The Mining Disrupt News Surge episode for Monday, August 17, 2026 opened by looking ahead to Dallas, Texas, May 11 through 13, where Mining Disrupt and Intelligence Disrupt will share the same dates and the same roof. The host described it as bringing the mining community and the AI community together to talk, shake hands and look each other in the eye, and promised to come back to why that matters. The host joked about not knowing what to call the combined crowd of Bitcoiners and AI builders, perhaps accelerationists, but said the point is getting both communities in one place to converse and bring their ideas together.
First, the usual reminder that the show is entertainment and education, not financial advice, and then the numbers. Bitcoin was just over 63,000 dollars, which worked out to 1,585 sats per US dollar. Priority and anytime fees were still very low, the last block had come in seven minutes earlier, and the count of unconfirmed transactions sat just over 75,000. When this episode was posted, Bitcoin traded at $63,563; on October 12, 2026 it was $83,316.
A Story From Whole Foods
The host then told a story from some years earlier, when the host worked at Whole Foods. The job had appealed because of its local feel, though it was not in Austin, where the chain started. Over time it felt more and more corporate, with micromanaging the host did not like, and the move to ownership by Amazon was coming down the pipeline. Anyone who has been inside a Whole Foods, the host said, knows the feel. The host did not know the Amazon deal was coming, but could see the writing on the wall.
Telling this to a woman one day, the host got some advice: work your way up the corporate ladder and change things from within. The host's answer was no. That is like saying a captain or even a general in the army can change the US government. There are too many layers above the store, and a store manager mostly passes down what comes from on high and has no real power to make large changes to the company as a whole.
Two Chains, One Big Gap
That story, the host said, ties to a live disagreement in Bitcoin. One side, which the host called the core side, pointed to a block height of 962,618. Checking Mempool.space, the host showed recent blocks from pools such as Foundry, AntPool and ViaBTC, consistent with that chain. The host made a point of naming that explorer, because the other side, which supporters of BIP 110 back, shows up on a different one.
A second explorer tracking the other chain looked similar at first glance, at 961,635. Then the host looked closer.
That is 983 blocks behind.
The host · 3:28
And at the current rate, it would take 9 and 1/2 years for the next difficulty adjustment to happen.
The host · 3:34
That gap, the host said, is why the subject was being discussed so much. The host added that, last the host saw, Blake2b miners were going to be used for that chain.
Bitcoin Is More Like Food Than a Company
So how does the Whole Foods story fit? A listener could argue that the host disliked the company's direction, forked off and found a new job, and that this is exactly what the other side is doing. The host granted that from either side's point of view, people feel they are right, and said neither side is going to convince the other online.
Here is where the analogy breaks. Bitcoin is not a company and not a grocery store. It is much more like food itself. You can start a company that works with food, run a fruit stand or open an online beef jerky shop. Those are different ways to interact with food.
Likewise there are many companies that work in Bitcoin, and the host named River, Swan, Strike and Strategy. If you work at one of them and dislike the micromanaging, you can go to a different company. But nobody is employed by Bitcoin.
Bitcoin itself has no CEO.
The host · 5:15
Bitcoin just is, the host said. There is no ladder to climb and no head office to change from within.
Why Meeting in Person Matters
The host's bigger takeaway was about persuasion. With flashy slides and neat infographics, the Whole Foods comparison might have convinced some viewers, even though it falls apart. That is the risk of debating online, where a polished argument can carry more weight than it deserves.
The real value, the host said, comes from talking to people who work in these industries and literally get their hands dirty installing ASICs because they are actually miners, not just people who talk about it. Not everyone online is lying, but it is easy to lie online.
It's way easier to lie online, which is the whole reason the Mining Disrupt Expo exists in the first place.
The host · 6:17
The expo was built to bring people out of Craigslist posts and Telegram channels so they could meet and do business in the open. The host said those conversations had been extremely valuable, naming talks with people from Bitmain, Farm God, Solo Satoshi, Repair Bit and ASIC Exchange, among others. At the expo, anyone can ask them whatever they want to know.
The host closed by urging viewers to lock in tickets for Mining Disrupt and Intelligence Disrupt in Dallas, May 11 through 13, before prices rise, with Dallas then about eight months away.