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REPORT: Marathon Digital Holdings X BM PRO Present Cashing In On Trash

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The following report is a collaboration between Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. and Bitcoin Magazine Pro on integrating bitcoin mining into landfill management and methane mitigation.

TLDR

Landfills are a significant contributor to global methane emissions, which, if mitigated, could have a greater environmental impact than managing carbon dioxide emissions.Conventional methane management methods, such as venting and flaring, are inefficient and environmentally damaging, while waste-to-energy solutions, like selling electricity to the grid or distributing renewable natural gas (RNG) via pipelines, often prove economically infeasible for smaller or remote landfills.Bitcoin mining offers a market-based approach to reducing methane emissions from landfills by converting otherwise wasted potential energy into economic value. Bitcoin mining requires minimal investments in infrastructure, and it is geographically flexible, modular, and scalable. In theory, Bitcoin mining can therefore help any landfill, regardless of its size and geographic location, reduce its emissions while benefiting from an additional stream of income.

Abstract

Landfills worldwide face a growing problem with methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), as they struggle to manage ever-increasing volumes of waste. The traditional methods of dealing with this issue, venting and flaring, are inefficient and often environmentally harmful. Moreover, existing waste-to-energy solutions typically only work economically for larger landfills located near city centers, leaving smaller or remote landfills without a feasible alternative.

This report introduces a new solution to mitigating landfill methane emissions: a partnership between landfills and Bitcoin miners that leverages electricity generated from landfill waste for Bitcoin mining on-site (i.e., off-grid). This collaboration could offer a return on investment (ROI) by creating an additional income stream and a return on environment (ROE) by reducing emissions. Additionally, this win-win solution extends a variety of other benefits to all parties involved, presenting a more economically viable and environmentally responsible way to mitigate methane emissions, especially for smaller or isolated landfills.

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD THE REPORT. 

The Heap of Trouble Facing Our Landfills

Every year, over 2.0 billion metric tons of waste end up in landfills worldwide. 1 A portion of this waste is organic matter, and as it breaks down, it releases methane – a potent GHG gas with a global warming potential 80 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. 2 Landfills are currently responsible for 11% of all global methane emissions. 3 However, recent satellite data studies on cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Buenos Aires, suggest that methane emissions from landfills might be 1.4 to 2.6 times higher than previous estimates. 4 Moreover, according to projections by the World Bank, global waste may increase 70% to 3.4 billion metric tons by 2050. 5 This mounting pile of waste presents a critical environmental issue that must be addressed.

According to the Global Methane Assessment, “Achieving methane emissions reductions in the next decade will keep the planet significantly cooler than attempts to cut carbon dioxide emissions alone.” 6

The situation is particularly concerning in the United States, where municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills contribute to about 14% of human-related methane emissions. 7 In 2021, US MSW landfills released 3.7 million metric tons of methane, which is equivalent to 66 million gas-powered passenger vehicles or 79 coal-fired power plants, into the atmosphere. 8

Figure 1: 2021 US Methane Emissions, By Source 9

In an attempt to reduce methane emissions, the White House took decisive action in 2021. 10 The administration published revised standards for landfills without methane mitigation implementation plans and mandated that existing large MSW landfills in the US significantly reduce their methane emissions. While larger landfills are the principal focus of this policy, the heightened interest of regulators may have implications that reverberate across the entire landfill sector. As such, it has become imperative for all landfills, regardless of their size, to adopt effective strategies to decrease their methane emissions.

Venting Frustrations and Burning Issues: The Outdated Methods of Landfill Methane Management

Historically, landfills have relied primarily on two methods for methane management: venting and flaring. However, these methods are inefficient, wasteful, and often environmentally harmful.

Venting, a process in which methane is directly released into the atmosphere, is used by over 50% of US landfills due to a lack of gas collection systems. 11 The major downside of venting is its significant environmental impact since methane is more potent than carbon dioxide. Additionally, because it fails to take advantage of the potential energy value of methane, it is a wasteful practice.

On the other hand, flaring, which is the combustion of methane, is considered a more environmentally friendly approach than venting. Flaring reduces the global warming potential of methane by converting it into carbon dioxide (another GHG) and water. However, it is only about 92% efficient. 12 8% of the methane is still released into the atmosphere. Flaring also brings its own set of environmental issues to local communities, including air pollution, noise, and light disturbances. Moreover, similar to venting, flaring is wasteful as it fails to harness the energy potential of methane. In fact, because of its adverse impacts, the World Bank is advocating for a complete ban on routine flaring by 2030. 13 While the proposed ban would only apply to the oil and gas sector, it is conceivable that future legislation could include other large methane emitters.

