Key Takeaways


Sean’s path from Credit Suisse and Blackstone to co-founding 360 Energy reflects a broader shift from traditional finance to Bitcoin mining. At Blackstone, he saw oil and gas credit deals give way to ESG-driven renewables with poor returns, while 2020’s money printing highlighted fiat’s flaws. Bitcoin offered a scarce, durable alternative, and stranded natural gas provided the cheapest power to mine it. 360 Energy began by buying unattractive wells and converting gas into low-cost Bitcoin, later evolving into a service model for producers through infrastructure sales and rentals. Adoption is accelerating, especially in regions with strict flaring rules, and Sean believes major oil companies will integrate Bitcoin mining into drill programs within four years.

Best Quotes

Conclusion

Sean’s story embodies the convergence of Wall Street, energy finance, and Bitcoin’s disruptive logic. Where Blackstone’s credit models hit diminishing returns amid fiat inflation and ESG fads, Bitcoin mining offered both higher economics and deeper alignment with physical energy systems. By reframing stranded gas as a competitive edge, 360 Energy is pioneering a new bridge between oilfields and digital money. The path forward lies in demonstrating reliability, building financing models, and expanding into flaring-constrained regions. If early momentum continues, Bitcoin mining could graduate from fringe solution to standard oilfield tool, and eventually reshape how drill programs themselves are planned.

Timestamps

0:00 - Investment Banking and Energy Finance Experience

4:30 - Deal Structure and Investment Focus at Blackstone

7:27 - COVID Impact and Shift to Renewables

9:51 - Bitcoin Discovery and Orange-Pilling Journey

13:18 - Connecting Energy Finance to Bitcoin's Value Proposition

17:20 - Partnership with Chris and 360 Energy Formation

21:29 - Renewable Energy Economics vs Bitcoin Mining

25:27 - Natural Gas Strategy and Asset Selection

29:14 - Low-Cost Producer Economics

32:12 - Asset Acquisition and Valuation Strategy

37:59 - Economic Modeling and Capital Requirements

42:22 - Volatility Comparison: Natural Gas vs Bitcoin

45:29 - Well Decline Curves and Mining Capacity Planning

50:28 - Transition to Service Business Model

55:54 - Industry Adoption and Bitcoin Perception

59:36 - Equipment Financing and Customer Decision Factors

1:07:23 - Industry Dynamics and Risk-Taking Culture

1:11:49 - Credit Facilities and Banking Relationships

1:18:58 - Strategic Focus and Geographic Expansion

1:21:48 - Future Industry Integration

Transcript

(00:05) Sean, welcome to the center of hash. Thank you. It's good to be here. Your former home, Bitcoin Park. I was going to say it's good to be back in the com or Bitcoin park. We miss you guys. We've only been away for a few weeks, but I know there's a a vacuum that we need to fill a void. Yep. How are things going at the new office? Oh, they're great.

(00:28) You know, it's uh it's sad to leave this space, but it's good to have our own space. We're growing the team a lot, so it's nice to have conference rooms to take calls and things like that. Signs of success. Yeah. Yeah, we hope so. You know, the team's grown a lot, putting deals out, so blown and going. Well, Chris, your co-founder and partner at 360 Energy, recorded in July.

(00:54) Um, and he and I were catching up and I suggested that we should get you on as well. You have a very different background from Chris and wanted to start out just talking about your the history in the oil and gas space on the finance side and how you came to be working on Bitcoin and specifically Bitcoin mining. You were formerly at Blackstone.

(01:18) So just talk a little bit about and then investment banking at credit Swiss for that both on the oil and gas side energy energy side I guess but yeah talk a little bit about your history what you were doing and how you ultimately decided to become interested in Bitcoin and then and then work on Bitcoin mining. Yeah definitely.

(01:42) So started at Credit Swiss in the oil and gas group in Houston, went to school in Dallas. Um, and that was like we talked about earlier, led ship for finance. You know, being an analyst in investment bank is a lot of grunt work. Um, but you do learn a lot over your two-year period there after what years was that? That was 16 to 18 in Houston.

(02:01) I've done my pledge ship in investment banking as well. New York 2006 to 2009 bank. So that was a pretty wild time and I know what it's like. Yeah. Yeah. Um so that was great but the goal is always to get to the buy side. Um so did two years there and then moved to GSO which was the credit arm of Blackstone. It's rebranded to Blackstone Credit now. Um in New York 25 person team across New York and Houston.

(02:28) Um and we were investing when I first joined in all oil and gas companies. So investing across the capital stack mostly preferred equity down to or up to senior secured debt. Um and you know day one it was all oil and gas. So, a lot of upstream deals, some mid-stream deals, a little bit of OFS, and it was just if you need capital as a business to, you know, expand your drilling program or buy more equipment, um, we would be a capital provider to help them do that and make return for our LPS. Um, so that was a great

(03:03) experience. You know, it's it's a very intense environment for sure. Uh, a lot of very smart people and I learned a ton. You know, I was there for six years overall. um learned a lot in my first three years.

(03:20) It's almost like the first two years are almost like investment banking all over again, but with a different skill set. You're just, you know, working very hard. Um long hours as well, but it's your LP's capital you're investing. So, the the standard is a bit higher on you have to be really sure you're right. Um at an investment bank, it's kind of you're being salesy, right? Um so, that was a great experience.

(03:47) Um so a question there one just total as an aside what does GSO stand for? Uh the three founders so Goodman uh Smith and Orover and that was a unit within Blackstone. Yeah. So those three guys were DJ credit squeeze guys back in the 90s. They started GSO early 2000s I believe um I think 2004 and then Blackstone bought GSO in 2008.

(04:14) So, and then specifically talk about the like in terms of the deals that you would work on, were you typically working on primary equity financings, credit financing all throughout the capital structure and just the nature of the type of deals that you would yeah have experience with. An example, it was mostly credit focused because GSO was a credit shop.

(04:36) Um, we would do minority common equity, but we wouldn't do control common equity. If there was anything controlled, that would go to the private equity group. So, Blackstone kind of has many business segments, right? Private equity, real estate, and then GSO was the credit arm.

(04:53) So, a typical deal, for example, um, uh, a midstream or sorry, an upstream operator in the Perian needed $100 million to go drill 10 more wells. We would give them a term loan, $100 million term loan, pretty expensive capital. You know, we targeted mid- teens and then we might co-invest 10 million of common equity alongside. And were these typically I mean presumably if they're getting a $100 million term loan, these are wellestablished companies are really often public companies, private mix. It was a mix. I would say most of the deals were private companies. We would

(05:24) do some public stuff. The biggest deal I worked on was a $1.6 $6 billion preferred equity investment into a system called Target Badlands. So Target is a massive mid-stream company publicly traded and they wanted to monetize a part of their Bacan assets, their midstream assets there.

(05:47) So we bought a 45% interest preferred interest um for 1.6 billion. You know, that's an example of a a deal we would do with some public guys in Bakans, North Dakota owns oil and gas. Yep. Oil and gas North Dakota. Um, so a gathering system means they have the pipes that actually connect to the wells.

(06:05) So they're the ones that build out to the pad, connect to the actual wells, and get those hydrocarbons to market, both oil and gas. And so you were there for six years. You mentioned the first two years being very similar to an investment banking first few years, but in terms of expos