie theaters. Yeah. I'm going big. I'm going and it's not even that big. Yeah. 2000 is even that big. But I, point 1% of creative production companies are founded by women. So that's me. I have a production company 13 years in, in business. This is my 13th year. As 3% of independent films make their money back, and I'm on my way and I am determined to being part of that 3% of independent films that are gonna make their money back. And not just because, you know, money, but because this is gonna allow me as a producer and as a director and as a thinker to get more of my ideas out there and to get more investors on board earlier so that we can and basically just gain more trust in the space. So my idea was not to make a movie to go on YouTube. My idea was to make a movie that would, you know, make money, make ink make its money back and be seen around the world and valued around the world and help kind of enlighten people on where we're heading. And this is something that I was having a conversation over dinner with some friends and they said they weren't paying attention to to this because I was telling them, dirty coin this week is going to be screening for free in Norway because, there's a potential ban on Bitcoin mining in Norway. Mhmm. And and like, well, who cares? I mean, if miners can move other places.
It's true, but the the way that the the bill is being written, this is anti data centers, which is kind of what we were talking about earlier. Yeah. So this will affect everyone. And if what if miners were, balancing the grid in Norway? Who's gonna suck up all that extra wind or whatever? You know? Like geothermal, I think, is what they have over there. There's, you know, there's so much more to the conversation that should just specifically say it's good or bad without really kind of I'll be back in 20 hours. Let me do some reading about this specific location. I mean, that's really the answer that people kind of deserve, but, again, you're having dinner. You just kinda wanna say what's on your mind. And what's on my mind is that you don't need to be in Bitcoin for this to affect you. This is going to affect you. You're just not looking at it because it's, you know, targeting Bitcoin. But it's gonna target it it also targets Amazon, targets Google, it targets all these other data centers as well.
And where your website will run will run on a data center. So I think it's really important for us to be paying attention and to understand what is going on, and have fun. You know? It can be I feel like it's it it could the world can feel a little black, like, it's kind of a dystopic future is upon us. And it's you know? But history is not written yet. We have an opportunity to, you know, white pill people and make them feel empowered and make them make them know that they are powered. How about that after what you said? Yeah. Exactly. Recognize their power and understand that, you know, they want your power because they know you have it.
So, yeah, so let's just do that. Let's just all recognize our power and, then let's have really awesome films that that challenge our minds so that we can use the medium for positive, not for, you know, forwarding the gains of Terminator.
[01:22:51] Unknown:
I know. That's not the the future that we wanna envision. And I think what you're doing too is so it's so I don't wanna say easy, but it's lower hanging fruit if you're just going, I'm gonna make something and pop it up on the Internet or up on YouTube versus I want something that actually people are going to see each other in our skin suits and have conversations with each other and have an emotional reaction, have a mental reaction, and then possibly have new relationships that get formed because of of some common threads that people might be interested in. You know? And so that speaks volumes to you and your character and how you operate instead of just I'm gonna just blast some content out there, and I hope it sticks to somebody's wall here.
So thank you for bringing us together with your mission, with your message, with your magic, and, I am so happy to know you. And I can't wait to, you know, keep seeing what Dirtycoin's gonna do, and I can't wait to see what happens next. But I think, you know, a lot of us as creators and creatives, we think, like, what's the next project? What's the next project? And it's like, you've already got this one thing. Like, now it's time to go spread it, you know, and and distribute it, distribute, distribute. And so this is, it seems like, where you're at right now. So I'm excited to see what the the the shift is in our consciousness and the shift is in how we're gonna operate as humanity because of dirty coin.
So thank you.
[01:24:21] Unknown:
Thank you. And I will say I will not, take your credit for the shift because the shift is happening. And it's a wave that I feel, and that's why I know that dirty coin is just riding this huge wave. So thank you for your time and for interviewing me today. I am in the point of spreading it. I want people to watch it. It's 70 minutes long. Used to be 69 minutes long. And now it's I I just I I just want people to watch it, and I really appreciate you giving me the time to be on here to talk about it and share a little bit more about me.
[01:24:52] Unknown:
Totally. You're the best. And everybody who's listening, I'm gonna have all the, you know, information, everything in the show notes, but go to dirtycointhemovie.com. And you can also follow Alana and dirty coin on x@dirtycoindocandalana medevilla at, on x. And, again, thank you so much. And, I just wanna ask you one tiny thing, just one thing, and we'll do it, like, in a minute or less. If there's somebody here listening to this episode and they're just contemplating, you know, should I go make a thing? Should I go put some time and energy into this this vision that won't let me go, that keeps scratching at my consciousness? What would you say to them?
[01:25:31] Unknown:
I would say do it. I would say launch yourself to do it. And one thing that I've said from the beginning, it's if I fail, I'll fail at making my first feature documentary. If and now it's like, if I fail, I'll just fail at the box office for my openings. My opening week is gonna fail, but it's gonna help it. And I'm willing to fail, totally willing to fail a 100%. But I'm not going to stop until it's done. And when I fail, I'll just, you know, figure out a a a different way because I was so close. You know, usually failures don't completely take you out. They just kind of knock you off balance a little bit, but they just train you to not get off balance that way again. So they make you stronger. So even when you fail, you're actually winning because you're getting closer to to that. So I would say go ahead and do it and do not be afraid of failure.
Kind of embrace it. Embrace that you're gonna fall a few times, because if you didn't, I'd be I'd I'd be, like like, somebody's not there. Yeah. Everything's too smooth and maybe there's something else that you should be worried about. But, yeah, I would say, yes. Go ahead and do it and don't ever wonder. Don't stay with the wonder of, could you have done it? I mean, that's just gonna eat at you forever. So I would say go ahead and do it. Have fun and enjoy the failures.
[01:26:50] Unknown:
I love it. That's such great advice. And, Yeah. For all of us out there who are creators, like, just keep doing it. It's it's it's it's in us. It wants to come out. We're just vessels for these messages. So, you know, when we get right with that that that that truth, then I think we can be in service of of a better world for for ourselves and for our children and for each other. So thank you, and thank you again for everything you're doing, Alana. I'm so happy to know you, and I'm so glad to call you a friend and, and just, you know, inspiration in my life. So thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Totally. And oh, woah. Big lightning just hit. You're gonna hear a crackle in a minute. It was a big one. Oh my god. But, okay, that's good news. So lightning strikes. We're good, and thank you. Oh, there it is. And thanks everybody for tuning in. And, again, make sure you guys go follow Alana and Dirty Coin the movie. And, until next time, we'll check you guys later. Peace, love, and aloha.
If you guys are interested in learning about how Bitcoin mining is helping people who are energy poor, who are suffering in places where you can't even refrigerate medicine or do medical procedures because all they have is candlelight, My guest, Alana Medevia, is the producer, director, and writer of Dirty Coin, the film, and it's so amazing. You guys have to tune into this. She went all over the world and gathered a lot of different information and really connects the dots of how Bitcoin is helping people get out of a state of poverty, out of a state of suffering, and then how we're also cleaning up parts of the environment and parts of the energy sector that are polluting like methane. So tune in. You guys are gonna love Alana. She is a wonderful woman and a dear sweet soul sister. Enjoy.
Hey, aloha. Get ready for an epic episode. And if you love it, please share it. You know why? Because you got the love. Enjoy, my friends. Hey. Aloha, Love Tribe. Thanks for tuning in. I have somebody here with me that I have been fond of chasing after watching her, been really excited about the transformation that she has been teaching people about Bitcoin and energy and mining and why the environment is actually gonna be better off because of Bitcoin. This is Alana Mediavia, the director of Dirtycoin. Welcome, my sweet, sweet soul sister.
[00:01:50] Unknown:
Thank you. Thank you. I remember the first time I saw you was the women in brunch, the not this year, but the year I wanna say 1 year ago. And you had this bright pink dress and we had the pink heart glasses. Yeah. I was like, wow. I wasn't expecting such a, like, feminine, a so much feminine energy at a Bitcoin conference, and it was awesome. And I love that it was right at the beginning of the conference because I felt like I had left that brunch with so many girlfriends, so many people that I could, you know, see. It's sprinkled amongst the dudes.
[00:02:27] Unknown:
And that yeah. That was such a special event. And, obviously, Natalie Brunell and Callie Bailey were are the, you know, the the spearheads of this. And and I got to go the year before, you know, and it was in a smaller venue. It was just at a restaurant, and I got to meet Spetzky, god bless him, because I was wanting to you know, I just started learning about Bitcoin. And then he was doing some dinner thing, and I was like, I don't know anybody. I'm gonna go to the Bitcoin conference. What do I do? You know? And he's like, go see Natalie. Go do this, da da da. And and it was just such a great sweet event, you know, at the very beginning of this massive, massive, you know, tens of thousands of people conference with mostly dudes. Right? And there's some of us women, and we're like, what do we do? And so I love that Natalie put that together, and I got to volunteer and help and participate because, like you said, when you meet people at the very beginning and then you're, you know, going through all the rest of the event and you see each other, and if you have those pink glasses or whatever, you're like, I I see you. We were there together. What's up? High five, sister.
And so the community is so key, and the energy of the community is so key. And so, obviously, you're bringing people together with Dirty Coin, and you're educating different people all over the world about why Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining is something is is positively transformational for the environment and for society. So maybe you can give everybody a background of who you are, how you got to Bitcoin, and and, you know, what's going on with dirty coin.
