On this week’s episode of The CoinRock Show, one thing became clear: Bitcoin mining has outgrown its bootstrapped roots. It’s no longer just about securing the network or chasing profits from hashpower. It’s about geopolitical strategy, energy infrastructure, and the future of national sovereignty. Denis Rusinovich, founder of CMG, made that point convincingly.
Mining, as Denis puts it, is becoming one of the most misunderstood yet strategically significant industries in the world. And its value can no longer be measured only in terahashes per second or mining difficulty. From Kazakhstan to Russia, Sweden to Ethiopia, mining is evolving into an energy utilization layer for regions seeking financial relevance, energy monetization, or simply a path to industrialization.
“Every second week we have news coming out where the central bank or someone else says, this is a Ponzi scheme, it should be shut down,” Denis noted.
“I said, we need to actually engage. And this is where the association was formed, which became actually the platform for the discussion and eventually led to the development of this whole legal framework where this Bitcoin mining sector actually became part of the economy.”
From Off-Grid Curiosity to Strategic Infrastructure
Denis’ mining journey didn’t start with a fascination for digital gold. It began in the world of international finance. His early career with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development gave him a front-row seat to how infrastructure transforms economies. So when he entered Bitcoin mining in 2017, he didn’t see a speculative game. He saw a new category of data centers and an alternative mechanism for industrial policy.
“If you look at the basic and fundamentals, you know, this is electricity, you know, this is a shell and core structures and high density of electricity supply required. And from one side, it’s an infrastructure business. And from other side, when you look at actual Bitcoin itself, for me, the easiest was actually to correlate it or align it with a commodity business.” Denis explained.
Bitcoin mining, he argued, provides an immediate buyer for stranded or surplus energy in remote regions. It acts as a tool for energy optimization and, in some cases, geopolitical leverage. In Kazakhstan, mining gave purpose to forgotten megawatts. In Sweden, it helped repurpose post-industrial zones. In Ethiopia, it’s being used to accelerate hydroelectric deployment.
More Than Miners: They’re Energy Diplomats
Denis made one of the most compelling arguments on the episode when he spoke about the convergence between mining and other verticals. Waste management, AI compute, and district heating are just some of the adjacent sectors now intertwining with mining operations.
“You’re definitely going to have more professional players who actually do the sector convergence using the flare gas or basically using the oil and gas sector, energy utilities, for example, waste management is a massive opportunity there where you have a by-product,” he said.
It’s also becoming harder to ignore the geopolitical backdrop. As major economies like the U.S. and China rethink their energy and tech stacks, smaller countries are seeing mining as an equalizer. Not because Bitcoin will become legal tender overnight, but because the act of mining builds energy capacity and tech know-how. That matters.
Denis warned that mining’s greatest existential threat isn’t regulation or volatility. It’s competition for energy. In a world where AI models and industrial operations are energy-hungry, mining must prove its usefulness or risk being pushed out.
“If we start competing for energy, this is where the dead end comes,” he stated bluntly.
But if mining positions itself as a collaborative user of off-grid or underutilized power, it earns its seat at the table. In places like Russia and Kazakhstan, that means becoming a stakeholder in local energy development. In Western markets, it means plugging into conversations about sustainable infrastructure.
A Tool, Not a Threat
The final point Denis made is one many crypto purists might miss: mining is being normalized. Governments aren’t banning it outright. They’re seeking ways to regulate, tax, and integrate it. That’s not capitulation. That’s evolution.
“It will develop into the internal products, you know, financial products because yeah This is where you have a clean Bitcoin generated inside the country, I’m sure by the country’s players who are registered with All the tax authorities,” Denis predicted.
That sounds less like rebellion and more like maturity. In a post-cycle world, the most successful miners won’t be those with the cheapest rigs. They’ll be the ones with relationships, policy influence, and a clear path to integration.
Key Takeaway
Bitcoin mining is no longer an arms race of hardware. It’s a multi-dimensional industry influencing energy policy, economic development, and even geopolitics. Denis Rusinovich’s perspective is a wake-up call: miners must think bigger. The next wave of mining dominance won’t come from hashpower alone — it will come from those who understand the bigger game.
