Today we have a real treat for you, as Inferno catches up with OgNasty
OgNasty is crypto royalty who has been mining bitcoins since 2011. We catch up with him and find out how he got into crypto, what the mining scene has been like since he got started, and what his thoughts are on the future of bitcoin.
From your bitcointalk account, it looks like you started mining bitcoin back in June 2011. What first got you into bitcoin and mining, and what technologies did you use back then?
Yes, I first heard about Bitcoin around a year before this when I saw something selling on Twitter for BTC. I didn’t think much of it at the time but did remember the price being around $0.20. When Bitcoin hit the news in June 2011 I thought it might be worth a closer look. Being a Financial Analyst by trade and already having an interest in the way central banks were debasing their currencies, I found Bitcoin extremely fascinating. I decided mining was the easiest first step I could take to get involved. Many others had the same thought and it was impossible to get your hands on any of the popular GPUs at the time. I remember being excited when I eventually did find a pair of 6870 GPUs and quickly ordered them even though they weren’t ideal. It was more about fun and excitement and what could be back then. You would tweak all your settings and check different software regularly to see what was most ideal at the moment. There was a sense that you had real control over your coin generation based on your determination. There was always lots of great supportive discussion and exchanging of ideas that made Bitcointalk a great place to post about what you were doing.
How did the 2018 bear market affect your profitability, and did you ever worry about having to pull the plug?
I worry less about profitability than most. I don’t sell my coins regularly and I’ve been through a few market cycles now so I like to think of bear markets as a great time to accumulate bitcoins. I did sell off older ASIC hardware for cheap BTC and expanded my GPU mining operation which I felt gave me a bit more maneuverability. I never worried about pulling the plug though. Part of the reason I went solar is so that I wouldn’t need to be overly concerned with short term market conditions.
How have you felt as you have watched bitcoin develop since you started in 2011, playing your part in nurturing it from a niche technology and hobbyist project into the global phenomenon it is today? What are your impressions of that time overall?
It’s a whirlwind of emotions to be honest. The price going up has enabled me to make some pretty cool personal dreams come true. That in itself is something I will be forever grateful for. Seeing Bitcoin become a household name and watching users I’ve met on Bitcointalk appear on TV or do great things in their lives has been really cool. However, Bitcoin has definitely strayed from its original idea that enticed myself and so many others to get involved in the early days. A community once filled with Libertarian cypherpunks desperate to support each other now craves regulation and inclusion in the system as they fight to “stack sats”. It is all understandable progress, but I think the community and the involvement will never be as fun as it was when it was a niche technology hobbyist project.
How do you see bitcoin evolving over the coming years, and what kind of role do you ultimately see it playing?
Wall Street has sunk their claws into Bitcoin. I have no doubt we’ll see it’s main use becoming a managed asset that can be used to generate ETF management fees, at least in the coming 1-3 years. Eventually blockchain technology will be utilized for more, but I’m seeing so much pivoting towards it being a golden goose that I’m not sure when this will happen or what will be the catalyst.
You’ve built quite a following around the Nasty brand, including the Nasty mining pool and store. What are your plans for these in the future?
I think too much focus has been on me when it comes to the “Nasty brand” and I’d like to change that. I will of course continue supporting the various projects with my same passion, but it was my intent to spark innovation and encourage others to get involved either with these projects or their own. I have a bit of a “last man standing” feeling as when NastyMining started there were hundreds of like organizations and now there are no others. I am hoping I see some honest competing or complimentary organizations pop up in the future as supporting these sorts of micro-projects were one of my main motivations for getting involved in Bitcoin. It does feel great to have survived the test of time and I think one day our establishment date will be a great source of pride. As for what I plan to do personally, I will continue pitching ideas on the forum thread for how I think the projects could evolve, listen to the ideas of others, continue upgrading to the latest mining equipment, continue releasing new products in the NastyShop, and if I’m able, I’d love to get another mining location going with perhaps more solar energy or even something new like hydroelectric. Ultimately though, the success of the Nasty brand and whether we are a small organization or a global juggernaut will be determined by those getting involved.
Any other thoughts you’d like to add?
Only that Bitcoin is an amazing project. I think if like-minded individuals come together to appreciate each other’s contributions and work towards the common goal of creating Bitcoin use cases, the future can be a fair & transparent one. For that reason I say don’t just HODL, but create and participate.
You can find out more about the Nasty mining pool, store and its merchandise at https://nastyfans.org, or learn more about the project on the bitcointalk thread.
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