For two Texas-based bitcoin miners, the oil deposit offers a dream resource: wasted energy. Brent Whitehead and Matt Lohstroh, both graduates of Texas A&M University, have been mining bitcoin on the oil fields of East Texas since 2019. That's when they founded Giga Energy with the goal of taking flared natural gas and turning it into electricity to run bitcoin mines, which are notoriously power-thirsty. Whitehead comes from a long line of "wildcats," a term used to describe those who engage in high-risk exploratory drilling. On the small pilot site in Argentina, Exa Tech is handling operations on the ground, Phoenix Global is providing the gas and Giga is supplying the equipment.

---

Persons: Brent Whitehead, Matt Lohstroh, Vaca, Whitehead Organizations: Texas, M University, Giga Energy, Giga, Phoenix Global Resources, IT, Tech, Energy Systems, CNBC, wildcats, Exa, Phoenix Global Locations: Texas, Argentine, Mendoza, East Texas, Argentina, Shanghai, Vaca Muerta, Denver