New focus in 2026

TL;DR: This year I'll be spending less time on FUD fighting, more time coaching other Bitcoiners. If history is anything to go by, this should mean more impact.

Why?
It's not a stepping down, but a stepping up to my true calling. Having done this once before in another ecosystem, I'm confident history will rhyme.

20 years and 11 days ago, my father passed away from cancer. Days later I was at his funeral as person after person recounted the impact that he'd had on their lives as a coach, and teacher. At the time I was running a Bioinformatics company I'd started - an excellent thing to do, BUT ... it wasn't MY calling. Some people’s calling is to carve a new path from their parents. Mine had always been to follow, as a coach and teacher. But I'd avoided that because Dad was so good at it, I feared living in his shadow.

But at his funeral something changed: I saw my two futures: the initially comfortable but ultimately regret-filled future if I didn't pivot ... and the initially harder yet fulfilling one where I did. Within 9 months I'd told my board I would be leaving, and recruited my own replacement. I helped the company achieve escape velocity. But the incoming CEO guided it to the moon, setting the company up for its eventual exit.

Today, history repeats. Last year, after three years of voluntary advocacy, I partnered with MARA on a special assignment, part of which involved intensively shifting the Bitcoin mining narrative by taking the truth directly to influential outsiders. This assignment is about to come to a successful end (see chart below). Their help meant I had the time to rebut over 102 articles, write 61 Letters to authors of those articles and meet with 162 Regulators & Policymakers to present Bitcoin's ESG merits.

Many publications have now changed their editorial policy on Bitcoin mining to be nuanced and positive - something unthinkable just a couple of years prior. Thanks all who made this possible, including the hitherto unheralded player in this: MARA


I'd never intended to run my Bioinformatics company for more than a few years. I co-foundered it because I saw a chance to make a difference. And it did. Our software has been used to further our understanding of the evolution of each major new virus of the last 20 years.

I share this next parts as a reassurance ... and a reminder. When we do what is our true calling, we tend to have the biggest impact. I was running a single company, but as a coach I was able to coach more than 60 founders of tech companies, particularly “deeptech” companies.

I helped multiple ideas that were stuck in Universities turn into companies, and helped multiple companies attract capital and exit. One government entity wrote to me to say "[you have] helped us transform the research community [of New Zealand] at all levels."

I also never intended to do Bitcoin Mining FUD fighting for more than a few years.

In 2026 it's again time to follow my calling. I will be coaching more Bitcoin leaders, builders and educators. The work has started with some great Bitcoiners creating some great results for our ecosystem, including these: https://x.com/DSBatten/status/2003840508943016042?s=20

If you are a builder or leader in Bitcoin and you're interested in just having a chat about what coaching looks like, reach out.

If you want to do more effective Bitcoin FUD-fighting (in any area) - let me know. As part of paying it forward, I’ll run a 90-min seminar in 2 weeks that distills 3 years of changing the minds of skeptics.

And if you want to do DIY FUD-fighting from a strong evidential basis: here are the latest, most up-to-date resources:

1. The nine most common Bitcoin mining myths debunked: https://x.com/DSBatten/status/2007466463062270193?s=20
2. The receipts for the 22 papers, 8 independent reports and 30+ media articles showing Bitcoin's environmental benefits. https://x.com/DSBatten/status/2007095059963949217?s=20
3. How Bitcoin mining keeps energy prices low
https://x.com/DSBatten/status/2006922313191563341?s=20
4. Keynote: Bitcoin and the Death of Energy (The video people most often tell me changed their minds on the subject): https://x.com/DSBatten/status/1846205920381980725?s=20

And above all else, when you hear the whisper of your calling: listen.

This doesn't mean be reckless. Finish what you are doing, move from success to success - but listen. The degree of your trepidation you feel is generally proportional to the size of your victory on the other side.

PS: I’ll still be posting inspiring stories (and data) on Bitcoin mining. I won't be doing daily seek-and-destroy on all Bitcoin mining FUD, and the constant behind-the-scenes letter-writing. I will coach those who pick up this work...and many other Bitcoiners doing great things for Bitcoin too I hope.

The whole "Bitcoin uses too much energy" myth was built on an utterly false premise that environmentalists advocate for less energy use across industries.

Not true!

Very few people believe that industries should "use less energy".

The ones who do believe this are known as degrowthers, and do not represent the majority of the environmental movement.