A more productive alternative has emerged in the form of waste-to-energy conversion. But this alternative is not a viable option for all landfills.

The Constraints of Waste-to-Energy Conversion

Waste-to-energy conversion technologies have shown potential for mitigating methane emissions, particularly for larger landfills located near urban hubs. These sites can convert captured methane into two forms of sustainable energy: 1) electricity, which can be sold to the grid, and 2) renewable natural gas (RNG), which can be distributed through pipelines. Despite the high upfront costs of installing these mitigation systems, the potential return on investment can make them worthwhile if financed with a low cost of capital.

However, this option has limitations. Selling electricity to the grid, although less costly upfront relative to producing RNG, contends with slim profit margins and extended interconnect queues. In this context, “interconnect queues” refers to the waiting list for gaining access to the transmission lines needed to transport electricity from the source to the grid. Conversely, refining landfill gas into RNG is potentially more profitable, but it demands considerable capital and involves building new pipelines.

Moreover, not all large landfills are located near cities, and for smaller or remote landfills, the economics of waste-to-energy conversion are often untenable. The combination of lower waste volumes and logistical limitations may inhibit their ability to generate a profitable return from energy sales.

As a result of these challenges, the number of landfills converting landfill gas to energy has been declining since 2016.

Figure: 2 LFG to Electricity Trending Down Since 20161 14

This disparity between large and small (or remote) landfills underscores an urgent need for cost-effective, scalable solutions. Ideally, these solutions would be both environmentally friendly and economically viable; they would cater to the diverse needs of different landfill sizes and locations.

Figure 3: Large vs. Small to Medium Landfills 15

From Trash to Digital Treasure: Bitcoin Mining’s Unique Solution

This is where Bitcoin mining can step in and provide a practical solution today for landfills struggling to rationalize the economics of waste-to-energy conversion. Bitcoin mining can help even the smallest landfills transform their waste into a valuable resource. This solution, in turn, supports landfill owners in implementing strategies to reduce methane emissions and comply with regulations.

How would this work? The process begins by capturing methane from landfill waste and utilizing it to power generators or microturbines, which in turn supply electricity to Bitcoin mining rigs. This process converts what was previously a GHG into a source of renewable energy and a revenue source for the landfill.

Figure 4: Landfill With an On-Site Bitcoin Mining Data Center

Landfill: The process begins in the landfill, where organic waste decomposes and produces methane.Backup Flare: The flare can burn off excess methane if there is more than what is needed for power generation. However, sizing the data center optimally could minimize the reliance on a backup system.Gas Compression and Conditioning Skid: The captured methane is then sent to a gas compression and conditioning skid. This component is responsible for refining the methane, removing impurities, and pressurizing it to the required level.Modular Gas Microturbine: The compressed and conditioned methane gas is fed into a modular gas microturbine, which utilizes the gas to generate electricity.Containerized Bitcoin Mining Data Center: The electricity generated by the microturbine is used to power a containerized Bitcoin mining data center. The data center houses specialized computers (ASICs) designed to secure and process transactions for the Bitcoin network. As a result, a once harmful GHG is converted into a valuable digital commodity.

But why Bitcoin mining? It offers several unique advantages that no other solution in the marketplace can provide today, in particular:

Monetization with Lean Infrastructure: Bitcoin mining can monetize methane directly on-site without requiring expensive investments in grid transmission or pipeline connections. This direct approach means rapid deployment and revenue generation. With an additional income stream, landfills can invest in other LFG-to-energy projects while retaining the Bitcoin miner as an offtake for excess energy not sold.Limited Involvement from Landfill Owner: By partnering with a large, reputable miner, a landfill owner can reap several benefits with very low additional effort. The miners do the work.GHG Emission Reduction: Bitcoin mining offers a market-based approach, without regulatory intervention, to reduce methane emissions by converting otherwise wasted potential energy from landfills into economic value.Geographical Flexibility: Bitcoin miners can operate anywhere in the world; they only need an internet connection. This location agnosticism opens up opportunities for even the most isolated landfills, transforming previously overlooked sites into valuable sources of energy.Modular Capacity: Bitcoin data centers offer a high degree of customization and scalability, accommodating energy loads of varying magnitudes. This flexibility aligns well with landfills of different sizes and waste capacities. Nearly any landfill, regardless of its size, can host Bitcoin mining operations to take advantage of their methane emissions.Portability: Bitcoin data centers can be constructed in purpose-built containers. This configuration offers exceptional mobility. Mining operations can be relocated to new sites on an as-needed basis.Interruptible Operations: Bitcoin miners have the unique advantage of being able to power down and rapidly reboot within a brief 10-minute window. This capability is ideal for landfills where gas production might fluctuate due to variables like waste volume and composition.