[00:03:58] Unknown:
Those are 3 huge questions.
[00:04:02] Unknown:
Completely huge questions. Do do do.
[00:04:05] Unknown:
Well, I am the executive producer and director of Dirty Coin. And, in 2020, I quit my corporate job at Google as a filmmaker at Google, to pursue my own projects. I really loved working at Google. I loved my team. I loved the global team. I loved my access to to people, like, really, really smart people all over the world. It was awesome. Mhmm. And I learned to think really big and, like, next 1,000,000,000 users, you know, n b u n b u next 1,000,000,000 users, and how are you creating content for the next 1,000,000,000 users. And that was my job. So I was making, like, videos for that for with that idea.
And so I really loved, you know, kind of expanding my my view of the earth and actually having really awesome friends all over the world that were helping me on these projects. And so I felt like if I can continue to leverage what I have learned, with my own movies, like, I wanna be able to choose what it is that I talk about. I was kinda tired of making, like, corporate documentaries, and it's funny because then I end up with another data center documentary which is which is dirty coin. But, you know, go with what you know. Right? And I knew that I was good, but I wanted to prove myself with my own concept, not just a concept of somebody else that was basically, like, this is a feature that we're going to be pushing, so please make a movie about it. And I really enjoyed it, but I was ready for kind of finding my own story.
And I felt that, you know, Bitcoin had been something that I had seen kind of grow in Silicon Valley. And it was something that not a lot of people would talk about it because it kind of meant that you were on Silk Road. You were buying drugs on Silk Road. I mean, you know, if you had Bitcoin and or you were doing just something illegal. It had this kind of dirty reputation to it. And but I remember kind of seeing it a little differently because I found out about, you know, Cubans that were sending Bitcoin to Cuba, and then there were, like, people in Cuba that were turning it into their local fiat. So this was a way that, like, family were was able to send money. Expat family is able or the Aspura family is able to send money back into the island.
And I thought that was really interesting. And then I started kind of digging down that rabbit hole of, like, kind of borderless Internet money. And I thought that was really interesting. And so that's one of the reasons why I felt like Bitcoin was just kind of something to keep an eye on. And then I saw the rise of crypto, and I wasn't really working in Bitcoin. Like, I was working in tech, and I knew about Bitcoin, but and, you know, I was involved in Bitcoin in some ways, but not, not really in, like, working towards getting anybody else involved or buying Bitcoin or anything like that. For me, it was a very personal thing. I felt like, honestly, I was a huge degen for buying Bitcoin and learning about it and, you know, losing keys and all of that. So I kinda didn't want other people to have some of the negative experiences that I had had in my early days in Bitcoin, so I would just not really talk to people about it.
But then in, like, 2019, 2020, I started noticing more of a rise of an anti Bitcoin retort because of its energy consumption. Mhmm. And I was like, It's bad for the environment. And I'm like, man, it's bad for the environment. This sucks. You know? It's like finding out that your, like, favorite burger shop does everything with seed oils. You know? You're like, no. We don't know. Can't eat you anymore. So that was kinda how I felt. But then, when I so I started looking into it. Like, okay. Well, then why is it bad for the environment? I wanna find out. And then they're like, well, have you seen, like, the computers that run this? And I had been working at Google Cloud, so I very much was very aware of what data centers look like. And before Google Cloud, I did work for other, AI powered machine learning, companies, so I knew exactly what the physical footprint of our digital lives entailed.
And so I was like, well, this is just a data center, but, okay, these chips run hotter. They're only doing the one thing over and over again. Let me continue to look into it. And what I found was not only was it not bad, it's like such an incredible solution, multifaceted solution for different places. It's not just one solution for one place. It's Yeah. It kind of transforms to become a different solution. It's like a magical key that kind of changes shape depending on the keyhole. Yeah. And and there are keyholes that it doesn't work it as well, but it's still this magical key. And I felt like, wow. Well, this is something that my really smart friends, my smart engineer friends, my smart you know, these are smart people that are saying these things that Bitcoin is bad for the environment, but it's because they didn't do the, you know, the 100 hour deep dive that I did. And so whenever that conversation would come up, how do you synthesize this this wealth of time that you have spent learning about something into, like, cocktail conversation.
It's tough because it come we also have an energy illiteracy that's kind of like at the bottom of, like, our mining, misunderstanding. So I I decided, like, this is something that is worth talking about because it affects everyone. And I started seeing regulation kind come in against Bitcoin mining, and I saw that the way that it's worded, this is something that's going to throttle data center growth, all kinds of data centers, your information, your your AI, your websites, all kind of data center growth. The the legislation and the kind of the the narrative that's coming will affect everything. So nobody's gonna be paying attention because it's just Bitcoin and they're not involved in Bitcoin, so whatever. But this is going to affect and it's already affecting their daily lives. So so I felt like I wanted the overall mainstream, like, most people to at least understand what is mining, what does it look like, and just gain kind of like a a level of understandings because these conversations aren't gonna go away.
So then let's gain a level of understanding so that we can have kind of a a a more intellectual conversation about it and not just be like, well, it's bad for the environment because that's it it that's just headline deep, you know, and also depends on the publication, which which headline.
[00:10:28] Unknown:
Yeah. Totally. Well, 2 things you mentioned, like well, one was energy illiteracy. Right? And I think that's something I've certainly have and continue to try to battle and learn about, like, why, you know, it's better the more electrified and the more energy we have on planet Earth, the the more healthy and prosperous and and safe our world can be. You know? And I think a lot of people don't understand that. So can you you know, I think about energy you know, I had, Elliott from Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol on, is talking about energy poverty. A lot of people don't understand that, you know, we need more electricity and energy on planet Earth for us to continue to thrive and why societies that don't or, you know, cultures and and, you know, communities that don't have energy are at such a giant disadvantage compared to, other societies and cultures that do. And so can you help people understand who are listening, you know, more energy means more love, more peace, more prosperity?
[00:11:34] Unknown:
And higher GDP. You know? Yeah. And and higher GDP tends to also, you know, contribute to happiness. It contributes to fulfillment. It contributes to pride. You know, live the pride of a country. And it's interesting because so higher GDP, high high more capacity to produce. You have a higher GDP. You can produce much more. Yeah. And you have these countries that are energy rich. Let's say, for example, you have a country that has, like, Paraguay, for example. They have Itaipu. They have this incredible dam that produces so much electricity. They have all of this energy.
In their case, they already have a dam, but there are places that they don't even have a dam, but they have the the water. And so they could actually create a hydroelectric, infrastructure, but then they don't have the funds to do so. Right? And these same countries that are energy rich, and this is what it mean this meant by energy rich yet energy poor, because then you have people that don't have access to electricity even though they're sitting on so much energy. But what's missing is being able to turn that energy, that available energy into something that can be used by people into electricity. And it needs to be turned into and transmitted to them as well. So there's this whole infrastructure, capital investment that needs to go in to and in order and it's it's kind of a chicken before the egg situation because you need capital to develop the electricity, but you still don't have demand for that electricity.
Yeah. These people that don't have electricity, like Bondo in Malawi where we phone for dirty coin Yeah. They don't have also a need for it. They don't have a refrigerator that's there. They don't have, an electric car. They don't have even a TV in some cases. Right? Now they're starting to get more electricity, but these are people that didn't have electricity, so there's no demand. And yet they're then kind of stuck in where you know, what they can do with the available energy that they have, and and available energy is in the form of burning wood. You know, there's other ways of creating energy to to meet our needs, to heat our homes, to heat our food, to cook. So, you know, but then that's kind of it. And so other countries that have more access to electricity are then able to create and, you know, buy an air fryer, for example. You know, you have just more things that you can that you have a a access to be able to do. So, you know, I I personally dealt with, so for Malawi, I didn't go personally. I sent a crew and I zoomed in or WhatsApp, FaceTimed, or any way that we could get connection in to them, and I was a part of it there. And we were in, certain villages or certain parts of the village that had no electricity at all, and so it was very dark in some areas. But I could hear people, like, singing and laughing and talking to each other, and I could hear all this human energy.
And then when we would get closer towards areas that, you know, had a TV, there was a lot of people, like, kind of gathered on the TV. We were closer to electricity, but then kind of the human energy would go down because everybody was just kinda staring at the TV. And so that was a kind of an interesting situation for me because it's not like, oh, these poor people in where they're at. They're just they're not there's nothing they're they're doing great. They're happy. But then, you know, electric the bringing of electricity doesn't necessarily all always mean, something positive. It could mean now you have the news on to wrap your brain all day long.
But that also means refrigerator at the refrigerators at the corner shop so that they can sell cold items. I mean, I just feel like, the electricity and the Internet is like it's a weapon. It's a tool and it can be used for good and it can be used for for evil. But it's still something that I'd rather have I'd rather live with than without because I know I live in Puerto Rico. We lose electricity once to twice, a week. And, you know, I lose Internet. I don't have lights in my office. I there's we can't put a fan on. It's hot. If it's raining, we can go outside. I mean, it definitely lowers the the quality of life at least that I've been, exposed to and expecting.