The consensus view within mainstream environmental science and policymaking holds that labeling any large energy user as automatically harmful is reductive because it ignores critical factors:

The Energy Source: Emissions from 1 kWh of coal power and 1 kWh of wind or nuclear power are vastly different. The consensus focuses on decarbonizing the supply.

The Value and Flexibility of Demand: As discussed previously, some large loads (like certain industrial processes or data centers) can be highly flexible. This demand-side flexibility is a key asset for integrating variable renewables like wind and solar into the grid, a cornerstone of the mainstream transition plan.

Technological and Efficiency Gains: The consensus argues that innovation driven by economic activity can lead to "dematerialization", using fewer resources and less energy to produce the same or greater value.

Bitcoin mining, precisely because of its high (flexible) energy use, has been shown in multiple peer-reviewed studies to offer a number of decarbonization benefits that are extremely appealing to both environmentalists and grid operators.

These benefits include grid stabilization (Rudd et al), methane mitigation (Sechrest et al), obviation of gas peaker plants (Bruno et al), and accelerating the renewable energy transition (Lal et al, 2023). Bitcoin mining is only able to offer those benefits due to its high and flexible energy consumption pattern.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/changing-narrative-bitcoin-mining-daniel-batten-gkmwc/

It is for this reason that a number of leading sustainability periodicals have in the last year come out in favor of Bitcoin mining’s environmental benefits.


Further, a whitepaper by Rhodes et al concluded that flexible load centers (aka: Bitcoin mining) allows grid operators to build out the grid using renewable energy, whereas inflexible load centers (AI Inference datacenters) encourage the proliferation of fossil fuel based power on the grid.

Bitcoin mining balances grids, mitigates methane, prevents wasted energy and promotes sustainable energy as a byproduct of economic necessity

Once you grok how this works, you graduate to informed Bitcoin mining critic: you realize Bitcoin mining doesn't use enough energy

What do 2025 Bitcoin skeptics in 2025 have in common with 1995 Internet skeptics:

They've never used it

I still remember in 1995 trying to persuade my Dept of English professors to let me do my thesis on this newfangled thing called "The Internet".

None of them had used it. But they all had an opinion about it. And they were all happy to tell me why my research proposal was risky and reckless, and why the Internet itself wouldn't amount to much.

Fast forward to 2025, same vibes. Plenty of Bitcoin skeptics, plenty of people calling it reckless and risky. Once again, not one of them has used it, let alone researched it.

Back in 1995, it turned out that the opinion of one 20-something student who had studied and used The Internet was more informed than a team of college professors who hadn't.

Same is true today, the opinion of a Gen-Z who has studied and used Bitcoin is more informed than a team of economists, journalists, or financial advisors who haven't

Influence is achieved through clarity, not hyperbole

Contact form on CH4Capital.com will go directly to us.

Yes, we have three potential sites but we are looking for as many as possible.

Smart girl. Children intuitively understand the true value of fiat.

Haha. Thanks. I'll be in touch to let you know more about it.

No cats were harmed in the creation of this meme.

Starting something new:

In 2025, I coached a number of Bitcoiners. Their achievements included

- launching India’s first Bitcoin-only fund (done)
- getting investment from Ego-death Capital for new Bitcoin company (done)
- launching a Bitcoin Policy Institute for their country (done)
- turning around their Bitcoin mining company (done)
- launching a Bitcoin hedgefund, attracting wholesale investment (done)
- influencing nation state leaders on how to acquire Bitcoin tax-neutrally (in progress)

After some reflection, I've realized the best way I can contribute to mission Bitcoin is by helping more Bitcoiners to reach their potential through coaching. They can do so much more than I can alone!

I've found group coaching is the most effective way to help founders, builders and educators reach escape velocity.

That way people get both the right coaching, support and inspiration. Simply put: when you’re part of a group of your peers who inspire you by their example - your own game surges ahead.

So I've committed to running a special year-long group in 2026. If you'd like to see if you're a fit for the group or you know someone who is (or both), reach out!

Ok, a very specific post today. Our list of potential landfill sites for bitcoin mining is growing!

If you have experience in bitcoin mining where you were stranded energy harvesting, are looking for Loan finance, can finance 1/4 of the project yourself and are interested in the way low cost energy from landfill-gas sets you up for the next two halvings, we’d like to hear from you.

If that’s you, you can fill out this form so we can start the process of DD.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17_tB24IQ7YOXgMWtstfRgPtRFztqKlXzftyzVZL9jlQ/edit

Great. I'll send you a message.