Issue #2

Brought to you by Bitcoin Talent Co.

🚨 News & Updates

Covering February 23rd, 2023 - March 8th, 2023

🚀 Company Updates 

Relai raises $4.5 million in its latest venture round led by Ego Death Capital which is the 6th round of funding completed since the initial seed round in late 2020. The latest funds will be used to "turbocharge" their growth as they seek to implement zero-fee trading, upgrade to support Lightning, and expand upon their Relai Business division. Relai is the leading retail bitcoin-only exchange in Europe that promotes non-custodial ownership. 

Coinkite announces a new strategic partnership with Nunchuk to combine intuitive software interfaces with one of the leading hardware wallet manufacturers. The partnership will advance the multi-billion dollar self-custody market and make it easier and more secure for bitcoin holders to safely store their bitcoin. Coinkite is a leader in security and hardware manufacturing, maker of some of the most iconic Bitcoin-only products, such as OPENDIME, COLDCARD, BLOCKCLOCK, SATSCARD, TAPSIGNER and SATSCHIP.

 🟠 Product Updates

Swan Bitcoin announces Swan IRA allowing customers to access the tax-advantaged benefits of an IRA for their bitcoin holdings. The new service provides a way for bitcoin holders to store bitcoin in a Traditional or Roth IRA account with enterprise-grade custody and a transparent fee model of $20 per month. Most bitcoin IRA options in the space are not bitcoin-only which adds an unnecessary layer of risk and liabilities for IRA providers.

Block teases The Mining Development Kit to unlock innovation in Bitcoin mining. A mining development kit (MDK) is being considered, which would include a powerful, reliable, industrial-grade bitcoin mining hashboard, a custom-designed controller board, open-source firmware, a software API and a web front-end. The announcement will accelerate innovation for both retail mining applications and commercial mining operations. 

Terawulf brings the first nuclear-powered Bitcoin mining facility online. The announcement states about half of the 16,000 miners representing 1.9 EH/s of capacity are now online and the rest are expected to come online in the next few weeks. As the bitcoin mining industry matures, the $0.02 per kWh cost of power will put the company at a significant competitive advantage and contribute to carbon-free bitcoin mining. 

👥 People Updates

Bitcoin Core maintainer Marco Falke steps down from the Core maintainer role citing "being a maintainer is no longer a good fit for me personally." Falke was an incredibly active participant in the Bitcoin development process for the past 7+ years and earned the title of making the most changes to Bitcoin's code. With Falke’s departure, there will now be only four official Bitcoin Core maintainers.

Blockstream announces Blockstream Research— a Bitcoin-focused cryptography team of 10 highly experienced researchers led by Andrew Poelstra and includes other experienced researchers such as Andrew Chow and Dr. Russell O'Connor. They are working on a variety of projects such as a new programming language, digital signature solutions, and off-chain protocols to improve security, privacy and scalability.

🎙 Interviews w/ Industry Leaders

KEY: 🎙 = listen, 📺 = watch, 📖 = read

BTCo1: Andy Thompson, Michael Tanguma, and Eric Podwojski from Bitcoin Talent Co: Host Eric Podwojski interviews co-founders of Bitcoin Talent Co., Andy Thompson, and Michael Tanguma, about the launch of their Bitcoin-focused recruiting firm. (🎙, 📺)

TFTC #399: Bitcoin is Igniting an Engineering Renaissance with Rete Browning and Isaac Fithian: Host Marty Bent interviews the CTO, Rete Browning, and CFOMO, Isaac Fithian, of Cathedra Bitcoin about the engineering team behind the company mining bitcoin successfully. (🎙, 📺)

TFTC #398: Replit, AI and Bitcoin with Amjad Masad: Host Marty Bent interviews the CEO of Replit, Amjad Masad, on the convergence of a global digital workforce, AI and bitcoin. (🎙, 📺)

TFTC #397: Nostr and Lightning Are The Real Web 3.0 with Myles Snider: Host Marty Bent interviews Head of Marketing at Kollider, Myles Snider, about the underappreciation of the Lightning Network, the emergence of inscriptions, and the product suite that the Kollider team is building out. (🎙, 📺)

WBD #623: Grayscale, the SEC & Genesis with Michael Sonnenshein: Host Peter McCormack interviews the CEO of Grayscale, Michael Sonnenshein, about Grayscale's lawsuit with the SEC and Genesis' bankruptcy. (🎙, 📺, 📖)

