#MULTI CRYPTO MINER BITCOINTALK UPDATE#
You join the network by running freely available software on an internet-connected computer, and when you join, your computer will let you receive and send payments in bitcoin to and from other computers, and it will also help store and update a continually growing list of everyone’s transactions, called the blockchain. We have an in-depth explanation of what mining accomplished and how it works, but let’s talk here for a minute about open consensus, which is an inherently useful technology that has never been possible before.īitcoin, aside from being an asset, is also a network of connected computers on the internet that, together, keep a record of all bitcoin transactions between the participants. A bitcoin miner does this too, no doubt, but they also do something else that is fundamental to Bitcoin’s core computer science breakthrough: they validate data on a computer network running an open consensus mechanism. Real world miners leverage expensive capital to dig impressive holes into the earth, to discover and extract marketable metals, minerals, and gems. “Mining” is a misleading term because it only tells half the story. Search the original Bitcoin white paper from 2008 and you won’t find the word “mining.” The word first popped up in 2010 on an internet forum called BitcoinTalk and, for a while, it was used interchangeably with the term “minting.” When technologies don’t have singular corporations or inventors working on them and branding them, terms to describe them emerge organically from the community-it comes with the territory. These critics are mistaken, but it’s a reasonable mistake to make because “mining,” the term itself, is a bit misleading. People who don’t understand the core computer science breakthrough inherent in Bitcoin naturally assume that Bitcoin miners only do one thing: burn electricity to enrich themselves with new bitcoins. This backgrounder will investigate those and other fundamental questions and direct readers to the most up-to-date research. From a policy perspective we should be more interested in whether Bitcoin’s electricity usage is derived from dirty and finite or clean and renewable energy sources, and whether that energy usage is justified by the capabilities and potential of the technology to improve the world. The mere fact that Bitcoin uses this much electricity is not itself a problem, however. As of June 2021, estimates suggest something around 110 terawatt hours (TWh) per year, which, for scale, is close to the electricity consumption of the Netherlands ( 111 TWh) but a bit less than the global ‘phantom’ electricity consumption from electronics that are left plugged in while in standby mode ( 124 TWh). Will cryptocurrencies become more efficient over time?īitcoin consumes a sizable amount of electricity. Will Bitcoin miners pollute more or less in the future?
Does energy usage increase with the number of transactions?Ĭan we compare Bitcoin’s energy usage to traditional payments technologies like credit cards?
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