Inside Austin’s bitcoin underground
AUSTIN — There is a sort of clubhouse for Austin’s bitcoin believers on the second floor of the Littlefield Building at the corner of Congress Avenue and Sixth Street. The hideaway is at the crossroads of two worlds — the majestic thoroughfare that leads to the Texas State Capitol and the iconic, albeit notorious, stretch of bars, restaurants, and live music that define the capital’s party vibes. It’s an apt metaphor for the space itself.
The Bitcoin Commons is, at once, many things.
By day, it functions as an open plan, fluorescent-lit co-working space for the more corporate-minded bitcoin operators, but at night, it moonlights as a safe space for underground meet-ups of the industry’s rogue actors. Periodically, it plays host to conferences that draw in a mix of attendees ranging from venture capitalists to armed preppers living entirely off the grid. And on some afternoons, once happy hour hits, the kitchen at the back is retrofit with a stowaway bar.
“We also fund developers, and we help them advance their projects,” said Parker Lewis, one of the stewards of the Commons, as well as the author of a new book on bitcoin called “Gradually, Then Suddenly.”
“We help advance bitcoin through education and actually developing the monetary network, the code base, and the applications,” said Lewis, who is widely considered to be one of Texas’ de facto bitcoin ambassadors.
Francisco Chavarria was born in Mexico City and spent time in Salt Lake City, but three years ago, he made the move to Austin to be a part of a community of like-minded thinkers. His company, Yopaki, which is a neobank for bitcoin focused on the Latin American market, just won first place in a hackathon put on at the Commons.
“If you talk to other builders in the competition, a lot happens here,” said Chavarria. “There definitely is a sense of, ‘I don’t need for others to lose for me to win.’ There really is a relationship and a collaboration for bitcoin to succeed.”
“Right now it feels like we’re all winning because of the price, but those of us who have been building in the bear market, we know,” Chavarria added.
Austin’s “Bitcoin Commons” hosts regular meetups and conferences for the city’s bitcoiners.
CNBC
Bear or bull market, bitcoiners have flocked to Austin because of a combination of pro-crypto policies, abundant, renewable energy, and an ever-growing network of some of the brightest developers and miners on the planet. And even in the price doldrums, they typically bring the same level of enthusiasm to the conversation — though bitcoin’s recent stretch of record-breaking price moves has gone a long way toward boosting morale.
In March, bitcoin hit multiple, fresh all-time highs, as trader enthusiasm for the digital asset sector soared. A lot of that price run-up has to do with the record flows into the newly-launched spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S., led by the world’s largest asset manager Blackrock and its $15.5 billion iShares Bitcoin Trust, which have helped to solidify bitcoin’s place as an asset class that’s here to stay.
Collectively, these spot ETFs have brought in around $60 billion, and in some cases, they have been breaking records for ETF flows altogether.
“The biggest driver is certainly the ETF flows, which have surpassed the expectations of all but the most bullish pundits,” said Castle Island Venture’s Nic Carter of bitcoin’s record price moves this month. “And these blockbuster flows have materialized before the major wirehouses, asset managers, and RIAs have actually approved the ETF for their clients.”
Carter added that there is also new liquidity coming into bitcoin from Asian markets via two main pathways: bitcoin’s version of non-fungible tokens known as ordinals, as well as bitcoin-issued coins called BRC20 tokens.
Underground vibes with an open bar
In the last 20 years, Austin has matured into one of the country’s leading tech centers, a trend accelerated by the Covid pandemic, which saw industry leaders migrate en masse from California.
“Bitcoin was founded in 2009. A lot has happened post-financial crisis. Austin was already emerging as a tech center, and you know, enter bitcoin, and it just became the logical home,” said Lewis, who runs business development at Zaprite, a bitcoin-native financial services firm.
It helps that Texas is a libertarian-friendly state that actively supports free market policies. It has proven to be a big draw for a group of people who think of bitcoin as a way of life — that is, a monetary network that is decentralized, borderless, and doesn’t answer to central banks or governments.
Austin’s “Bitcoin Commons” draws in an eclectic mix of people, including venture capitalists, bitcoin miners, and coders.
CNBC
Many hardcore bitcoiners ironically embrace the term maximalist or maxi as a way to self describe. In Texas, though maxis exist along a professional spectrum from venture capitalists, to miners, coders, company executives, and generalist techies, the eclectic tribe have a few things in common. Many are family-oriented, patriotic carnivores with an aversion to the overreach of government and a strong belief in the right to bear arms, among multiple other personal, individual liberties.
