I've been trying to get my head around Bitcoin mining. It seems that to issue Bitcoins and get some kind of commission players have to crack incredibly hard mathematical problems. This is using gigawatts of power!!!!!!!!!! Terawatt hours of energy.
In the name of fuck!!!!!!!
And to get the power as cheaply as possible they are using renewables. Am I nuts or has the human race lost the plot?
I hope quantum computing come in soon.
The Bitcoin/crypto currency craze is complicated but there are many things that are just "wrong" about it, to include the amount of power required just to allow it to function (and it's power demand will only increase with time):
Iceland is facing an "exponential" rise in Bitcoin mining that is gobbling up power resources, a spokesman for Icelandic energy firm HS Orka has said.
This year, electricity use at Bitcoin mining data centres is likely to exceed that of all Iceland's homes, according to Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson.
He said many potential customers were keen to get in on the act.
"If all these projects are realised, we won't have enough energy for it," he told the BBC.
Mr Sigurbergsson's calculations were first reported by the Associated Press.
Iceland has a small population, of around 340,000 people.
But in recent years it has seen a marked increase in the number of new data centres, often built by firms wishing to tout green credentials. Nearly 100% of energy in Iceland comes from renewable sources.
Bitcoin mining refers to the work done by computers connected to the global Bitcoin network.
These computers solve complex mathematical problems - a process that in turn validates transactions between users of the crypto-currency.
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