And so I'm very aware of how, never having an interruption in your electricity, access kind of creates this bubble that where you can't really understand what it is to live without it. But in a modern world, it's kinda very tough to live without it.
[00:16:11] Unknown:
It it is. It's super tough. And I just earlier today, I was dealing with, you know, the Internet being out and all this before, you know, the the the interviews with you and with Brandon, and it's just like, oh, no. There's no no Internet. What are we gonna do? And it's like, you're gonna deal. Like, it's either not gonna happen or it's gonna happen, but we're so tapped into that consistency of connection to the electrical grid, to the, you know, the the communication grid that exists. And so, I I loved hearing you say just about hearing the human energy sounds. You know? And and, yeah, I just finished reading this book called Bringers of the Dawn by Barbara Marciniak, and she talks about, like, turning off all of your TVs, turn everything off because it's just like this brain suck. You know? And it's just constantly pulling us away from source and this energy of love and, you know, in the infinite. And so I think a lot of us are so indoctrinated into, you know, turn on your phone, turn on the the social, and da da da da. You know, we're forgetting to turn onto each other as human beings. You know? And and, you know, you see all those pictures in social media where people are at the restaurant and everyone's just kinda doing this. And it's like, that's your new date model for, you know, the the the the new century kinda thing. And I'm like, that doesn't sound very fun. You know?
One thing that I I I remember seeing when we were in, Madera was and this and this touched me so much was the surgeon. You know, do you wanna talk about you know, because because we think about capital expenditures, and we think about why it's so important. Like, how does Bitcoin and how does Bitcoin incentivize this, you know, taking the energy, whether it's a river, whether it's volcano energy, whether it's the, you know, the the waterfalls, etcetera? How can Bitcoin serve as a, a way to bring human flourishing using natural resources that isn't, you know, polluting and and then the CapEx is there?
Does that make sense? I don't know. It's a weird question. Yeah. Okay. I know you'll get it. So
[00:18:20] Unknown:
I mean, you need you need, you need that capital to turn that energy, that potential energy into something that could be into power. Right? It's just something that can be used by people. And in the case of Bitcoin mining, you can do Bitcoin mining anywhere. All you need is electricity and a little weak signal. Like, we don't they Bitcoin mining means less Internet bandwidth than what you and I are using right now in in this in this way. It's, it's just it's, I mean, it's it's a very, very simple thing that mine that miners are doing and that it's it's very light and and it's and that's why you have certain conversations about block size and every and then everything because it is an advantage for it to be so light. And so Bitcoin miners can go and they can basically mine, or how about this, people, because this is something that it's often I caught myself in discussing it with somebody when I say Bitcoin miners can do this.
People then think, oh, well, this is a category of person outside of me. You know? That's like saying, like, rocket scientists can do this. You know? Well, I'm not Mhmm. Whatever. But, really, anybody, any human being can buy a Bitcoin miner and plug it into a source of electricity, and it's a little bit more complicated than that and there are, like, workshops and stuff to really learn how to do it. But then, basically, you can start anybody can mine Bitcoin and they can do it from anywhere. And so that's a big difference then, like, can you put a factory anywhere? You can't really put the put a factory in the middle of a very, very rocky terrain, but a factory can is the one that is consuming a large amount of electricity. And very often, for example, Puerto Rico, we have a lot of our electricity. When you look at its development, it was developed to reach areas of manufacturing or areas of, you know, industry load. They were the ones that were, like, kind of they financed that expenditure for, for the for the electric company. Right? It's not like individual people. It's these big, big customers of electricity.
Normally, these big customers of electricity have a large footprint, a physical footprint. They are, they have trucks coming in and out. They have dyes. They have chemicals depending on what they're doing. Right? And they're dumping those in the river and they're we've had a a terrible, kind of, we all know what factories and industries are capable of doing, the kind of damage they're capable of wrecking. But, anyway, they need a lot of people coming in and out and everything. Now a Bitcoin mining operation, a facility of that mines Bitcoin can consume the same amount of electricity as a huge factory or even a city in a a a small city, but in a, Bagon, sometimes my English goes away from speaking Spanish all day. A trailer, like, a just one trailer. Yeah. So it's very condensed, and you can just drop that trailer or in the case of, gritless in some areas, literally bringing in each computer. They would bring in, like, 2, 4, 6 at a time, and then they would put them up. And by the time they're all up, they are consuming an industry load, small industry in their case, but in other cases, you can go as high as you want, size you can.
And you can consume all all of the wasted electricity that's there, and you can pay for that electricity as well. I think it's really important to note as well that because anybody in the world can just buy a computer and plug it in, you're gonna see all kinds of stuff. You're gonna see it's like bad neighbors. Right? You're gonna see people that just don't that leave all their trash in the front yard. You know? That's just kind of like the human experience. So when it comes to talking about Bitcoin miners, that's like you're literally talking about humans, people. And so there's gonna be a lot of different, applications.
I definitely spoke with I think that what I noticed in my journey, I spent 2 years interviewing Bitcoin miners all over the world. What I noticed was that the irresponsible ones, like the bad neighbors, they don't tend to last long. They can't. You know? The the their local like, they don't pay their bill. They get kicked out. They they they do something that they just cannot it's a very, very competitive industry. And if you're not doing it right, you probably won't last long. So I used to get upset when I used to see somebody. I'm like, oh, this person, they're just they're not doing it right. And then I'm and then, like, a few months later, they went out of business. I'm like, oh, okay. I kinda saw that, like, happen more and more. And then I thought, interesting. It's interesting how those things take care of themselves. And, so, you know, it's such a it's just such an interesting thing for you to be able to plug an appliance into your house and mine what some say is the most precious asset in the world.
I mean, it's crazy. It's crazy that anybody can do this. And it's not them. It's not the miners. It's anybody that can buy a miner and hook it up to the Bitcoin network.
[00:23:18] Unknown:
Yeah. It's pretty accept like, nothing else out there is actually producing value if I were to go plug in my heater. You know, if I wanna go heat my house, any of this. Right? It's like, okay. I'm just consuming, consuming, consuming, but I'm not producing anything with that, you know, that heat. And so I think about, like, you know, there's a lot of folks out there who are trying to figure out, like, how do you do home heating? How are you doing you know, I'm heating up the Olympic sized swimming pool with the the excess heat from all of these Bitcoin miners. And so, you know, most people don't understand, you know, when we think about flared methane, we think about all the the the the things that are polluting the environment, and now we're gonna have regulations that say, hey, you know, gas fields, whatever, you need to go cap that stuff or figure out, you know, how to go, deal with it. And Bitcoin miners are showing up like, hey. I'll I'll take care of I'll pay you to do that instead of you having to go put all this expenditure out there. And so can you talk about that a little bit? I live in Colorado, and, you know, I look out on the plains and the fields and, you know, at 3 o'clock in the morning because I'm in an Etamek. I wake up and I see these big flames out there, and I'm like,
[00:24:29] Unknown:
where is that? We need to get the Bitcoin miners because I know they're flaring gas. So can you talk about that a little bit? I think this is one of the best This is one of the parts that when I speak with environmentalists, I think that this is one of the most interesting parts that it's we're so used to things being good or bad, but things aren't like that, you know, they we only yeah. It's it's just harder to sell, you know, gray and nuance, but definitely there's a lot of nuance. And kinda going back to you can mine Bitcoin anywhere there's electricity and you can get a moderate, signal.
You can then go to where these, when you drill for oil, methane comes up with everything, comes up with a bunch of stuff. But methane, if there's no if there's not a lot of it or there's no easy access to a pipeline, they have to burn it in order because methane is 26 or 36. The the figure is in my movie, but I forget. Or is it 86? It's 86.
[00:25:27] Unknown:
Eighty 6 times more than carbon dioxide. Yeah. It's, like, over 80 times more. Yeah. Yeah. 86% more warming. Times, not percent, times. Times. Yeah. In fact, the times. Yeah. Times.
[00:25:38] Unknown:
Yeah. Thank you. There's a lot of figures in the movie. So, 86 times. And, you know, if they just flare it, that would be 86 times more warming than burning it and just turning it into c o two. And so that's usually what happens. That's what you see a flare is. It's just that methane being, burnt into the air. Now a couple things. Methane, it's 86 times more warming because it is a very, very potent energy molecule. Mhmm. And so that energy molecule can and should be used. It's just that there's not like I said, there's not always like a financial or there's no there's not an incentive to do so, and so it gets flared. But really nobody wants to be throwing away this incredible molecule when it could be used. And so you have companies that are, creating, gear, like, for example, upstream where you can go and you can, you know, harness that stranded methane and just turn that into Bitcoin, and you're doing that also off grid. And so it's not affecting the grid at all. There are some countries and states where the grid is already so sensitive that the idea of having a Bitcoin miner come and or any or or or just a large load come and consume electricity from that grid is not really viable, or at least depending on that's the thing about mining as well, which is kinda fun. It's you don't need you can mine with few computers or a lot. It's like Lego pieces. So you don't always have to be the size of a Costco.
