POD256 | Bitcoin Mining, Freedom Tech, and Awesome Tangents

In this episode, the 256 Foundation crew and developer d++ go deep on HydraPool, our open‑source Bitcoin mining pool stack, and the new HashDash and upcoming TeleDash dashboards powering the Telehash fundraiser stream. We unpack how HydraPool fits into the broader plan to open‑source the entire mining stack (hashboard, control board, firmware, and pool), its Rust-based design inspired by CKPool and P2Pool v2, and flexible payout models (solo, PPLNS, and multi-address coinbase). We also talk user experience tweaks for Telehash, like smoothing hash rate visualization, displaying best shares, units for difficulty, leaderboard ideas, and integrating Nostr npubs for social profiles. D++ walks through the HashDash visualizer and plans for TeleDash: real-time overlays for stream viewers and a separate jumbotron view showing total hash rate, active workers, funds raised (on-chain and Lightning), block height, BTC price, donation messages, odds, leaderboards, and instructions to point hash rate. We discuss stress-testing the pool to 10,000 workers, Prometheus data, and potential features like miner-type fingerprinting via user agents. We also touch on industry rumors around Bitmain’s S23 air-cooled units, shifting manufacturer focus to hydro/data-center gear, hand‑me‑down hardware implications, and why open source is crucial as proprietary vendors change course. Finally, we preview Telehash (join at pool.256foundation.org:33303 with a valid BTC address), celebrate contributions to Samourai dev families, and tease hardware progress on Ember One, Mujina firmware, water-cooled blocks, Heat Punk Summit plans, and more; all with an open-source-first ethos to dismantle the closed mining monopoly.

In our 100th episode, we celebrate three years of POD256 and almost two years of building the open-source Bitcoin mining stack. We share behind‑the‑scenes stories from our first Telehash block find and chart what’s coming for 2026. We walk through how the 256 Foundation allocated over $400k in grants across Ember One (open hashboard design), Libre Board (open control board), Mujina (open miner firmware), and Hydra Pool (self‑hosted pool), and how these projects are already flipping the closed “black box” mining model on its head. We dive into progress updates: Mujina running on Bitaxe Gamma, early Ember One integrations and cooling, Hydra Pool one‑command spin‑ups, plus community contributions like Stratum v2 support and Home Assistant control; and preview our plan to run Telehash #3 on a fully open stack live. We also invite miners and devs to point hashrate, contribute code, and join us at Telehash and NEMS as we turn this momentum into a product-style demo of open mining in action.

We revisit the wild Telehash night when an Apollo-powered solo pool briefly wrangled an exahash and struck block 881423 (shout-out to Megawatt!), reflect on building the 256 Foundation and this pod from the early “Hash Cast” days, and outline how anyone from heatpunks to large farms can plug into the stack. Finally, we highlight community calls to action: spin up Hydra Pool, hack on Mujina, help us evangelize at meetups and campuses, and support free and open-source mining. Last but certainly not least: Code is not crime, support the Samourai devs’ families and sign the pardon petition here: https://billandkeonne.org

In today’s POD256, we opened with a timely update on the Change.org petition to pardon Samourai Wallet developers Bill and Keonne. We dug into confusing verification flows, the low conversion rate from views to valid signatures, why pseudonyms and disposable emails are allowed, and why donations on Change.org don’t reach the families; direct support should go to GiveSendGo. We also covered the growing media push, the reported acknowledgment from President Trump, and counter-narratives forming in the broader media. From there, we pivoted into mining: BitCrane and Addit boards for S19/Whatsminer control, Mujina support, 120V PSU unlocks, and heat-reuse projects. We previewed our Telehash fundraiser and HydraPool setup for NEMS, discussed pool trust and verification (including scam pools and coinbase-checking tools), OCEAN’s decentralization claims, and why share-chain style P2Pool v2 matters. We wrapped with open hardware manufacturing updates (pick-and-place triumphs and solder paste woes), Heatbit’s new radiant “Canvas” miner, and practical self-hosting lessons; closing with a call to action to sign the Samourai petition and keep the pressure on while the window remains open.

In this episode, eco & Tyler welcome back Skot who was at the African Bitcoin Conference, this year hosted in Mauritius, where he spoke on open-source Bitcoin mining. We swap travel tales (including Scott’s chaotic Paris layover) and impressions of Mauritius, the conference venue, and side events focused on Bitcoin education. We dig into mining headlines: Bitdeer’s missed ASIC roadmap and investor lawsuit, Bitmain’s history (Antbleed) and why open-source mining matters, and MicroBT’s M70-series lineup pushing industrial-scale, three-phase miners. Skot explains the theory behind Bitdeer’s hyped “adiabatic charge recovery logic,” why it’s hard to scale, and how thermal and power density realities define miner design. We go deep on open hardware and firmware progress: Braiins’ open control board, Secure Boot obstacles, and Mujina’s modular path to safe, customizable, dev-fee-free mining; plus Skot’s BitCrain control board concept for USB‑controlled fleets. We share shop-floor lessons building AddIt boards and Ember One prototypes (solder paste, tombstoning, reflow profiles) and celebrate practical innovation like Gridless’s open-source JuaKali direct-DC solar mining kit. On home-mining UX, Tyler demos new Home Assistant integrations for Canaan Avalons and WhatsMiner, and we preview Hydra Pool deployments (Grafana/Prometheus dashboards) for the upcoming Telehash. Finally, we update the community on the Samourai Wallet case: Keonne’s facility designation, the continuing push for a presidential pardon, and how to support via petition and donations. #PardonSamourai.

In this episode of POD256, Tyler and eco catch up on winter in Colorado, project trucks, and then dive deep into the latest in Bitcoin mining and freedom tech. We recap last week’s conversation with Keonne Rodriguez of Samourai Wallet, the urgent push for signatures on the pardon petition, and practical ways to support; while clarifying privacy-friendly ways to sign. We also discuss GrapheneOS stepping back from France amid regulatory pressure, the broader trend of governments targeting toolmakers, and why freedom tech from Bitcoin mining to open hardware matters now more than ever.

On the mining front, we showcase Hydra Pool, our open-source non-custodial pool software, now running in our lab and soon to be public for Telehash #3 and beyond. We walk through the Grafana dashboard, PPLNS accounting for up to 100 addresses per coinbase, and our goal to migrate community hash over for solo mining support. We also update on Ember One and Libre Board: open-source hashboard and controller hardware moving through v5 prototyping on our pick-and-place, aiming for developer kits before fully assembled plug‑and‑play units. We hit Bitmain’s reported federal probe, solo block wins by small hashers, and the path to open hardware parity. We close with hasher shoutouts and a call to action: sign the Samourai petition and join Telehash to help fund open mining R&D.