Bitcoin’s eponymous Austin lair, which is adorned with the Texas state flag and bitcoin memorabilia, has adopted Chatham House rules for many of its events to protect the identities of those conversing within its walls. One such meetup is the monthly BitDevs (short for bitcoin developers) gathering, where bitcoin builders, investors, and the bitcoin curious are all welcomed, so long as no pictures or videos are taken.
At these meetings, topics run the gamut, from detailed discussions about code to concerns that the Microsoft-maintained GitHub may pose a greater existential threat to the bitcoin network since much of the development work and conversations among coders happen on that platform. At one such gathering, the moderator of the two-hour session asked the room who ran a bitcoin node. More than half of the people in attendance raised their hands.
After attending multiple Austin BitDev meetups over the last three years, a few common conversation themes have emerged, including the focus on identifying threat vectors to the network and brainstorming workarounds. Beyond software, there are also concerns over hardware vulnerabilities, given that the ASIC chip used in bitcoin mining rigs are manufactured out of China, a country which has proven hostile to the crypto sector in recent years.
The “Bitcoin Commons” functions as a sort of clubhouse for the city’s bitcoin believers. It puts on a mix of programming, including conferences and hackathons, as well as hosts a co-working space by day.
CNBC
VCs flock back to bitcoin
The Commons hosted a hackathon, BitDevs, and a one-day conference dubbed the Bitcoin Takeover on the sidelines of the annual South by Southwest tech festival, which put on virtually no crypto programming this year.
Across those multiple gatherings, there was a newfound interest in talking about the burgeoning ecosystem of projects building on top of bitcoin’s blockchain, which began to heat up with the introduction of ordinals in Jan. 2023 — bitcoin’s version of non-fungible tokens.
One underrated driver of bitcoin’s recent rally is new programming innovations that may allow it to reach technological parity with ethereum. These advancements involve beefing up the bitcoin ecosystem with tools like smart contracts, which are programmable pieces of code that help to eliminate middlemen like banks and lawyers from transactions. That makes it easier for developers to create products and applications for consumers.
BitVM, for example, has a promising plan to do just that. It is ultimately trying to bring smart contracts to the bitcoin network, which has helped spur this renaissance of interest in layer two technology — that is, the startups being built on top of bitcoin’s base chain.
“I’ve never seen deal pacing move this aggressively in the bitcoin space in my entire career,” Carter tells CNBC.
Indeed, the VC appetite for these layer two bitcoin projects has been picking up in the last few months.
PitchBook says that the fourth quarter of 2023 was the first time in almost two years that deal value in the crypto sector had increased, reaching $1.9 billion — up 2.5% from the previous quarter. While still well off the 2021 high of $31 billion, funds are building back interest, and trust, in the space.
Grant Gilliam spent 15 years working in private equity in New York before pivoting to run a bitcoin VC fund called Ten31. This investment platform, which is focused exclusively on bitcoin, has invested $125 million of equity in aggregate since launching five years ago. More than $100 million was deployed in the last two years during the bear market.
“We invest across the bitcoin ecosystem across every major theme,” Gilliam told CNBC. “Anything that is relevant to bitcoin infrastructure, we like to say the picks and shovels of companies building products and services for holders of bitcoin.”
Gilliam, who spent a few years commuting from New York to Austin every month for the BitDevs meetup, said that some of the layer two bitcoin investments are more hype than substance, but he’s still bullish overall on the deal space.
“There’s been a lot of L2 hype lately, mainly driven by the ordinals, and inscriptions, developments or innovations, if you want to call it that,” Gilliam said. “There’s a lot of activity in that right now, but we haven’t been as focused on that. It’s our firm view that the ordinals will prove to be a passing fad.”
Gilliam says that Ten31 is focused on basic building blocks of the ecosystem, such as companies that are providing financial services, which could be custody trading and lending, or projects that are working to scale the lightning network.
Lightning, with is the layer two payment technology meant to realize bitcoin’s original vision of being peer-to-peer cash continues to struggle with the issue of reaching scale. Developers tell CNBC that a lot of engineering work remains to close that gap.
The Boys Club put on its own Austin summit on the sidelines of SXSW with programming on the new internet, crypto, and digital culture.
CNBC
Bitcoin-halving country
“Number go up” is a big mantra among bitcoiners, but as the community evolves, so too does the thinking about the price of the coin.
“Price is really an output of many inputs of human beings, building tools to make bitcoin both more secure and a greater utility,” Lewis said. “Price is the best indicator of more people coming to the conclusion that bitcoin is money, and it’s a better store of value, so it is very relevant.”
Every four years, bitcoin undergoes a market making event known as the halving. It cuts the production of new bitcoin in half, and it has typically come before a major run-up in the price of bitcoin.