Sometimes you can be the size of a corner store and you could still actually be helping. So again, back to the nuance, it's very nuanced. But for the most part, it doesn't always from a large industry scale, it doesn't fit in every grid. But you can go into the middle of nowhere, into the middle of the desert or in beautiful Denver and you can or Colorado, and you can, you know, drop your trailer there and you can mine. And you have companies like Crusoe that are doing that as well. They're doing that across Montana and a few different places, and they're taking the equivalent of, Chase says the measure in the film, of and I'm not gonna repeat it because I don't wanna butcher it, but many, many cars off the road for them, getting, like, basically using that stranded methane. So you're not putting that c o two in the air. You're not putting that carbon in the air, and you're also using it. So here you are burning, like, something really valuable, and you could be using it, and you could be turning that energy into into Bitcoin.
So, you know, and a lot of people are doing it. I think a lot of people are not are currently not being very vocal about the fact that they are mining Bitcoin just because you don't really have to tell anybody. It's just you and your computer. You know, you don't really have to I admire the people like Marathon and CleanSpark
[00:28:20] Unknown:
and all these big miners that I mean, I guess they're publicly traded, so it kinda makes sense they have to, you know, be out there, but still, like, they don't necessarily have to be out there. And I admire them for, like, kind of being the punching bag for Bitcoin miners because Bitcoin miners is, again, any human that can buy a Bitcoin mining machine and connect it. Well, let's let's talk 2 things I wanna bring up. So we'll do one about the the shipping containers or bringing, you know, Bitcoin miners into these remote locations that aren't even attached to a grid. And then second, we'll talk about decentralization and, like, BitX and all the other little tiny things that are coming up so that we can secure the grid.
You know, what I what got caught my attention, you know, was, wow. Like, anybody can show up at these remote locations that aren't gonna have enough ability to generate enough energy to attach to a grid because, obviously, just getting lines to attach to a grid is extremely expensive. And so, you know, if you're able to be remote and and moving around and flexible and you can say, cool, I'm gonna bring this, you know, a shipping container or a half of a shipping container. I'm just gonna plop it here and stick my generator. I'm gonna go do this and I've got Starlink and off we go. I'm I'm helping the environment and I'm earning a little bit of Bitcoin as I'm doing it and I'm stabilizing, you know, the grid the the the network, not the grid.
And so I've loved you know, because a lot of people are just like, what? What do you I've gone to tons of of of, like, nature conferences and climate conferences with an ex of mine, and, you know, I would have these conversations and people would be like, Bitcoin's bad for the environment. It's boiling the oceans. It's terrible, and the energy and this. And I'm like, well, what are the solutions for all of these, you know, stranded, you know, wells out there that are just, you know, spewing the methane and whatnot? And they're just like, That's kinda neat. You know? So can you help people understand why, you know, everything's not gonna get attached to a grid? And and it's not about producing electricity. It's just about capturing that that the the heat or the the toxic methane.
[00:30:35] Unknown:
Well, you have situations like, landfills, for example. Landfills also are sources of methane, and and there are cities where they do extract methane from the landfill like in LA, and they use it to power their grits, like, partially, of course. But sometimes the landfill isn't large enough, to make sense because it's not just that it's expensive to create transmission lines. You're also going through, like, people's homes, you know, and people then complain. They're like, you can't, you know, you can't put that pipeline through my house. So it's really tough to get things going and, like, the government, the United States government has been sitting on a beautiful beautiful new energy project, and they have the money, you know, and the government always has the money. They can just print the money.
And they haven't been able to do it because there it goes through so many different state lines and so many different, like like, properties that it's just, like, a huge pain. And so that so it's not just the money. This is something that even the government can't always, like, just just do. So, it's to be able to have something come and consume this stranded, energy, this stranded methane, this stranded, solar that here's another example. Let's say you have a solar or wind development. You need to build that where there is abundant land and abundant of that natural resource. That's not always where the grid has connectivity already to. So for, a renewable energy project to say, okay. We want to, you know, ask for a loan or ask for an investment and say, okay. We're going to make this this facility happen, and connectivity lines are not, like, interconnection lines are not going to come in for another, like, 5 years. You know, you just create the infrastructure and it's just gonna sit there, but they're not going to produce make the transmission lines until we for sure are there.
So then, you know, you're gonna you're like, okay. Well, I'm gonna give you, like, a ton of money, and you're telling me that maybe in 5 years, there's going to be a buyer of that electricity. But with Bitcoin mining, you can do both immediately. You can set up fill solar, and you can set up the the mining equipment. So I think that, I'm an environmentalist in in the sense that I want to do whatever I can to be a good citizen of the north, and I like to clean up after myself when I go to the beach. I I do volunteer hours with my daughter cleaning up beaches, cleaning up rivers. I believe in being a good citizen. And so in that regard, I am an environmentalist because I will do what I need to do to leave the earth, and its people in a better condition than I found it, or at least I'll try. I'll die trying.
You know? But so but I feel like the term environmentalism has been co opted by certain, industries that like like solar, light wind, light batteries, like electric vehicles, that it's like, you know, that meme that says, taking Aunt Jemima off the syrup bottle but leaving a corn syrup is exactly the type of policies that just kinda don't work. I think it says something different, but it's kinda to that effect. And I feel like, yes, it is important to be good citizens and good people. And if we are doing things that are harming others, to do something to right it. But to only do it from a surface level perspective that appears to be green or appears to be what the environmentalist wants and creating a narrative around your product is very biased and misleading. And, unfortunately, I feel like the environmentalist movement, just like every other movement. Right? At some some people say that in some ways, Bitcoin has also become co opted by certain folks and stuff.
There's always when there's when there's a force going in a particular direction, why stop them when you can just kind of nudge them and, you know, to kinda go towards where you want them to go? And so that has been an issue. And so I do, approach my friends and the conversations that I have with people that don't necessarily do a lot of research, but they kind of are just on the left. They're on the side of whatever Gavin Newsom says it's okay. I've never been to California and seen the streets, but whatever that guy says is must be fine because look at that smile, You know? And it it's something that I I I hear in Europe, I hear in South America, like, oh, California. And I'm like, have you been? Have you been? I mean, a, it's beautiful. I love California. But, b, I mean, it's it's in spite of some of the things that are going on there.
So, yeah, I really hope that we can kind of change that narrative and perspective that, if you don't abide by the commandments of the environmentalist that you are then therefore you don't care about the planet. I think it's more of you look at, you know, what the checklist is and you use your own judgment and you make sure that you don't leave the culture stagnant and you move forward and you explore new ways of creating electricity. You look at 0 point energy, you understand nuclear, you start looking at energy independence. How is it that, you know, most solar panels are made? If not, it's like 99% of them are made in China. So do we want our source of electric production to be in the hands of and like manufactured in the hands of a country that could potentially be our, enemy in the future or currently?
And that could be China. That could be Russia. That could be Argentina. That could be Chile. You know? Like, this is, kind of the story as old as time. And I don't think that kind of when we started talking about this, we were talking about how progress is linked and GDP is linked to electric consumption. So we've already determined that being able to have access and control energy and use it to to turn that into something creative, to turn that into a a pencil, into a paintbrush, into a trip somewhere, into a movie. You know, we turn this energy and we, as humans, we we just turn it into something else, something hopefully better, something that can have a bigger impact, than than what it was as just stored electricity.
So we wanna we since that is so important in order to kind of move humanity forward, then we need to make sure that we are in control of our production of electricity and not put that in the hands of another country. And same goes the other way. If I were in China and there's something we're depending on the US, I would say the same thing. I mean, it's it's just important to be sovereign. I believe in sovereignty. I believe in the dual sovereignty. And from a country's perspective, I see Bitcoin mining based on, you know, what I saw in our in our, you know, two and a half years. We're going on 3 now working on this film. Is that the countries that have embraced, like, better why, the states that have embraced it, like Texas, Tennessee.
Wait. No. I want I wanted to say actually South Dakota, not Tennessee. Tennessee has some it's super cool too, but South Dakota. I mean, the the the people that are playing ball with bigger minors are, they're putting, improvements on their electric infrastructure. They're building new substations. They're building new transmission lines. They now have a client where they didn't before. In places in Ohio where factories are no are no longer there, there's no longer that large load because these large loads moved to overseas. We have this grid that was built for this large load, and now you just have the residents paying for that capacity.
And so you need that large load. And who's going to who's building new factories in Ohio? There are some people and I do I'm not saying there's nobody. Right? But not that many. So but Bitcoin miners are willing to go to where the electricity is, and they're willing to, buy that cheap electricity that nobody else is buying. That's why it's cheap. So it's important for sovereign countries and sovereign individuals to understand mining specifically because very likely they are coming up. They aren't already on an energy crisis and to ignore mining, because of, again, removing angemima from the package and not really understanding what is underneath and what is what are we really doing here with mining.
I just think, you know, whoever whoever doesn't get it, they're gonna they're gonna regret it in, like, 10, 20 years. And they're gonna see countries like El Salvador, Paraguay, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, even Puerto Rico, Texas, you know, including states. They're gonna see those have kind of like a crazy unfair advantage and that unfair advantage was Bitcoin and it was available to them all along. It's kinda how I see it. I don't know. Let's see this video again in 10 years.
[00:39:35] Unknown:
I know. It it can you imagine everything we've done 10 years from now? We'd be like, oh my gosh. Look at all the things that happened. You know, I I your point about security, right, and, obviously, energy security is is huge. Just today again, today, like, not having the Internet working over here at my house, and it's like, oh, no. What do we do? The the the social unrest that happens in places where we don't have energy security, where we don't have food security, where we don't have financial security, and we don't have communication security, those four things. So we talk about the World Economic Forum and Klaus Schwab, and he's like, oh, if you control the, who was it? Kissinger. He's like, you control the money, you control the food, and you control the energy, you can control the world.
