Bitcoin mining the hard way: the algorithms, protocols, and bytes
1–10 of 23 posts
Re: Bitcoin mining the hard way: the algorithms, protocols, and bytes
#2Thanks, I was just trying to explain bitcoint recently but didn't know enough of the details so I'll pass that along.
I find the linked hashchain rate chart and the 1000x increase over the past year to be really interesting when considering that bitcoin relies on 50% of that being honest. The difference in processing power used in hashing now vs. about a month ago would be enough to own the system a month ago.
Re: Bitcoin mining the hard way: the algorithms, protocols, and bytes
#3Previous Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7162153 (216 points, 22 days ago, 26 comments)
Re: Bitcoin mining the hard way: the algorithms, protocols, and bytes
#4Previous Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7162153 (216 points, 22 days ago, 26 comments)
[deleted]
Re: Bitcoin mining the hard way: the algorithms, protocols, and bytes
#5Thanks, I was just trying to explain bitcoint recently but didn't know enough of the details so I'll pass that along. I find the linked hashchain rate chart and the 1000x increase over the past year to be really interesting when considering that bitcoin relies on 50% of that being honest. The difference in processing power used in hashing now vs. about a month ago would be enough to own the system a month ago.
The introduction of new hardware (~difficulty) will level off fairly soon, we're reaching efficiency limits in what people can produce. I don't think we are at the technical limit, just at the limit of what the current companies involved are capable of. Eligius controls a large portion (~20%) of the hashrate, it's somewhat reassuring that they are known to be acting in good faith (geddit?).
Re: Bitcoin mining the hard way: the algorithms, protocols, and bytes
#6Previous Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7162153 (216 points, 22 days ago, 26 comments)
That's my previous article on generating transactions manually. The current article continues where that left off, discussing mining.
I wanted the titles to show the articles are related, but I think I've caused confusion. If someone has a better title suggestion, please let me know. (Genuine request, not sarcasm.)
Re: Bitcoin mining the hard way: the algorithms, protocols, and bytes
#7Thanks, I was just trying to explain bitcoint recently but didn't know enough of the details so I'll pass that along. I find the linked hashchain rate chart and the 1000x increase over the past year to be really interesting when considering that bitcoin relies on 50% of that being honest. The difference in processing power used in hashing now vs. about a month ago would be enough to own the system a month ago.
The introduction of new hardware (~difficulty) will level off fairly soon, we're reaching efficiency limits in what people can produce. I don't think we are at the technical limit, just at the limit of what the current companies involved are capable of. Eligius controls a large portion (~20%) of the hashrate, it's somewhat reassuring that they are known to be acting in good faith (geddit?).
GHash.io and BTC Guild own >50% between them though: http://blockorigin.pfoe.be/top.php
Eligius have some mining rules which one could regard as not acting in good faith (rejecting gambling site transactions, etc) depending on your point of view. This can prevent some from using them and limits their hashrate somewhat.
If you look at the top pools list compared to 6 months ago that landscape has changed quite a bit. The pools outside of the top 5 have less market share and there are less pools. Mining power is slowly centralizing: https://web.archive.org/web/20130215040845/http://blockorigi...
Re: Bitcoin mining the hard way: the algorithms, protocols, and bytes
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
The introduction of new hardware (~difficulty) will level off fairly soon, we're reaching efficiency limits in what people can produce. I don't think we are at the technical limit, just at the limit of what the current companies involved are capable of. Eligius controls a large portion (~20%) of the hashrate, it's somewhat reassuring that they are known to be acting in good faith (geddit?).
GHash.io and BTC Guild own >50% between them though: http://blockorigin.pfoe.be/top.php Eligius have some mining rules which one could regard as not acting in good faith (rejecting gambling site transactions, etc) depending on your point of view. This can prevent some from using them and limits their hashrate somewhat. If you look at the top pools list compared to 6 months ago that landscape has changed quite a bit.…
You're not wrong that there's less pools, I think it's just somewhat due to a lot of miners not understanding how pools work. There's an unfortunate misconception that the size of the pool impacts your income, so they gravitate to the largest pool. Ghash.io is almost certainly evil (attacking sites by double spending in the past), but there's not much we can do about it unfortunately. Hopefully p2pool can eventually become larger and more significant, then the issue goes away somewhat.
Re: Bitcoin mining the hard way: the algorithms, protocols, and bytes
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
GHash.io and BTC Guild own >50% between them though: http://blockorigin.pfoe.be/top.php Eligius have some mining rules which one could regard as not acting in good faith (rejecting gambling site transactions, etc) depending on your point of view. This can prevent some from using them and limits their hashrate somewhat. If you look at the top pools list compared to 6 months ago that landscape has changed quite a bit.…
You're not wrong that there's less pools, I think it's just somewhat due to a lot of miners not understanding how pools work. There's an unfortunate misconception that the size of the pool impacts your income, so they gravitate to the largest pool. Ghash.io is almost certainly evil (attacking sites by double spending in the past), but there's not much we can do about it unfortunately. Hopefully p2pool can eventually…
Can you provide a source for Ghash.io double spending? I've not heard about that before, and it seems unlikely.
Re: Bitcoin mining the hard way: the algorithms, protocols, and bytes
#10Ironically, the most cost efficient way of acquiring BTC today may well be to go out into the world and earn dollars (e.g. a job) and then use them to purchase BTC from an exchange.