These advantages make Bitcoin mining a mutually beneficial, win-win solution for both parties.

Economically, landfills can establish an additional income stream with minimal investment in infrastructure, while Bitcoin miners gain access to a low-cost source of renewable energy.

Environmentally, the solution converts a harmful GHG gas into energy. It reduces landfill emissions and simultaneously helps Bitcoin miners reduce their reliance on grid energy. By increasing their sustainable energy mix and reducing GHG emissions, Bitcoin miners could, in theory, make their operations CO2 neutral or even negative. 16

Operationally, landfills can quickly implement an effective means of mitigating their methane emissions, while Bitcoin miners can diversify their energy sources and site locations.

Figure 5: Landfills + Bitcoin Mining: A Win-Win Collaboration

Figure 6: Solutions Available to Landfills: Comparative Analysis

In short, by offering an effective solution to the pressing issue of landfill methane emissions, Bitcoin mining can transform what was once a troublesome waste product into a valuable resource.

About Marathon Digital Holdings

Marathon is a digital asset technology company that focuses on supporting and securing the Bitcoin ecosystem. The Company is currently in the process of becoming one of the largest and most sustainably powered Bitcoin mining operations in North America.

1 “What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050.” The World Bank. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://datatopics. worldbank.org/what-a-waste/trends_in_solid_waste_management.html#:~:text=The%20world%20generates%202.01%20billion,from%200.11%20 to%204.54%20kilograms.

2 “Methane: A Crucial Opportunity in the Climate Fight.” Environmental Defense Fund. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://www.edf.org/climate/ methane-crucial-opportunity-climate-fight

3 Dickie, Gloria. “Landfills around the World Release a Lot of Methane – Study.” Reuters, August 11, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/landfills-around-world-release-lot-methane-study-2022-08-10/#:~:text=Landfill%20waste%20 %E2%80%93%20responsible%20for%20about,according%20to%20the%20World%20Bank.

4 Arasu, Sibi. “Satellite Data Finds Landfills Are Methane ‘Super Emitters.’” Phys.org, August 13, 2022. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-satellite-landfills-methane-super-emitters.html.

5 “What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050.” The World Bank. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://datatopics.worldbank.org/what-a-waste/trends_in_solid_waste_management.html#:~:text=The%20world%20generates%202.01%20billion,from%200.11%20 to%204.54%20kilograms.

6 “Global Methane Assessment: Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions.” UN Environment Program, May 6, 2021. https://www.unep.org/resources/report/global-methane-assessment-benefits-and-costs-mitigating-methane-emissions.

7 “Trashing The Climate: Methane from Municipal Landfills.” Environmental Integrity, May 18, 2023. https://environmentalintegrity.org/reports/trashing-the-climate/.

8 Ibid.

9 “Basic Information about Landfill Gas.” Environmental Protection Agency, August 3, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas.

10 “U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan.” The White House, November 2021. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/US-Methane-Emissions-Reduction-Action-Plan-1.pdf.

11 “LMOP Landfill and Project Database.” Environmental Protection Agency, August 3, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/lmop/lmop-landfill-and-project-database.

12 “Gas Flaring.” IEA. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://www.iea.org/energy-system/fossil-fuels/gas-flaring.

13 “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 (ZRF) Initiative.” The World Bank. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/zero-routine-flaring-by-2030.

14 “LMOP Landfill and Project Database.” Environmental Protection Agency, August 3, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/lmop/lmop-landfill-and-project-database.