I'm gonna layer the 4th element in there, which is the communication layer, which we're seeing decimated as we speak. Yeah. On a second by second basis as we're watching what's happening in the UK where they're trying to censor x and all of it and just that absolute nonsense. To me, the peace, hopefully, to have a peaceful world and a peaceful planet that I think we all strive for. You know, we have to have these fundamental elements in place in Bitcoin because it can produce this this way for electricity and energy to be spread and have security in these local environments, whether it's in your own home, you know, whether it's in your city, whether it's in, you know, your state, whether it's in your country, it can't be talked about enough.
Like, if we have to be slaves to another entity's form of the food, the electricity, the money, or the communication, we are never gonna be sovereign individuals, and we will never have inner peace. We will never have peace within our families. We are constantly gonna be operating as slaves. And and that's unfortunately what these centralized powers that be want, you know, so that they can manipulate and control and extract value from us, in exchange for nothing. And so I wanna talk about decentralization. You know? And and, you know, that's not a phrase that I even really understood before becoming a Bitcoiner. I read this book called the what is it? Starfish and the Spider. And this was years ago. This was before Bitcoin was even in in you know, discovered, revealed, invented. And it talks about the decentralized organizations versus centralized organizations. And you think about, like, AA and the 12 step program. Like, anywhere you go all over planet Earth, if you go to an AA meeting in Lithuania or in Thailand, for the most part, it's gonna be sort of the same process, but, you know, you're in these different locations versus something that's central and you've got a leader, etcetera. And so, you know, decentralization to me is something that I think is is a is a inner and outer security issue on all four of these fronts. And so do you wanna talk about, like, how the the energy production of, like, why Bitcoin mining is so important that we all should have at least 1 miner in our houses?
[00:42:47] Unknown:
Yes. I mean so I have no financial like, they haven't even sponsored the movie, but, you know, the BitX miners are really small, little things. And somebody mined a whole block. So a lot of people don't understand how mining works. You can either mine solo, and I think with better access, the only way you can mine. You mine solo, meaning you are putting these lottery tickets in with one little miner, and you're putting as many as you can, as many as your miner can give you. And if one of your lottery lottery tickets comes up, the block is yours. Or you can contribute your lottery tickets to a pool. And if the pool wins and everybody does. There's a lot of different other people that are putting in their lottery ticket.
And they get rewarded for the quantity of lottery tickets that they put in if that block and when that block wins the block. Most miners mind this way because it's the most consistent way of of making income. And my the a solo block is kind of like a lottery, like, legit, like a lottery. And some people don't wanna do it that way because, you know, it's hard to just count on luck. So those are the 2 ways that you can contribute. So you don't need to have, like, a huge operation. You can have something as small as this. You can have, a couple of, ASICs, like, a couple of bigger Bitcoin miners have just have more chips, And you can use the excess heat to heat your home if you want like some people do. I live in Puerto Rico, so I would not be able to do that. Mhmm. They're also kind of noisy. So there are, there have been people that have created, like, kind of like quiet shells for them. Again, Upstream again, Upstream has not given me any money or anything or sponsored, but I am familiar with everybody in the space and and they're not the only ones. Basically, this was happening even from data centers. You can put your machines in, like, a pool of oil, and you you know, it's not as as it's much more quiet and you don't you can also direct the heat more directly to a particular location. So there's a lot of different, iterations of miners and it's basically just chips and something to cool the chips and that's it. It's pretty simple, hardware to use. But to your question of decentralization, decentralizing energy production is also really important. And you see that in some countries where you have, like, all of the production in one island, like, for example, in the Philippines.
And then from there, there is transmission lines that kind of, like, take it across the different islands. That means that each island is not energy sovereign and there's a centralization of energy production in one. So there's an issue, it kind of screws it up for everybody else and then everybody else loses their electricity. Now if you have, you know, your solar battery combo or your diesel generator in your house, then you're independent. It doesn't really matter. Like, I have a neighbor that as soon as our electricity goes down, I hear his generator wrong and he gets, like, less than a second interruption, to his life and, you know, he has, like, a nice big generator and he can be going through a hurricane with electricity on. That guy's energy independent.
So but let's say, for example, our whole community were to invest instead of in, like and, again, I've been studying a lot of Puerto Rico's electricity production because we have a lot of issues, and I've just kind of it's just what's local to me, so I've been looking into it a lot. And it's also very representative for how energy production was done, you know, a 100 years ago. So we started a long time ago in some in some countries to produce electricity. So a lot of our hardware is very old, very efficient. And so we do need to make them more efficient. And as we do, I am in the camp of decentralizing production so that if you have, you know, a natural disaster hitting one side of the island, you can still have the other side be able to produce. Not only is it good for them, it's also good for the for the resiliency of the system in general. And we see that with Bitcoin. Right? Or we see that with, you know, anything that centralized can be hacked. It's a single point of failure. Yeah. Single points of failure.
Versus when you decentralize it, you now have then multiple. And so it actually makes the whole system a lot more resilient. So, you know, a lot of what I've learned in Bitcoin, I've then see energy, and then I learn from energy. And then I look at Bitcoin, and it's been this really beautiful kind of back and forth where I've been able to learn about things that, as a filmmaker, I hadn't really learned about.
[00:47:20] Unknown:
Yeah. I think it's it's for a lot of people who think like are they're so tapped into the central nervous system of how communities work, whether it's your water, whether it's your electricity, whether it's your Internet. We're just on autopilot a lot of times, and we just think, like, it's always there. I don't have to think about it. You know, that's what those people over there do. You know, I used to live in Hawaii, and we had a lot of folks who lived off grid. And, you know, some of them were connected to the grid, but for the most part, they're pretty much self sufficient. And I I think, you know, for all of us to have a mindset of the hybrid approach.
Right? Like, the grid is very important for all of us to be able to continue to to fortify, to grow, to be a part of, but it's also very important just like your neighbor, and I have one too because I'm up in the mountains, to have some form of energy production that is, well, shit hits the fan, if there's an, you know, a hurricane or, god forbid, you know, some kind of violence that happens, like, you and your family are gonna be okay for x period of time with, you know, some food or with some energy or with whatever it is that you need. And so, you know, rather than an either or situation, I think it's important that we think about what's the blended situation for us and how do we, you know, keep ourselves secure.
I just think Bitcoin is such an interesting I know I'm looking at this. It's an ICO. Yes. Here we go. I I think it's an interesting tool that will pay our it'll pay us back to do the decentralization and to to, you know, have home heating. I have somebody, Tyler, who's here in Colorado, and he's working on lots of different ways to, like, how do you recycle all of your heat, you know, from the Bitcoin miners? And obviously, we're in Colorado, so there's lots of need for heating for, you know, 8 to 9 months out of the year. So it's like, is it economical for us to go get a couple ASICs and plop them in instead of, you know, using the the floor heat or whatever is going on. So I think it's, you know, there's just so much creativity and entrepreneurship and everything that's going on out there in the community.
What have you so let's let's let's come back to you, beautiful Alana. And, you know, one thing I I love about you is you're a mom. You're a mom, and you're busting ass going all over the world being a supermom, being a creative, being an advocate and an evangelist. Like, how are you managing all of this in your life? Because that's a lot to balance or harmonize. I never say balance because balance is bullshit.
[00:50:02] Unknown:
Yeah. I agree. I agree. Because balance implies 5050. And it's something like 5050.
[00:50:07] Unknown:
Yeah. It implies, like, static. It implies a static state. And Yeah. We're never in a static state. We're always dynamic. So I think of harmony. How are you harmonizing your life as a as a mother and an entrepreneur and a creative?
[00:50:20] Unknown:
Well, and a wife because the husband also wants Oh, right. That that too. Don't forget.
[00:50:24] Unknown:
Sorry, miss Brown. Husband.
[00:50:26] Unknown:
Yeah. Well, I mean, it's it's definitely a harmony. I agree with you. It's not I also don't say balance because it just again, there's a lot of implications. And there are some days where, you know, I so what I I really wanted freedom and I that was one of the reasons why I left my job and sucked to seeked sucked seeked to, you know, be my own person. And I am the the breadwinner of my family. My husband and this goes into how I'm able to do this. My husband homeschools our 3 children and he is the he fixes our leaky roofs and he makes sure that we're all eating healthy and, you know, he is like the the the the boss of the house, which is really interesting because he runs it like a man. He doesn't run it like like I do. Like, I would do it. He runs it like a dad. Like, a dude would run a house is how he runs the house. And all I have to do is put money in the bank and he even administers the money and, you know, I'll I'll I'll do some things on my own, but he really enjoys that part and I'm like, just let me make it.
So for us, I mean, I never I I started working when I was 20 and I was pregnant with my daughter. I became pregnant when I was And Wow. In school. And we were like, okay. You're gonna finish school and I'm gonna start, like, a graphic design freelance kind of business. And I started a magazine in Brooklyn. We were living in Brooklyn and started doing a lot of people's, like, logos and menus and whatever. I I would literally walk from store to store and I would just offer them my menu of services. And with that, we bought diapers, with that, we bought everything, and we survived. And not only survived, we thrived.
