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The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

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Re: The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

#11

Post by eganist »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #8
schmichael wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More electricity is being burned to do the same amount of work. I know that sounds snarky, but it's how proof-of-work systems like bitcoin work: "miners" all attempt to generate a specific hash which just means lots and lots of computation. The number of transactions per second the bitcoin protocol can handle is essentially capped and completely unrelated to hash rate as the difficulty of producing a correct hash is…

And still no discussion on the value of pissing away our planets energy reserves, just to create imaginary points in a paranoid game. In one view, all the electricity burned to make bitcoins is a crime against the planet.

Well, unless you replace furnaces with bitcoin mining hardware.

But then again, I'd rather replace a furnace with a more productive set of hardware anyway.

Re: The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

#12

Post by cookiecaper »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #8
schmichael wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More electricity is being burned to do the same amount of work. I know that sounds snarky, but it's how proof-of-work systems like bitcoin work: "miners" all attempt to generate a specific hash which just means lots and lots of computation. The number of transactions per second the bitcoin protocol can handle is essentially capped and completely unrelated to hash rate as the difficulty of producing a correct hash is…

And still no discussion on the value of pissing away our planets energy reserves, just to create imaginary points in a paranoid game. In one view, all the electricity burned to make bitcoins is a crime against the planet.

The difficulty mechanism has proven to be the Achilles Heel in bitcoin's design and is responsible for the blocksize impasse as well as the waste of infinite CPU-millennia. I'm sure that more interesting negative effects will be observed before the project concludes.

Re: The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

#13

Post by VMG »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #8
schmichael wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More electricity is being burned to do the same amount of work. I know that sounds snarky, but it's how proof-of-work systems like bitcoin work: "miners" all attempt to generate a specific hash which just means lots and lots of computation. The number of transactions per second the bitcoin protocol can handle is essentially capped and completely unrelated to hash rate as the difficulty of producing a correct hash is…

And still no discussion on the value of pissing away our planets energy reserves, just to create imaginary points in a paranoid game. In one view, all the electricity burned to make bitcoins is a crime against the planet.

These "imaginary points" have very useful properties that cannot be achieved any other way.

Bitcoin mining is still vastly more efficient and sustainable than gold mining.

Edit: dear downvoters, rebuttals are welcome

Re: The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

#14

Post by ethanbond »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #8
schmichael wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More electricity is being burned to do the same amount of work. I know that sounds snarky, but it's how proof-of-work systems like bitcoin work: "miners" all attempt to generate a specific hash which just means lots and lots of computation. The number of transactions per second the bitcoin protocol can handle is essentially capped and completely unrelated to hash rate as the difficulty of producing a correct hash is…

And still no discussion on the value of pissing away our planets energy reserves, just to create imaginary points in a paranoid game. In one view, all the electricity burned to make bitcoins is a crime against the planet.

I think it's a worse crime to say that because you have access to a stable, relatively apolitical currency, that no one else needs one.

Bitcoin could be hugely beneficial for fledgling financial systems, and robust financial systems can be hugely beneficial for billions of people.

Our energy crisis was not created by, and will not be solved by, Bitcoin. Numerous monetary crises could be addressed in serious ways by it, though.

Re: The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

#15

Post by gnaritas »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #8
schmichael wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More electricity is being burned to do the same amount of work. I know that sounds snarky, but it's how proof-of-work systems like bitcoin work: "miners" all attempt to generate a specific hash which just means lots and lots of computation. The number of transactions per second the bitcoin protocol can handle is essentially capped and completely unrelated to hash rate as the difficulty of producing a correct hash is…

And still no discussion on the value of pissing away our planets energy reserves, just to create imaginary points in a paranoid game. In one view, all the electricity burned to make bitcoins is a crime against the planet.

Because that point is just silly, far more energy is burned on the old system making paper bills than on bitcoin; don't hear you complaining about that. If energy is such a big concern to you, why aren't you screaming to replace the old energy inefficient system with the new more energy efficient bitcoin?

Re: The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

#16

Post by davideous »

schmichael wrote: post #5
andreygrehov wrote: post #2

Sorry for a silly question, but can someone explain for does it mean?

More electricity is being burned to do the same amount of work. I know that sounds snarky, but it's how proof-of-work systems like bitcoin work: "miners" all attempt to generate a specific hash which just means lots and lots of computation. The number of transactions per second the bitcoin protocol can handle is essentially capped and completely unrelated to hash rate as the difficulty of producing a correct hash is…

We should pump the waste heat into greenhouses and grow tulips.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania)

Re: The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

#17

Post by IkmoIkmo »

schmichael wrote: post #5
andreygrehov wrote: post #2

Sorry for a silly question, but can someone explain for does it mean?

More electricity is being burned to do the same amount of work. I know that sounds snarky, but it's how proof-of-work systems like bitcoin work: "miners" all attempt to generate a specific hash which just means lots and lots of computation. The number of transactions per second the bitcoin protocol can handle is essentially capped and completely unrelated to hash rate as the difficulty of producing a correct hash is…

> More electricity is being burned to do the same amount of work.

You're assuming hashrates and electricity consumption are 1:1, ignoring improvements in efficiency.

> The number of transactions the bitcoin protocol can handle is essentially capped and completely unrelated to hash rate as the difficulty of producing a correct hash is adjusted based on the hash rate.

That is true, but one must also consider that transactions & value transfer is not necessarily 1:1 either. A transaction can carry information which refers to multiple transactions, or is a transaction for a billion dollars. So value transfer is not necessarily capped, although in practice of course it is right now.

Further, to say there's no relation isn't true, either. Transactions are not dependent, but they are related to hash rates to some extent, and by virtue of the protocol this will increasingly become so, as transactions will be the main source of income that funds hash rates, there is indeed a relation.

Re: The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

#18

Post by VMG »

gnaritas wrote: post #15
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And still no discussion on the value of pissing away our planets energy reserves, just to create imaginary points in a paranoid game. In one view, all the electricity burned to make bitcoins is a crime against the planet.

Because that point is just silly, far more energy is burned on the old system making paper bills than on bitcoin; don't hear you complaining about that. If energy is such a big concern to you, why aren't you screaming to replace the old energy inefficient system with the new more energy efficient bitcoin?

> Because that point is just silly, far more energy is burned on the old system making paper bills than on bitcoin;

Plus they still manage to destroy economies with hyperinflation. They're more wasteful in providing a worse product.

Re: The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

#19

Post by JoeAltmaier »

gnaritas wrote: post #15
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And still no discussion on the value of pissing away our planets energy reserves, just to create imaginary points in a paranoid game. In one view, all the electricity burned to make bitcoins is a crime against the planet.

Because that point is just silly, far more energy is burned on the old system making paper bills than on bitcoin; don't hear you complaining about that. If energy is such a big concern to you, why aren't you screaming to replace the old energy inefficient system with the new more energy efficient bitcoin?

citation needed. There is no limit to the energy burned to create bitcoins; it is increasing by design.

And, other digital currency implementation don't require 'mining' at all; just the paranoid ones.

Re: The Bitcoin hash rate has increased by 28.2% over the last month

#20

Post by toomuchtodo »

eganist wrote: post #11
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And still no discussion on the value of pissing away our planets energy reserves, just to create imaginary points in a paranoid game. In one view, all the electricity burned to make bitcoins is a crime against the planet.

Well, unless you replace furnaces with bitcoin mining hardware. But then again, I'd rather replace a furnace with a more productive set of hardware anyway.

Heat pump.

EDIT: Unless you live somewhere where the ambient temp goes below ~0F, get a heat pump.

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