BTC119: Merging the Energy Sector with Bitcoin Mining w/ Harry Sudock: Host Preston Pysh interviews the CSO of Griid, Harry Sudock, about the current events and progress in the energy and mining sector. (🎙, 📺, 📖)

The Bitcoin Layer: Don't Mix Crypto & Leverage w/ Caitlin Long: Host Joe Consorti interviews the Founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, Caitlin Long, about the progress on folding good faith bitcoin financial institutions into the regulatory window. (🎙, 📺)

Blockware Intelligence: Atomic Finance: Get Returns on Bitcoin w/out Giving Up Self Custody: Host Joe Burnett interviews Co-founders of Atomic Finance, Matthew Black and Tony Cai, about the Bitcoin native financial platform they are building. (🎙, 📺)

Blockware Intelligence: Cleanspark Co-Founder on the Importance of Bitcoin Mining: Host Joe Burnett interviews Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Cleanspark ($CLSK), Matthew Schultz, on their strategic acquisition of 20,000 new S19j Pro+'s. (🎙, 📺)

The Bitcoin Standard Podcast 158: Paxful with Ray Youssef: Host Saifedean Ammous interviews Founder of Paxful, Ray Youssef, about how Paxful has grown as the leading peer-to-peer bitcoin market in the developing world. (🎙, 📺)

Digital Wildcatters: Bitcoin for the People: Bitcoin banking, Monetizing Molecules and Human Prosperity: Hosts Justin Ballard and Jake Corley interviews VP and Head of Business Development of LevelField, Lisa Hough, about what it means for LevelField to buy a bank. (🎙, 📺)

BCB099: CK Snarks & Chris Alaimo: NOSTR, Ordinals & Bitcoin 2023: Hosts Josh and Dan interview the GM of Bitcoin Magazine, Christian Keroles, and Multimedia Producer at Bitcoin Magazine, Chris Alaimo, about the upcoming Bitcoin 2023 Conference in Miami. (🎙, 📺)

🔦 Company Spotlight

Unchained Capital

Total Funding

$33.5M (Source: Crunchbase)

About

"Our mission is to build a bitcoin-native ecosystem that ensures everyone can secure and maximize the value of their bitcoin holdings over multiple generations.

We believe bitcoin provides infrastructure for a free and open financial system far superior to current fiat standards. Our self-custody vaults and financial services leverage the bitcoin protocol to deliver safe, easy-to-use, and transparent products that empower clients to hold private keys.  

Our company is made up of a diverse, multi-disciplinary group of individuals with high standards for excellence. All of our clients receive a premium support experience, and we respect client privacy by collecting only essential personal and financial information. Our team is committed to our vision of bitcoin ubiquity and a future financial system built on the right values and principles."

Leadership

• Joe Kelly, Co-founder and CEO

• Dhruv Bansal, Co-founder and CSO

• Joshua Preston, COO

💼 Working in Bitcoin 

Bitcoin Talent Co. is the first recruiting firm to focus exclusively on the Bitcoin landscape. We see through the noise of crypto, blockchain, Web3, and all other buzzwords to help Bitcoin-focused companies operate at scale. Below are some of the positions we are actively recruiting candidates for.

Open Roles

1. Sales Director - An AI-focused technology company that uses the Lightning network to pay users for completing micro tasks is looking for an experienced sales hunter to bring their product to market. A candidate with existing contacts within the traditional media industry is a plus.

2. Bug Bounty Program Manager - A Bitcoin company leveraging the Lightning network to create a bounty marketplace is looking for a sales expert with a technical vocabulary who is able to attract quality developers to the platform to complete bounties. A candidate with existing contacts within bitcoin companies is a plus.

3. VP of Engineering - An interoperable Web 5 company using the Lightning network for decentralized bitcoin payments is hiring a VP of Engineering to work closely with the CEO. The role requires a candidate willing to work more than 60 hours per week writing code and managing an engineering team.

4. Recruiter - Bitcoin Talent Co. is seeking an experienced recruiter to join the team. Knowledge about Bitcoin and Bitcoin culture is a must.

🤔 Interested in an open role or know someone who may be interested?

Send us a message or reach out if you have strong folks in your network that could be a great fit, we have a very exciting referral program!👇

That's a wrap for this biweekly newsletter. See ya in +2016 blocks from now! 

If you want more, be sure to follow our Twitter (@BitcoinTalentCo) and connect with us on LinkedIn.

 - Eric (@epodrulz)

👋 One more thing...

If you found value in this newsletter please subscribe and tell a friend. Our mission is to strengthen the bitcoin network with premiere human capital. The more professionals know about us, the more talent we can bring into the industry!