And then when I moved to New York, to when we lived from New York to Silicon Valley, which is where my husband's from, he's from Santa Cruz, I continue working on graphic design and animation, started getting into flash animations and flash websites back in the day, and got a job at a video game company over there. And and we were both applying for jobs, and I was the one that got a job first. So I we never said, like, you will be the breadwinner and you will like, it was never that way. But all this to say that I've always worked and been a mother. And I kind of was launched from being a girl to being, like, a person that has to provide and a person that has to nurture and love and take care of the family.
It's, at the same time. Like, I didn't become an adult and then I became a mom and then I became a wife. And, you know, I kind of became an adult as I was kind of folding into all of these hats at the same time. And so we just created our own harmony, what works for us. And I'm still with the same guy that, you know, he's the same father of all my kids and he's my boss, Fran, and we get along really well. And so I've always really treasured good people in my life and I feel like that's something that I tell my kids, like, don't waste your time with bad people. Like, just don't because you never know if you're gonna end up with that person or whatever. And so just if you never if you're never surrounded by bad people, you never have to think about, well, how do I shake them later? Like, no. You just shake them the sooner the better. So just always shake those those people out, those bad energies out.
And so I still I'm a surfer, so I also just am, like, I I communicate with with the water. I can feel the energy. I can feel the swell. I can look at other surfers. I can see is this the camp should I be swimming for this one or somebody else swimming for it? I mean, so I feel like I've had a lot of, really good experiences in my life that have kind of led me to, trusting my gut and trusting that there's something leading me sometimes, that I might not understand or maybe it's the higher me that understands something that the kind of lower me is still hasn't, like, figured out yet. So but I but I definitely trust that there that there's just so much more than my own consciousness, and and other people's consciousness and and what how do those affect me? And so with the children, I have 3.
They're incredible. They know that mom works. They know mom makes movies, and they're really proud. I was able to take them to Warsaw, and they were able to see, like, you know, me go as presenting my film. The theater roaring was, like, 350 people, like, there, and, and then watch me get an award. So they were it was it's it's challenging at times but you choose your hard and this is definitely a hard that I'm willing that I want. I'm doing a woman's studies class with the 2 girls on Mondays. So, you know, I I create my own schedule, so I'm just like, Mondays, this is what I do. And, you know, the world seems to have a huge confusion about what is a woman and I didn't want my daughters to have it. And so we're their homeschooling, so I'm going to I've I've put together a really great program for them, that we're going to be covering the whole year, and it's about being a woman and what that means from the anatomy all the way to historical women.
Being a woman in Bitcoin, I often get asked, like, how do we get more women in Bitcoin? Or just just the idea of of getting women more involved and or there aren't enough women. And I I believe in the power of words. And so if we just keep saying there aren't enough, then that's it. Just put that on loop. There aren't enough. There aren't enough. There aren't enough forever. What about when there are a lot? Like, what are you gonna say? Like, get ready for the next thing. Get ready to say the next thing. Start saying it already, you know, start making it real. And so I am a huge feminist in the in the sense that I believe in equal equality of opportunities.
I believe that a woman can but I but I I just don't think that we are the same. I think that the female energy and what we bring is so special and different. And for the longest time, I would think that me being a woman was, like, a a a point against me being in production and being in tech because in some ways it was, you know, it would in some ways it was a point against me. There there are men that cannot have a professional relationship with women. There are men that cannot communicate with women. But in a way, that was a great way for me to filter creeps because for the most part, men can communicate with a woman without it having to be like a sexual interaction.
Yeah. And so in in a way, it was a a natural filter for me to then communicate with high quality men that do see the value of all people or the value that people can bring regardless of who they are. And so, I don't I don't I guess I'm a different kind of again, going back to movements that have been co opted, just like I feel like I am an environmentalist and I feel like I am a feminist, both of those movements have been have kind of been turned into a corporate, agenda that Yeah. I cannot abide by.
[00:57:36] Unknown:
Yeah. I hear you. And I feel like, you know, and and this is one thing I'm I'm so attracted to you by because you are so feminine and you are so powerful and you're such a great example and inspiration for, you know, how to be a wonderful mother. Oh, the lightning just went off here with the thunder. Oh, you just got thundered and lightning. I don't know if shit's gonna go off now. Wow. But We have a generator. You're you're yeah. Right? But but you do. You harmonize the masculine and feminine, and I just had Spetzky on, I think it was last week, a few you know, a little bit ago after the whole stuff that's going on with the Olympics. Right? And that's been just like, what is a man? What is a woman? What's female? Da da da da, all of this. And it's just like it's it's insane, the conversations that people are having and the the the way that they're getting stuck in certain narratives and they're being you know, it's just like, it's okay for us to be fluid in certain things, but there is exactly what you said.
We're not the same, you know, and we're not supposed to be the same. Nobody wants an androgynous, homogenized humanity. Like, the feminine and masculine energy and the polarities that we possess were given because, you know, that's what makes the world go around. Right? This kind of opposition or masculine feminine thing, and it doesn't mean that you're all one and not the other. That's not harmonized. Right? You're never getting to go dance between the 2. But we we we certainly have concentrations in one area versus the other. You know? And some of us are like, you know, obviously, I'm more sparkly and you know, but I still consider myself quite masculine compared to a lot of women, you know, because it seems like the the professions that I choose, it's very male dominated. There's you know? I mean, back in the day, it was like there's 1 female DJ to every 500 male DJs. Right? And same thing with Bitcoiners.
There's 1 Bitcoiner woman. If you go to the bathroom line at the conference in Nashville, there's a 100 dudes in line to go pee, and the women's bathrooms are completely open. So, you know, we're in these different fields, but we're still able to be present in our femininity and in in our motherhood and in our nurturing, you know, and in our creativity. So that's just something I've I've, you know, been admiring about you. And it's just like it's not about one or the other. It's just like, where do we where do we get to dance and and find that?
[01:00:09] Unknown:
I value experiences that I've gone through as I get older, also as a as I get older, as a woman, as I have 2 daughters, as I have a son, as I see my daughter's friends, as I, you know, just, there's a saying in Spanish, must The the devil knows more because he's old and not because he's the devil. I mean, there is no such value in in getting older. And, you know, I I in filmmaking, I was very often and still am, sometimes the only woman on set. I was a director of photography, still am, but now I hire more directors of photography. But I was a director of photography. I was the only woman, and I would come in with my year and people would be like, where's the DP?
Me, motherfucker. Like, I'm the DP, you know. Yeah. So there, you know, there are a lot of there are a lot of moments where I just struggled. But when I would get an interview when I would sit down and get an interview from somebody, I would get a different reaction from the people that we were interviewing than my male counterparts. Mhmm. When I was negotiating certain certain things, I would get a different reaction from the people that I was negotiating with than my male counterparts. Yeah. There were some areas where I started to realize, like, I don't need to be a man. I don't need to, act like a man. And I feel like in a way that has it's like a psyop to teach us, how to ignore our feminine, like, guts and our feminine powers.
And I do believe that women are, we're tapped into something special. And I think it's part of how we protect our our families. It's how to part out we protect our communities. And we have been kind of trained away from understanding and seeing that. And I think if everybody were to come into their power, whether it's feminine or male or somewhere in between or whatever, I think that we're all gonna do so much better because we can all really, like, could decentralize human creativity and decentralize human progress where it's not just one way that things go well. It's there are many different ways. And, yeah, as a woman and as a mother, it's just not something that I'm just so proud of of being able to do it. And in today's day and age, you know, we have a very we're super conservative for some things and super, you know, Bitcoiners in other ways, like believing in in certain things like, you know, you could live on a Bitcoin standard for example. So there's I it's so beautiful to kind of go through life and change and learn and being open but not so open that you're channeling the signal and the noise the same way. You know, you need to be able to filter out, be open enough that you are kind of aware if in case something is in signal that you can incorporate, but there's a lot of noise out there. And there are such people are so so so so open minded or filmmakers that are so so so so open minded and fair that then there's nothing of substance that comes out of their films. And that for me was something in that with dirty corn, people would ask me like, oh, but are you gonna are you gonna are you gonna show both sides equally? And I'm like, no. Because the opposition is like 2% of the 100%.
That would not be equally. So so, no, I'm not gonna give them 50% airtime just because they are the opposition. I mean, no. We have some really great stories that the New York Times is not reporting on, that Time Magazine isn't reporting on. We already have the other side, this these blown up cases on the other side. You guys can go and watch that. This is going to show you everything else that is under the the curtain that they're not letting you see. And, yes, we are going to incorporate some of these other stories, but they're going to get as much airtime as the reality that they at that they exist in this space, which is look. All of this is being done. None of it is being reported by these major outlets, and they are blowing these small problems completely out of proportion use continuing to use bogus science.
Why would I give something that I've already discovered to be unscientific airtime?
[01:04:21] Unknown:
It well and and, again, like, we think about how how are we processing information as humans, especially the new ones and the people who aren't familiar with Bitcoin and familiar with, you know, this new thinking about energy as something like we want in a more electrified world. And so if and I love what you're saying. Like, you don't wanna give too much airtime to the bullshit. However, if we're not acknowledging that it exists and this is a counterpoint to it, you know, we do sound like we're in a cult. And so does, you know, The New York Times and Times and all the bullshit. Right? And so it's just like the the things that I see, like, you know, like, I I I remember the first Bitcoin conference I went to, and it was like there was mining, and then the next track was or the next presentation was about the memes.