15 Ibid.

16 Daniel. “35 LANDFILLS MINING BITCOIN = A NET ZERO EMISSION BITCOIN NETWORK.” Batcoinz, May 28, 2023. https://batcoinz.com/50-landfills-mining-bitcoin-a-zero-emission-bitcoin-network/.

​ Bitcoin Mining Offers an Economical Solution to Mitigating Methane Emissions from Landfills 

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BitVM Just Got A Massive Upgrade

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The introduction of BitVM smart contracts has marked a significant milestone in the path for scalability and programmability of Bitcoin. Rooted in the original BitVM protocol, Bitlayer’s Finality Bridge introduces the first version of the protocol live on testnet, which is a good starting point for realizing the promises of the Bitcoin Renaissance or “Season 2”.

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Unlike earlier BTC bridges that often required reliance on centralized entities or questionable trust assumptions, the Finality Bridge leverages a blend of BitVM smart contracts, fraud proofs, and zero-knowledge proofs. This combination not only enhances security but also significantly reduces the need for trust in third parties. We’re not at the trustless level that Lightning provides, but this is a million times better than current sidechains designs claiming to be Bitcoin Layers 2s (in addition to significantly increasing the design space for Bitcoin applications).

The system operates on a principle where funds are securely locked in addresses governed by a BitVM smart contract, functioning under the premise that at least one participant in the system will act honestly. This setup inherently reduces the trust requirements but has to introduce additional complexities that Bitlayer aims to manage with this version of the bridge.

Source: https://blog.bitlayer.org/introducing_finality_bridge/

The Mechanics of Trust

In practical terms, when Bitcoin is locked into the BitVM smart contract through the Finality Bridge, users are issued YBTC – a token that maintains a strict 1:1 peg with Bitcoin. This peg is not just a promise but is enforced by the underlying smart contract logic, ensuring that each YBTC represents a real, locked Bitcoin on the main chain (no fake “restacked” BTC metrics). This mechanism allows users to participate in DeFi activities like lending, borrowing, and yield farming within the Bitlayer ecosystem without compromising on the security and settlement assurances that Bitcoin provides.

While some in the community might find these activities objectionable, this type of architecture allows users to get some guarantees that they previously could not hope to get with traditional sidechain designs, with the added bonus that we do not need to “change” Bitcoin to make it happen (although covenants would make this bridge design completely “trust-minimized, which would effectively make it a “True” Bitcoin Layer 2). For more details about the different levels of risks associated with sidechains designs, take a look at Bitcoin Layers assessment of Bitlayer here.

However, until such advancements come to fruition, the Bitlayer Finality Bridge serves as the best realization of the BitVM 2 paradigm. It’s a testament to what’s possible after the dev “brain drain” from centralized chains back to Bitcoin. Despite all the challenges that BitVM chains will face, I remain exceptionally excited at the prospect of Bitcoin fulfilling its destiny as the Ultimate Settlement Chain for all economic activity.

This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

Guillaume’s articles in particular may discuss topics or companies that are part of his firm’s investment portfolio (UTXO Management). The views expressed are solely his own and do not represent the opinions of his employer or its affiliates. He’s receiving no financial compensation for these Takes. Readers should not consider this content as financial advice or an endorsement of any particular company or investment. Always do your own research before making financial decisions. 

 The BitLayer Finality Bridge is Delivering On The Promises of BitVM – While still far from a fully trustless system, the progress made over the past year is remarkable 

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Bitcoin Banks: We Should Build Them Ourselves

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Bitcoin banks are going to happen. We already have a few of them. We’re going to have more of them. Existing legacy banks are going to start offering services. New banks are going to be founded around Bitcoin. This is completely unavoidable at this point. Bitcoin doesn’t scale. Even absent that, people value other services that inherently require other parties. Debt being the chief one.

This is an inescapable reality.

Even if we could snap our fingers and roll out every well specified opcode and covenant proposal at once, it would still take a lot of time to begin building out self-custodial layers that could compete with something like credit unions and banks offering bitcoin accounts at scale. That is not a problem that can be trivially solved overnight.

So what can we do? We need to embrace a localist attitude around making interaction with your bitcoin easy. This requires a two pronged approach, one involving technical development and the other involving, I hate to say it, lobbying.

There already exist pieces of software like LNDHub or LNBits that allow people to offer custodial accounts for Lightning. We need a lot more software like this, and we need it to be miles better. It needs to not involve tinkering around on the command line and hooking up independent software, or perusing Github to follow manual installation instructions, or fumbling around trying to fix dependencies mismatches.

