Stephan Livera Podcast · Nov 5, 2026 · 36:22
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Alex Busarov, founder of Heatbit, argues that water heating, not space heating, makes home Bitcoin mining add up. His new Bitwater element replaces a water heater’s lower heating element, mines all year, and he says it adds no extra energy cost because the heat is used anyway.
Stephan presses him on the two-to-three-year payback claim, the hashrate and price assumptions behind it, a plan to give devices away for free while Heatbit keeps the hashrate, decentralization risk, limescale and maintenance, the Bitair purifier, and why halvings strengthen the case for heat reuse.
00:00 — Intro
00:35 — From a Loud S9 to Heatbit
02:04 — ROI, Ideology or Gift?
04:03 — Bitair: $179 Purifier, Not ROI
05:31 — Solo Pool by Default, Noise Modes
07:04 — Bitwater Price and Plumbing Value
08:49 — The 2–3 Year Payback Claim
09:50 — Free Devices, Heatbit Keeps the Hash
12:18 — Assumptions: Flat Price, Flat Hashrate
13:52 — Element Lifetime and Limescale Failure
14:59 — B2B Installers and Unwitting Miners
17:01 — Water Heating vs the Mining Network
17:59 — Decentralization and Miners Who Hold
20:31 — Efficiency: BM1370 and “Zero Incremental”
22:11 — Maintenance, Leaks and Limescale
24:55 — Should Every Heating Element Mine?
26:29 — Becoming a Miner With No Power Bill
27:29 — Utilization: The Heat-Reuse Variable
30:08 — Maxi, Trio and Canvas Space Heaters
32:43 — Space Heaters Pay Back Slower
34:58 — Halvings as Heat Reuse’s Tailwind
Show links
Episodes: Stephan Livera Podcast