You know? And I was just like, whatever. I'm not gonna sit here. And then I was like, fuck it. I'm gonna sit here and listen to the memes. It was still, to this day, the best presentation I've seen at any Bitcoin conference. Here's why. Our cricket grasshopper minds and attention, it's like, okay. Oh, next thing, sparkles, squirrel, you know, the whole thing. If we can't capture something very quickly in a political cartoon or in a meme or anything, you're gonna lose the ability for somebody to click deeper and go deeper into their rabbit hole thought process. You know? And so I think it's important that we keep remembering, like, we're lucky because we're already in the hole in the rabbit hole, and we're dancing with each other. And isn't this fun? But, like, 99% of the people are still way the fuck out here. You know? And so it's like, what's their little amuse bouche? What's their entry point into the the this this journey? And so not that there's one right way to get anybody interested in, you know, dropping their ego and understanding this new way of thinking.
It it was just it was like these little tiny compare and contrast. Like, here's this world, and here's this new world. Here's this in one little square in a picture. You know? And it's like, how the heck can these meme guys or girls do this? You know? And and so from the memes all the way to the beautiful documentaries that you've created, you know, it's like, how do we help people on their user journey, on their on their discovery into, you know, what is their truth? What is the new way of looking at the world? And so I love that you are taking all this wonderful time and energy out of your life to educate us and to educate the masses on this. And I think about, like you know, I wanna circle back really quick with empowerment because you had said something about feminine empowerment and female empowerment.
Rachel Guyer do you know Rachel who's La Femme Orange? Right? And so she spoke at, in Madera, and she was talking about, like like, women's empowerment is bullshit. Like, don't ever say that word or don't ever say that phrase. I was like, okay. Why? You know? And she's just like, we're already empowered, but we're we're we're we've got stuff that's covering us up. So our job is to, like, move that stuff out of the way so that, like, what's true and natural, which is the feminine essence, can shine for forward. You know? And I love that because, like, we think about, like, we have to add to something and get more empowered. No. We don't. We have to delete what is unnecessary. Like, a sculptor will delete all the the things to create the new piece of art.
And so I think about all of us, it's just like, what has been put upon us as women, as men, as a society, as everybody in between? Like, what needs to get removed so that the core essence of us can shine forward, you know, and shine true. So so I feel like that's what you're doing.
[01:08:03] Unknown:
Thank you. I love it. Thank you. I want to continue to do more of it because people have responded really well. And when I started this, a lot of people were like, we don't need another Bitcoin documentary. And I'm like, like, you don't get it. This is different. Everybody says that. I'm like, no. But this time, it's like true. It's like, it's different. And then same FTX with Doge. It's different. No, it's the same, but it's not. You know, and I have been able to trust my gut and I could peep nobody's gonna go to the movies to watch it. Well, we've already been selling out screenings literally all over the world and we're going to theaters on Halloween. So I at the end of the day, we're all I think we're all spiritual beings and our bodies are our vehicles on earth and our bodies have certain advantages and disadvantages. Right? It's like some people have a Corvette, some people have a truck. You know? They have different different things. But, ultimately, the driver is, the I think the most important part of the whole of the whole thing, of the whole equation. And I refuse to believe that people don't wanna know. I think that some people, you know, they don't know that they don't know. You don't know what you don't know. Exactly.
And when you then empower them, I do think that people want to be empowered. That's how suddenly everybody was like a Ukraine expert overnight. People want to know. They wanna know. They wanna find out now where they're finding out about things and all these things are to or it's an interesting situation there, but those that's breaking. That's breaking apart. I mean, look how Trump and Elon Musk yesterday spoke for 2 hours on x, and they even received a letter from the European Commission, what, ACH. Correct me here. I'm filling the blanks.
Thank you. You know, we are witnessing that these mainstream media, the grasp that the mainstream media has had on people's minds, it's it's breaking apart and it's being replaced. And, you know, it's it's a little bit of a shit show at the moment because the Internet kinda opened the doors to everyone. But, you know, my daughter has learned to play piano on the Internet. I've learned to do half of the things of my job on the Internet. So, you know, you can learn how to build a bomb. You can learn how to, you know, create a career and live back in your island of Puerto Rico making movies. So I think it's important to understand that every every tree that reaches high also reaches low and but stay true to to yourself. And I think that people wanna know. And I do I disagree that people wanna stay ignorant. I think that people it's time for people I don't think it's time for people to wake up. I think people are already waking up. And what are they waking up to? And I and that's why I also don't wanna add to the noise of the problems. So if I were to instead make a documentary on how trans men are or trans women are, like, doing x y z, I'm kind of again shining a light at the problem. So if you're waking up, what are you waking up to? Are you waking up to, oh, look at how we can produce electricity in a decentralized way for energy sovereignty in this, like, what are we spending our time having a conversation on? Yeah. And I much rather spend my time doing interviews like this than talking about how, countries can become sovereign again, how they can become energy abundant, a tool that is not controlled by the central bank.
And I rather have these conversations than to just kind of air out the dirty laundry that humanity has had. And in a way, we just kinda have to wash our hands and move forward with respect and looking at what is really at the foundation of a lot of the other problems that we're talking about. Because there's a lot deeper, more closer to the core things that I think are bigger issues. I can have an opinion over women's sports and all of that. And but I feel like if we kind of go back to the the core, we're going to kind of handle that as well. We don't necessarily need to talk about specific sports players. That's just too myopic of the situation because the problem is much, much larger, or the situation. The and that's where the good stuff is. You know? The good stuff isn't in the in the headlines. You know? You got little human rats talk about this for a week.
The the the deeper stuff is where where the real change is going to happen. So I'm excited. I I live in a bubble full of really smart, freedom minded people. You know, let's just let's just try our best until our time is up.
[01:12:34] Unknown:
It's so important, and I love what you said because it's like, and and I get Velcroed into the bullshit sometimes because I'm just like, oh, I'm picking up the thing. And, I get the outrage, and I'm like, yep. As as planned, there you go. So we're not I don't think any of us humans are completely immune to it, but the more that we can redirect our focus to building is, I think, where we're gonna find all those great solutions and where we're gonna obviously have, like, our you know, we're talking about energy, and I I talk a lot about I meditate and I teach meditation. I think about energy hygiene, like our own internal energy hygiene. And so if we're not conscientious about what we're letting come in to this up here, like, we're gonna constantly be hijacked by anything, you know? And so it's like we have to have those healthy boundaries in our minds and in our internal operating systems, you know, and so that we can keep building the future that we wanna build. Otherwise, we're gonna be at the the the whim of these powers that be that constantly wanna extract from us. And so so I think energy on all of these levels is such an important conversation. And and I love so much that you didn't listen to anybody who told you, don't make another Bitcoin documentary.
Like, I am so glad because your your film has is is completely different, and everybody needs to go watch it. And whether you're a Bitcoiner or not, it's like understanding how things work out there is super duper important. And, where where can everybody find you next with the film? Like, where's what's happening on the agenda for you?
[01:14:10] Unknown:
So this documentary has been completely done independently. I raised every single dollar myself, and, yeah, I contacted that film later. And now that being said, I raise every single dollar from a lot of people that were helping. So I I wasn't alone. I was just alone as a captain, but definitely not alone at sea. You know, I had a lot of people that, you know, helped along the way, and I'm really grateful for the people that I've met. But the movie has been called Dirty Coin since day 1. So people had to really trust me to sit down for an interview for me because I could've, you know, it said it. They were signing a contract that said Dirty Coin the movie, LLC.
I knew what they were getting into and they still sat down and, you know, they had to trust me. So every single person that sat down for an interview had to know me, and had to kind of understand what it is that I was doing. I told everybody I will present what I see. I had to tell my investors this too. So I kind of set myself up to make the hardest movie that I could make. You know. The studios don't wanna know about Bitcoin or crypto, especially during crypto winter. Bitcoiners don't wanna, you know, they've been rug pulled enough, and they don't wanna get involved in things that are gonna be another rug pool. Investors don't wanna invest in films because only 3% of independent films make their money back.
Like, where they're gonna give money to this girl that says she's gonna, like, interview minors and call the movie Durry coin, another Bitcoin documentary. I mean, it all of it was it was very gut driven, and I think that the people that went with their gut are now kind of excited and happy. So what's next? What's next is that I'm also independently distributing it. Because here's another thing people kept telling me, people are not going to come out to the theaters to watch this. And I'm like, I think that they will. I think they will. Like, Bitcoiners, they they have meetups. There's a community. I think there's something really beautiful about being together in person. Yes. You know? Who are you going to meet at a at a Bitcoin documentary about mining? You know, you're gonna meet people that are curious about it, that are aware of it. You're gonna possibly meet new people. You can go to, a meetup after. You can discuss what you saw. You can tear the movie apart. You can say all the things you wish the movie would have had. That conversation is probably gonna be even more valuable to people than having watched the film, but that conversation can't take place if they don't watch the film together. And so since, we premiered on the day of the having in Warsaw, which was another, like, just angelic moment right there, it was so cool, for 2024, we premiered dirty corn. And since then, we've had 11 screenings, and it's been around, let's say, 22100 people that have watched the film.