It needs to just work.

Click, sync to the network, done. It needs to be something that power users who are still not very tech savvy can run safely, and not lose other people’s money. It needs to support more than basic accounts for Lightning. Ecash offers privacy, which would be something important when it comes to small groups of people who know each other. You don’t want your friend seeing what you spend your money on. It needs to support things like Unchained or Nunchuck style on-chain self custody. People aren’t going to want to hold all their friends and family’s life savings, but holding a recovery key to safeguard them from their own mistakes is another matter.

We need the software that will actually scale this type of user interaction beyond a bunch of activist nerds online.

We also need a regulatory carve out. There needs to be a clear acknowledgement that running this type of software for friends and family with trivial amounts of money, say thousands of dollars, and without charging anything for it, is an unregulated activity. Helping friends and family interact with Bitcoin safely and easily, and for free, does not make you a bank. The idea of a few thousand dollars needing to comply with the regulations banks managing billions of dollars do is frankly absurd.

This is the path forward given the current constraints of Bitcoin, and the reality of growing and accelerating adoption, that leads us away from a system that eventually becomes completely captured and neutered by legacy financial institutions.

Instead of depending on them to deal with the current scaling limitations of Bitcoin, we depend on each other. 

This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

 Bitcoiners shouldn’t sit around and wait for fiat banks and financial companies to offer services built on Bitcoin, we should do it ourselves. 

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Galoy Launches Bitcoin-Backed Loan Software, Sets Groundwork For Open-Source Banking

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Founder: Nicolas Burtey

Date Founded: September 2019

Location of Headquarters: United States

Number of Employees: 11

Website: https://www.galoy.io/

Public or Private? Private

Last week, Galoy launched Lana, software that enables banks to accept bitcoin as collateral for loans.

Lana helps community and challenger banks (the banks with which Galoy is looking to work) to offer bitcoin-backed loans to various types of customers.

“Some banks might want to use it to sell to retail, and some might want to use it to sell commercial customers or high-net-worth individuals,” Burtey told Bitcoin Magazine.

In offering such loans to a wide array of customers, Burtey believes that the high cost of borrowing currently associated with such products will come down.

“Today’s interest rates are 12% to 15% if you want to get a loan using your bitcoin as collateral,” said Burtey.

“The rates are high because there are so few financial institutions offering this type of product. We see an opportunity now that the regulations are allowing banks to do things with bitcoin,” he added.

“We think a lot of banks will want to enter this market.”

If Burtey is correct in his prediction that banks are keen to offer bitcoin-backed loans, this will not only lower rates for such loans, but it will also introduce open-source Bitcoin software into the world of banking, which could initiate a new trend in the industry.

But more on that in just a minute. First, some background on Galoy.

Galoy’s History: From Blink Wallet To Lana

Founded in September 2019, Galoy had intentions to enable banks to use bitcoin from the start, but it had to hold off on doing so due to an unfriendly regulatory environment.

So, instead, it focused its efforts on creating and supporting Blink wallet (which was originally called the Bitcoin Beach wallet and which Galoy recently sold), a custodial Bitcoin and Lightning wallet predominantly used at first in El Salvador and then in Bitcoin circular economies globally.

“Galoy’s mission was to onboard banks to Bitcoin five years ago,” said Burtey.

“But the regulatory environment was so bad during the last five years that we decided to create Blink. The reason we are now focusing on our original mission is because with the end of Choke Point 2.0 and the repeal of SAB 121, we think now is the perfect time to help banks adopt Bitcoin.”

Burtey spoke about his work in creating and growing Blink fondly and shared that he had to stop working on the project only because it would be too difficult to continue managing it while also aiming to serve a new type of clientele.

“Blink is a B2C (Business-To-Customer) play, and it’s hard as an early-stage startup to focus on too many things,” explained Burtey.

“Galoy is a B2B (Business-To-Business)-driven business, and we want to work with banks and financial institutions,” he added.

“It’s good to be focused on just one thing.”

And, as mentioned, that one thing will now be Lana.

How Lana Works

Lana is software that Galoy helps banks integrate and manage for a subscription fee. With this software, banks can issue bitcoin-backed loans under the terms they create.

“We’re not the ones deciding how much interest will be charged or anything like that,” explained Burtey.

