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A bit off topic, but something I'm interested in: would it be possible for a website to generate revenue by using client machines to mine crypto currencies? I w

A bit off topic, but something I'm interested in: would it be possible for a website to generate revenue by using client machines to mine crypto currencies? I would rather go to a website that uses up my CPU and network resources doing that than use up my CPU and network resources AND spam me with intrusive ads. Edit: solid answers to my question. Thanks everyone.

Cursuviam 9y ago
It's been done, but they ran into trouble with New Jersey for a bit. https://www.eff.org/cases/rubin-v-new-jersey-tidbit https://www.eff.org/cases/rubin-v-new-jersey-tidbit
- jasonkostempski 9y ago
  "And the state itself echoed the comments of Judge Furnari, noting in its press release announcing the consent order "we do not believe Tidbit was created for the purpose of invading privacy."" What about every other ad network in existence? They are specifically designed to invade privacy. Why isn't NJ going after them?
  - DamonHD 9y ago
    Maybe this is a "whoosh" but (legit) ad networks are specifically designed to sell ads (and thus make the network owners some money); it is hyperbole to claim that each and every one of them has only an ulterior/illegal motive in place of the stated (unpopular one).
mej10 9y ago
More efficient to separate the mining aspect and just send a micropayment in a web request. Brave (the browser) implements of version of this.
- darawk 9y ago
  While true, using a browser for mining doesn't require the user to have any cryptocurrency, or even know what cryptocurrency is. It also has a similarly opaque cost to them (in the form of electricity).
  - mej10 9y ago
    Brave is getting around that with built-in support for their "Basic Attention Token" which will be rewarded to users just for using their browser. It will be interesting to see how it works out. Personally I am just sad that it takes so much energy to maintain the current cryptocurrency networks and they are already too slow for really interesting stuff -- which is why I wouldn't want to add more waste by mining in a browser :).
    - sdenton4 9y ago
      That sounds like a great target for automation abuse? Rev up a bunch of virtual machines, each with a bit of attention to distribute.
      - mej10 9y ago
        I am sure they've thought of that, but I am not familiar enough with their product to know how they deal with it.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
duncan_bayne 9y ago
A team where I worked looked into that as a hack day project - the idea was that you'd mine coins for charity while using our product. They built it, and was it was feasible, but so underpowered that it wouldn't generate a useful amount of money even across our entire userbase.
6nf 9y ago
I've recently done some quick calculations and based on WebAssembly (i.e. near native) mining for the most profitable crypto currencies, you're still almost an order of magnitude below regular ads unless your users leave the page open 24/7
gnaritas 9y ago
In the old days, not anymore, CPU's are too slow to compete with ASIC's for mining.
exikyut 9y ago
A related tangent that's not quite the same but similar is borrowing localStorage on n x (large exponent) devices and turning it into a virtualized block storage system. I've heard rumors of systems like this existing but not yet seen any concrete implementations of it.
kristopolous 9y ago
This was discussed in 2010 on hacker news and there was a JavaScript pool miner site. I might have even mined a few worthless coins then and forgotten about it. Here's one of them: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2566365 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2566365 By this time, the complexity was already about 1000 or 10k... There was an earlier one I can't find
stordoff 9y ago
What would the legal situation be for that? It seems fairly easy to spin as unauthorised use.
bumblebritches5 9y ago
I actually did that in my tumblr's theme once, tumblr didn't like it at all lmao.

Cursuviam 9y ago

It's been done, but they ran into trouble with New Jersey for a bit. https://www.eff.org/cases/rubin-v-new-jersey-tidbit https://www.eff.org/cases/rubin-v-new-jersey-tidbit

jasonkostempski 9y ago
"And the state itself echoed the comments of Judge Furnari, noting in its press release announcing the consent order "we do not believe Tidbit was created for the purpose of invading privacy."" What about every other ad network in existence? They are specifically designed to invade privacy. Why isn't NJ going after them?
- DamonHD 9y ago
  Maybe this is a "whoosh" but (legit) ad networks are specifically designed to sell ads (and thus make the network owners some money); it is hyperbole to claim that each and every one of them has only an ulterior/illegal motive in place of the stated (unpopular one).

mej10 9y ago

More efficient to separate the mining aspect and just send a micropayment in a web request. Brave (the browser) implements of version of this.

darawk 9y ago
While true, using a browser for mining doesn't require the user to have any cryptocurrency, or even know what cryptocurrency is. It also has a similarly opaque cost to them (in the form of electricity).
- mej10 9y ago
  Brave is getting around that with built-in support for their "Basic Attention Token" which will be rewarded to users just for using their browser. It will be interesting to see how it works out. Personally I am just sad that it takes so much energy to maintain the current cryptocurrency networks and they are already too slow for really interesting stuff -- which is why I wouldn't want to add more waste by mining in a browser :).
  - sdenton4 9y ago
    That sounds like a great target for automation abuse? Rev up a bunch of virtual machines, each with a bit of attention to distribute.
    - mej10 9y ago
      I am sure they've thought of that, but I am not familiar enough with their product to know how they deal with it.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

duncan_bayne 9y ago

A team where I worked looked into that as a hack day project - the idea was that you'd mine coins for charity while using our product. They built it, and was it was feasible, but so underpowered that it wouldn't generate a useful amount of money even across our entire userbase.

6nf 9y ago

I've recently done some quick calculations and based on WebAssembly (i.e. near native) mining for the most profitable crypto currencies, you're still almost an order of magnitude below regular ads unless your users leave the page open 24/7

gnaritas 9y ago

In the old days, not anymore, CPU's are too slow to compete with ASIC's for mining.

exikyut 9y ago

A related tangent that's not quite the same but similar is borrowing localStorage on n x (large exponent) devices and turning it into a virtualized block storage system. I've heard rumors of systems like this existing but not yet seen any concrete implementations of it.

kristopolous 9y ago

This was discussed in 2010 on hacker news and there was a JavaScript pool miner site. I might have even mined a few worthless coins then and forgotten about it. Here's one of them: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2566365 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2566365 By this time, the complexity was already about 1000 or 10k... There was an earlier one I can't find

stordoff 9y ago

What would the legal situation be for that? It seems fairly easy to spin as unauthorised use.

bumblebritches5 9y ago

I actually did that in my tumblr's theme once, tumblr didn't like it at all lmao.