#069 – Dan Morrison – Turning Stranded Waha Gas into Bitcoin

About this episode

Dan Morrison discusses the economics of turning stranded Waha gas into Bitcoin and the future of oil-and-gas adoption in Bitcoin mining.

Justin Ballard (@JLB_Oso) and Jake Corley (@jacobcorley) sit down with oil-patch veteran-turned-Bitcoin-miner Dan Morrison to unpack Waha-gas economics, off-grid data centers, and why 2025 may finally be the oil-and-gas adoption year for Bitcoin mining. Show Notes 00:00 Wildlife-podcast banter, Missouri recording location, and Dan’s long-overdue appearance 01:42 First meeting at the 2021 “secret” Houston Bitcoin meetup 03:10 Dan’s background: bankrupt E&P turnaround and “MBA-on-steroids” lessons 05:26 Buying distressed New Mexico assets & naming the venture “Amalgamated Sludge” 07:48 Paying $80/ TH for ASICs at the cycle peak and booting 1.3 MW of self-mining 10:55 Turning negative Waha gas into revenue: hosting deals, vintage ASIC strategy, 8-month ROIs 14:08 Why old oilfield operators resist Bitcoin—and what finally breaks the inertia 16:41 Basis differentials, dashed strip-price hopes, and why 2025 looks like the adoption inflection 19:15 Valuing green- vs brownfield sites for AI: speed-to-energize premiums & $/MW math 22:37 Gas-fired turbines, Elon’s Memphis play, and “BYOP” (bring your own power) legislation in Texas 25:02 “Moat mining”: pairing AI inference…

People in this episode

Hosts: Justin Ballard, Jake Corley

Guest: Dan Morrison

Topics covered

• Bitcoin mining
• Waha gas economics
• Oil and gas industry
• Data centers
• Energy transition
• Regulatory environment

Keywords

• Waha gas
• Bitcoin mining
• off-grid data centers
• energy economics
• 2025 adoption
• ASICs
• hydrocooling
• immersion cooling

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Amalgamated Sludge

Places: Missouri, New Mexico, Rocky Mountains, Permian

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