Miners from around the world flocked to Texas when China banned the practice in 2021, attracted by the abundant renewable energy and a grid that’s friendly to flexible buyers of power — both ideal conditions for miners.
In April, however, the profits for these bitcoin miners will be cut in half.
For some, it may prove an Armageddon-level event. Others have braced for impact by swapping out their fleet of machines for more efficient rigs. The price run-up in bitcoin has also helped to give some of these companies a buffer in their profit margins.
West Texas miner Jamie McAvity has 60 megawatts at his mining site. It runs on a part of the grid that is 90% powered by a mix of solar and wind power.
“If you’ve been in for more than one cycle, you have situated yourself in a place where you can resist the halving to the best of your ability,” McAvity told CNBC at Austin’s Bitcoin Commons.
McAvity, who previously worked for ten years as a trader on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange, added that ETF flows have helped to change the pricing dynamics for the world’s largest coin.
“The spot ETF inflows are so massive that reducing the available supply of newly mined bitcoins from 900 to 450, is probably going to be immaterial relative to that,” he said.
“But who knows, the ETFs could cool off for a while, and it’s hard for someone to credibly say that a reduction in supply is not going to change the market price equilibrium, because that’s a fundamental principle of market economics,” he added.
Altcoin mania
A ten minute walk west from the Bitcoin Commons is the Austin Proper Hotel, a five-star establishment where the lighting is intentionally dim to strike a certain mood. Here, the Boys Club, a popular and buzzy, female-led organization which self-describes as a “social collective bringing new voices to the new internet” put on its own crypto conference on the sidelines of South by Southwest.
The Boys Club caters to a more blockchain agnostic crowd, where the focus is less on exclusivity to one coin or chain — and more about borrowing the best features from across the ecosystem to solve problems in the real world.
CNBC caught up with Micha Benoliel at the one-day summit. Benoliel built Nodle, a decentralized wireless network that’s now getting into the business of using the blockchain to battle AI-powered deepfakes.
“Blockchain is the only way to make a record that is immutable, and is going to prove the time at which this photo has been taken, or video, and also to help you prove the location and other elements that are going to reinforce that proof, so it creates a real immutable proof of authenticity,” he said.
The Boys Club put on its own Austin summit on the sidelines of SXSW with programming on the new internet, crypto, and digital culture.
CNBC
The one-day popup event gathered together more of a web3 crowd to talk about everything from the latest trends in tokenization to the resurgence of on-chain meme culture.
Similar to other bull runs in the price of bitcoin, some altcoins have seen a meteoric rise alongside blue chip names in crypto, because they’re seen as a comparatively cheaper buy.
Dogecoin, a meme-coin that was started as a joke, now has a market cap of nearly $25 billion, placing it in the top ten most valuable cryptocurrencies on the planet. Boden, a coin named after President Joe Biden, saw a run-up of more than 800% in a six-hour window after Super Tuesday, and the newly popular DogWifHat is collectively worth more than $2 billion.
Typically, this is the bellwether of a peak bubble moment, but analysts say that despite frothy conditions, this bull run is different to past cycles.
The price of bitcoin is cyclical, and it sees price run-ups roughly every four years. Each time, the price floor is higher. What’s also a departure this time around is the fact that institutional money is here in a way that it hasn’t been during past bull runs.
Fundamentals in the crypto market are playing a big role, as well.
In a note from JPMorgan on Mar. 15, analysts credit ether, the world’s second-biggest crypto token by market cap, for being a significant driver of crypto’s recent gains, including Coinbase‘s stock price rise. Ether has rallied nearly 50% so far this year, recently breaching the $4,000 price level and outpacing bitcoin’s returns, before paring back some gains.
“While the focus of the cryptocurrency marketplace has been the net new money going into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs and the positive impact on Bitcoin token prices (here, the spot Bitcoin ETF and its ultimate launch in January has driven the cryptoecosystem over the past several months), we see impact of ETH appreciation also as particularly meaningful,” JPMorgan wrote.
Regulators in the U.S. remain a universal concern for the crypto sector, especially amid reports of the Securities and Exchange Commission probing crypto companies building on the ethereum network.
Still, many in the space, including coders and investors remain optimistic.
Ethereum, the blockchain that underpins ether, underwent a major upgrade on Mar. 13 dubbed Dencun. Developers told CNBC it was expected to slash transaction fees by up to 90%. That is game-changing not just for the end-users, but also for the coders building apps on top of ethereum.
Base, crypto exchange Coinbase’s self-built layer two network, is ethereum-based and allows developers to more easily build decentralized apps. Coinbase’s Base lead, Jesse Pollak, anticipates this will open the door to applications in both the gaming and decentralized social media arena now that it is no longer nearly as cost prohibitive to build these types of programs.