And that's not a lot of views on YouTube. Right? You look at YouTube, you're like, oh, only 2,000 views. But or 10,000. This is better than that. Oh, I hate that this only has 10,000 views, but imagine 10,000 people together. That's Exactly. Intense. That's beautiful. And that is one of the things that I want. I wanna I'd rather have 20 people in a theater, just 20 watching it together in unison at the same time, coming out of the theater at the same time and then discussing it. The people that are into Bitcoin are rocket scientists, techs, engineers, tech engineers, doctors, mothers, husbands, fathers. I mean, there's so many incredible incredibly smart people out there that are curious about this that I feel like, you know, once you see, you can't unsee. You can't put that blindfold back on. And so I want to make sure that those experiences are happening, in the space with other people. A lot of the scenes cost me a lot of money to make. So I personally love seeing them on the big screen because I'm like, because in the phone, it's like you know, it's just like a little stamp. And on the big screen, you can really you can really appreciate it. All of the music was made, like, here in Puerto Rico, a musician friend of mine. So there's also a better speaker so you can really hear everything that we did with the sound.
We did 51. So, like, we really created something really good and on the phone, it'll just all get compressed. So we'll get to streaming later, but for the moment, there are a lot of documentaries online. So people can go and watch one today or they need to get their Bitcoin documentary fixed. But for me, I those moments of bringing people together and getting them to watch this and have this experience together, is just so powerful. And I believe in the movie theaters as well. I think that things are changing. And as a filmmaker and executive producer, I am, now basically flexing flexed being a director making a movie. People like it. Yay. It done.
But then now it's like, as an executive producer, then how do we make sure that this film gets seen? How do we make sure that this film makes money? Money, it can be seen by more. We can translate it to more languages. We can get it into more theaters. We can get more people to find out about this. And so that's what I'm working on right now. We're going to theaters on Halloween, and I'm aiming for 2,000 screens. Oh, I heard the thunder again. Yeah. Halloween. You just said Halloween. Oh my god. Halloween. Yes. Halloween is where we're gonna go to theaters. I'm aiming for 2,000 screens. This is everything.
Movie theaters. Yeah. I'm going big. I'm going and it's not even that big. Yeah. 2000 is even that big. But I, point 1% of creative production companies are founded by women. So that's me. I have a production company 13 years in, in business. This is my 13th year. As 3% of independent films make their money back, and I'm on my way and I am determined to being part of that 3% of independent films that are gonna make their money back. And not just because, you know, money, but because this is gonna allow me as a producer and as a director and as a thinker to get more of my ideas out there and to get more investors on board earlier so that we can and basically just gain more trust in the space. So my idea was not to make a movie to go on YouTube. My idea was to make a movie that would, you know, make money, make ink make its money back and be seen around the world and valued around the world and help kind of enlighten people on where we're heading. And this is something that I was having a conversation over dinner with some friends and they said they weren't paying attention to to this because I was telling them, dirty coin this week is going to be screening for free in Norway because, there's a potential ban on Bitcoin mining in Norway. Mhmm. And and like, well, who cares? I mean, if miners can move other places.
It's true, but the the way that the the bill is being written, this is anti data centers, which is kind of what we were talking about earlier. Yeah. So this will affect everyone. And if what if miners were, balancing the grid in Norway? Who's gonna suck up all that extra wind or whatever? You know? Like geothermal, I think, is what they have over there. There's, you know, there's so much more to the conversation that should just specifically say it's good or bad without really kind of I'll be back in 20 hours. Let me do some reading about this specific location. I mean, that's really the answer that people kind of deserve, but, again, you're having dinner. You just kinda wanna say what's on your mind. And what's on my mind is that you don't need to be in Bitcoin for this to affect you. This is going to affect you. You're just not looking at it because it's, you know, targeting Bitcoin. But it's gonna target it it also targets Amazon, targets Google, it targets all these other data centers as well.
And where your website will run will run on a data center. So I think it's really important for us to be paying attention and to understand what is going on, and have fun. You know? It can be I feel like it's it it could the world can feel a little black, like, it's kind of a dystopic future is upon us. And it's you know? But history is not written yet. We have an opportunity to, you know, white pill people and make them feel empowered and make them make them know that they are powered. How about that after what you said? Yeah. Exactly. Recognize their power and understand that, you know, they want your power because they know you have it.
So, yeah, so let's just do that. Let's just all recognize our power and, then let's have really awesome films that that challenge our minds so that we can use the medium for positive, not for, you know, forwarding the gains of Terminator.
[01:22:51] Unknown:
I know. That's not the the future that we wanna envision. And I think what you're doing too is so it's so I don't wanna say easy, but it's lower hanging fruit if you're just going, I'm gonna make something and pop it up on the Internet or up on YouTube versus I want something that actually people are going to see each other in our skin suits and have conversations with each other and have an emotional reaction, have a mental reaction, and then possibly have new relationships that get formed because of of some common threads that people might be interested in. You know? And so that speaks volumes to you and your character and how you operate instead of just I'm gonna just blast some content out there, and I hope it sticks to somebody's wall here.
So thank you for bringing us together with your mission, with your message, with your magic, and, I am so happy to know you. And I can't wait to, you know, keep seeing what Dirtycoin's gonna do, and I can't wait to see what happens next. But I think, you know, a lot of us as creators and creatives, we think, like, what's the next project? What's the next project? And it's like, you've already got this one thing. Like, now it's time to go spread it, you know, and and distribute it, distribute, distribute. And so this is, it seems like, where you're at right now. So I'm excited to see what the the the shift is in our consciousness and the shift is in how we're gonna operate as humanity because of dirty coin.
So thank you.
[01:24:21] Unknown:
Thank you. And I will say I will not, take your credit for the shift because the shift is happening. And it's a wave that I feel, and that's why I know that dirty coin is just riding this huge wave. So thank you for your time and for interviewing me today. I am in the point of spreading it. I want people to watch it. It's 70 minutes long. Used to be 69 minutes long. And now it's I I just I I just want people to watch it, and I really appreciate you giving me the time to be on here to talk about it and share a little bit more about me.
[01:24:52] Unknown:
Totally. You're the best. And everybody who's listening, I'm gonna have all the, you know, information, everything in the show notes, but go to dirtycointhemovie.com. And you can also follow Alana and dirty coin on x@dirtycoindocandalana medevilla at, on x. And, again, thank you so much. And, I just wanna ask you one tiny thing, just one thing, and we'll do it, like, in a minute or less. If there's somebody here listening to this episode and they're just contemplating, you know, should I go make a thing? Should I go put some time and energy into this this vision that won't let me go, that keeps scratching at my consciousness? What would you say to them?
[01:25:31] Unknown:
I would say do it. I would say launch yourself to do it. And one thing that I've said from the beginning, it's if I fail, I'll fail at making my first feature documentary. If and now it's like, if I fail, I'll just fail at the box office for my openings. My opening week is gonna fail, but it's gonna help it. And I'm willing to fail, totally willing to fail a 100%. But I'm not going to stop until it's done. And when I fail, I'll just, you know, figure out a a a different way because I was so close. You know, usually failures don't completely take you out. They just kind of knock you off balance a little bit, but they just train you to not get off balance that way again. So they make you stronger. So even when you fail, you're actually winning because you're getting closer to to that. So I would say go ahead and do it and do not be afraid of failure.
Kind of embrace it. Embrace that you're gonna fall a few times, because if you didn't, I'd be I'd I'd be, like like, somebody's not there. Yeah. Everything's too smooth and maybe there's something else that you should be worried about. But, yeah, I would say, yes. Go ahead and do it and don't ever wonder. Don't stay with the wonder of, could you have done it? I mean, that's just gonna eat at you forever. So I would say go ahead and do it. Have fun and enjoy the failures.
[01:26:50] Unknown:
I love it. That's such great advice. And, Yeah. For all of us out there who are creators, like, just keep doing it. It's it's it's it's in us. It wants to come out. We're just vessels for these messages. So, you know, when we get right with that that that that truth, then I think we can be in service of of a better world for for ourselves and for our children and for each other. So thank you, and thank you again for everything you're doing, Alana. I'm so happy to know you, and I'm so glad to call you a friend and, and just, you know, inspiration in my life. So thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Totally. And oh, woah. Big lightning just hit. You're gonna hear a crackle in a minute. It was a big one. Oh my god. But, okay, that's good news. So lightning strikes. We're good, and thank you. Oh, there it is. And thanks everybody for tuning in. And, again, make sure you guys go follow Alana and Dirty Coin the movie. And, until next time, we'll check you guys later. Peace, love, and aloha.
Introduction to Bitcoin's Impact on Energy Poverty
Meet Alana Medevia: Director of Dirty Coin
The Journey to Bitcoin and Dirty Coin
Understanding Energy Literacy and Poverty
Bitcoin Mining as a Solution to Energy Challenges
Decentralization and Energy Independence
The Role of Bitcoin in Global Energy Security
Balancing Motherhood and Filmmaking
Feminine Energy and Empowerment in Bitcoin
The Future of Dirty Coin and Global Impact