“We give banks the platform to do this, and then they can figure out their cost of capital, the duration of the loan, the liquidation price for the bitcoin in the loan and the rate at which they want to lend,” he added.

“We’re giving you software, and helping you run and automate that software.”

Something else that Galoy doesn’t do for banks is custody the bitcoin provided as collateral for the loans they issue. Each of the banks with whom the company works is responsible for selecting their own custodian.

“You can go to BitGo or Fireblocks or each loan can have its own multisig,” said Burtey. “We’re agnostic on custody.”

With that said, Lana helps banks monitor the bitcoin in custody so that banks can be aware of whether or not collateral is nearing liquidation levels.

“A key piece of this product is risk management,” said Burtey.

“Bitcoin is volatile, and the bank will need a tool to show that it’s taking calculated risk. So, we’ll provide banks with a dashboard to monitor this risk,” he added.

An example of the risk-monitoring dashboard for bitcoin-backed loans that Galoy has created

Who Will Use Lana?

Galoy is targeting community banks and other smaller financial institutions with this new product mostly because they think these smaller players will benefit most from it — and because the big banks likely won’t need such a product.

“We don’t think JP Morgan will really want to work with us,” said Burtey. “They’re probably building something like this themselves, whereas a smaller bank, a credit union or small company probably isn’t.”

Burtey also understands that smaller lenders’ incorporating Lana as opposed to building something comparable themselves can save these financial institutions a significant amount of time and effort.

“Our goal is to say, ‘Look, you can develop this internally, and it will take you six months, a year or longer depending on how much you know about Bitcoin,’” said Burtey. “‘Or we have a lending product as a service for you, and you can launch it much more quickly.’”

And as Burtey and his team onboard their first round of smaller banks, they’ll not only be making history in enabling more banks to accept bitcoin as collateral for loans, but they’ll potentially be altering the trajectory of banking in general by introducing open-source software to it.

Open-Source Bitcoin Banking

Burtey’s long-term vision for Galoy is to do much more than just help banks issue bitcoin-backed loans. He’s looking to introduce open-source software into banking as more banks begin to embrace Bitcoin.

However, it’s important to note that Lana isn’t open-source just yet. It’s fair-source software, and, under such a license, code becomes open-source after two years.

“It’s a delayed open-source system, but it’s all available on GitHub,” said Burtey. “You can go and try it, test it, and play with it on your own.

Under the fair-source license, no company other than Galoy can sell the product to a bank right now, allowing Galoy to profit while still building with auditable code.

“We sell the deployment, and we help banks to plug in to their custodian,” explained Burtey. “We’re building in the open — but we also want to generate revenue.”

Beyond helping banks implement Lana, Burtey’s wants to develop open-source “core banking software,” as he’s looking to disrupt the “core ledger” oligopoly.

“The core ledger is where banks store the account data, customer information and transaction details,” said Burtey. “It’s the source of truth for banks.”

And only three companies — FIS, Fiserv and Jack Henry — have the core ledger market cornered.

“These are all like hundred billion dollar companies that you’ve probably never heard about because all they do is focus on selling software to banks,” said Burtey.

“Our long-term goal is to disrupt this industry by making something that is open source,” said Burtey. “Today, there is no company that does core banking with the idea of open source, and so we’re working towards this.”

Burtey envisions a world in which open-source software can make it much easier for someone to start a Bitcoin bank. (For those who wince at the words “Bitcoin” and “bank” being used in tandem, might I remind you that it was the legendary Hal Finney himself who wrote that bitcoin-backed banks would serve as a scaling solution.)

“To start a bank today is a very expensive and complicated process,” said Burtey. “You have to pay $100,000 plus just to purchase the core ledger technology.”

Burtey then referenced his own experience in starting Blink wallet, essentially a bitcoin bank run on open-source code, before continuing.

“I just went to El Salvador and started what was effectively my own bank because I wanted to,” said Burtey.

“We need to reinvent how core banking software is being made in the world of Bitcoin, and I think this is where open-source becomes relevant,” he added.

“This is really why I think the world of banking and Bitcoin will be very different from the world of banking with fiat, and I think we’re one of the companies at the forefront of this.”

 Galoy founder and CEO Nicolas Burtey wants to help more borrowers use bitcoin as collateral for loans while introducing open-source software into the traditional banking stack. 

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