“The thing that is happening with Dencun is we’re going to create a whole new kind of storage on ethereum that’s purpose built for Layer 2s like Base,” Pollak told CNBC.
“That means that right now we pay a ton to ethereum, and we’re going to pay a lot less, which is going to lower the fees for everyone. Because ethereum is basically going to build a product purpose built for us,” continued Pollak.
Chris Dixon, crypto chief at venture firm a16z, echoed that sentiment, noting that part of their portfolio is focused on these startups.
“The core idea is that if you build a social network, or a game or a financial service, on top of the blockchain, it has all sorts of benefits where the money and control flow out to the users and the creators that access the network, as opposed to the companies that control it,” said Dixon. “In the same way that steel was a better way to build bridges and buildings than wood was in the Industrial Revolution, blockchains are a building material.”
Environment
Former Tesla, Lucid execs form new EV brand Longbow, whose first two models are sharp and ultra-light
A new niche EV brand, Longbow, has emerged into the public eye, hailing itself as ” the first-ever British electric sports car manufacturer. ” It has unveiled its first two featherweight models, inspired by British automotive icons and designed with real-road performance and the overall driver experience in mind. Despite debuting today, the limited hand-built production of these two featherweight EVs is expected to begin relatively quickly, and they start at a price that doesn’t just cater to the affluent.
You’re not alone if you haven’t heard of Longbow until today. The young brand was founded as recently as 2023 by Daniel Davey, Jenny Keisu, and Mark Tapscott – three industry veterans with a combined resume that cannot be ignored. Davey and Tapscott worked at Tesla during the development of the original Roadster, followed by senior positions at both Lucid Motors and BYD. Keisu brings experience and leadership from the electrified marine segment as she was formerly the CEO of X Shore – an electric boat developer no stranger to the Electrek homepage.
Although Longbow was only founded two years ago, its trio of founders say the EV brand is the realization of many more years of planning and preparation. They have since expanded their team to include an arsenal of engineers with backgrounds in road and motorsport, including former employees at Aston Martin, Formula E, Lotus, and Tesla.
The Longbow team has tasked itself with delivering world-class BEVs that are “spiritual successors” to the icons of British automotive, such as the Lotus Elise and Jaguar E-Type, reimagined for the modern world with bespoke EV platform technology and supreme dynamics. Their take on this legacy is a lineup of sleek vehicles designed, engineered, and built in the UK as Featherweight Electric Vehicles (FEVs).
The young company hit a milestone today, unveiling its first two EV models – the Longbow Speedster and the Roadster; check them out.
Longbow’s first two EVs set to arrive in 2026 under $93k
Per a press release from Longbow, this is the first look at its first two featherweight EVs, which include a Speedster convertible and a Roadster. As FEVs, both models will weigh under 995 kg (2,193 lbs) and achieve the automaker’s motto, “Celeritas Levitas,” or “the speed of lightness.” Per the company:
Development of the Longbow Speedster and Roadster has pursued a singular philosophy: simplify, focus on beauty and engagement, then relentlessly add lightness, until all that remains is sheer automotive intoxication. Antithetical to conventional notions of what a battery electric vehicle (BEV) can be, Speedster and Roadster are striking, light, nimble, balanced, and engineered for an unparalleled driving experience.
The Speedster and Roadster sit atop an aluminum chassis designed for maximum stiffness while offering as little necessary weight as possible. The EV frame is complimented by lighter and more compact motors and batteries (something Lucid Motors is constantly celebrated for). These design elements combine to deliver what Longbow calls “the world’s first ‘proper’ all-electric sportscar for the modern enthusiast.”
The open-topped Speedster weighs 895 kg (1,973 lbs) and can accelerate from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.6 seconds. It has a WLTP range of 275 miles. Longbow shared that the closed cockpit Roadster EV will follow the Speedster, weighing 995 kg while achieving the same 0-100k m/h time. It has a WLTP range of 280 km (174 miles)
As mentioned above, both models will be hand-built in the UK and are expected to hit the market in 2026. The Speedster will start at a price of ₤84,995 ($92,600), including VAT, and only 150 examples will be built. That build schedule will include 10 Luminary First Edition and 25 Autograph Edition models.
The Roadster’s starting price is ₤64,995 ($70,850), including VAT. It will include 50 Luminary 1st Edition models or 100 Autograph Editions. Reservations for both Longbow EVs are available now.
What do we think? Will these FEVs actually get made? Or is this another startup with cool designs that will run out of money before it scales? I hope it’s the former!
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Environment
Tesla Takedown movement fights back against Musk/Trump after push to label them as ‘domestic terrorists’
The Tesla Takedown movement is fighting back against claims made by Elon Musk and Donald Trump while protests are ramping up.
Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk falsely accused the movement of Tesla protests to be financed by the Democratic Party’s ActBlue PAC, and President Trump tried to tie the protests with vandalism against Tesla vehicles and stores.
Trump went as far as claiming that “violence against Tesla dealership will be labeled as domestic terrorism.”
The Tesla Takedown movement has issued a statement in response to make it clear that they are against violence and destruction of property:
We are a nonviolent grassroots protest movement. We oppose violence and destruction of property. Peaceful protest on public property is not domestic terrorism. They are trying to intimidate us. We will not let them succeed.
Their intention is to continue peaceful protests and they are in no way associated with the destruction of property – nor is there any evidence that they have been.
Tesla Takedown account on BlueSky added:
“We will not be bullied or allow our rights to be trampled on or stolen. If you’re ready to show Donald Trump and Elon Musk that there are no kings in America, join a Tesla Takedown protest in your community this weekend.”
Several more protests are now being organized for the next few days and into the weekends.
There are currently dozens of protests planned at Tesla stores and charging stations in the US, Canada, and Europe in the coming days.
Electrek’s Take
This is a slippery slope. I certainly condemn the destruction of the property of Tesla owners or vehicles and locations owned by Tesla.
It’s dangerous, and it doesn’t help the Tesla Takedown cause, but it seems to be a stretch to label that “domestic terrorism.”
As far as I can tell, the movement has never called for it. They have only called for peaceful protests, and they shouldn’t be associated with actions taken by extremists.
People have reasons to be mad at Musk and Trump, who are targeting social security, calling government officials “traitors” for supporting Ukraine, and alienating entire nations with senseless trade wars.
If they attack things they care about, is it unfair for them to attack things Elon cares about?
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It’s finally here. Toyota unveiled its newest EV, the C-HR+, a surprisingly stylish electric SUV. The smaller SUV will sit below the bZ4X and offer more range, a sleek new look, and faster charging. With an expected lower price tag, the Toyota C-HR+ could just be the affordable electric SUV we’ve been waiting for.
Toyota unveils the new C-HR+ as an EV
Remember Toyota’s compact C-HR? It’s back and better than ever. Toyota discontinued it in the US in 2022, replacing it with the more efficient Corolla Cross hybrid and first electric SUV, the bZ4X.
Toyota is reviving the name as it revamps its EV lineup. At its annual product strategy event last week, Toyota showcased an array of new EVs that are coming soon, including the new C-HR+.
The electric C-HR already looks like a massive upgrade over the discontinued gas model. Its clean, modern look is similar to Toyota’s other updated vehicles, such as the Corolla, Crown, and Prius. It will be available in both front and all-wheel drive configurations.
With two battery options, 57.7 kWh and 77 kWh, the C-HR+ EV has a WLTP driving range of up to 372 miles (600 km).
Outside of its GR performance models, the AWD version will be Toyota’s most powerful vehicle in Europe. With up to 343 horsepower (252 kW), it can sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 5.2 seconds.
The FWD model with the 57.7 kWh battery packs 167 horsepower (123 kW) while the larger 77 kWh battery delivers 224 horsepower (165 kW).
Inside, Toyota claims its new electric SUV is a “class above” with an extended wheelbase providing an open, welcoming feel. The C-HR+ features a standard 14″ infotainment with dedicated EV routing.
Toyota loaded it with its latest connectivity and safety tech, including Toyota Safety Sense active safety and driver assistance systems.
Safety features like a Blind Spot Monitor, Adaptive High-Beam headlights, and a Parking Support Brake are now standard. Higher trims gain Park Assist and a Panoramic View Monitor.
Although official specs will be revealed closer to launch, Toyota said the electric SUV can achieve DC fast charging speeds of up to 150 kW. The company finally added a battery preconditioning feature for better performance.
At 4,520 mm (178″) long, the C-HR+ EV version is slightly longer than the previous gas model. It’s also a bit shorter than the Toyota RAV4.
Toyota will launch the electric SUV later this year in select European markets, with a full rollout in Europe scheduled for 2026. For those in the US, we’ll have to wait for the official word, but if it does arrive, which would likely be in 2026, the C-HR+ would sit below the bZ4X.
With the 2025 bZ4X starting at $37,070, we could see Toyota’s smaller electric SUV start in the $30,000 range. At that, it could be a true competitor in the US.
How do you feel about Toyota’s new electric SUV? Would you buy one in the US for around $30,000 to $35,000?
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