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Cryptocurrency is driving both improvements in computational efficiency and in cheaper clean energies. Most of the big mining operations are run on 100% renewab

Cryptocurrency is driving both improvements in computational efficiency and in cheaper clean energies. Most of the big mining operations are run on 100% renewable energy sources.

dmead 9y ago
This sounds wrong as hell, for anyone reading.
- billmalarky 9y ago
  Of course it is. Bitcoin is mined via the cheapest possible available source of energy. Generally that isn't renewable (at this time).
  - dmra327 9y ago
    The number of times I've seen mining have a double use leads me to believe that it isn't so clear cut as this statement. It generates heat, and I use that heat in my greenhouses and no longer need a heater. It's not the most efficient way to heat the greenhouses but it's more profitable that using a normal heater.
    - Semirhage 9y ago
      Other than individual-scale mining being an inefficient greenhouse heater, (or just heater in general) what are some of those dual uses you’ve seen so many times? On what scale compared to the bulk of mining activity?
nwah1 9y ago
>Cryptocurrency is driving both improvements in computational efficiency and in cheaper clean energies. This is also true of war and those who buy computers to make models of why the Earth is flat. >Most of the big mining operations are run on 100% renewable energy sources. Admit it, you just made this up.
- altfredd 9y ago
  100% renewable as in "100% likely to be stolen or heavily subsidized with taxpayers' money".
- mikepurvis 9y ago
  Even if it was "renewable energy sources" (lol), that's still energy consumed which could be doing things like supplying light, refrigeration, or, you know, useful computation.
  - Klathmon 9y ago
    Can we stop the "bitcoin has no use" game? It might not be the most efficient, it's absolutely not the most scalable in its current state, and it isn't a physical product, but it has value, and it has uses. Every single thread about bitcoin like clockwork people will say stupid one-liners like "but at least X has value" or "but X is useful" and like clockwork someone will bring up that Bitcoin has use and value, and then the whole discussion will derail into insults and what-ifs on what-ifs. Bitcoin has value, Bitcoin is useful. You may not think it is that useful, or has that much value, but it has some. Many feel that it's value is a way to transact without trust, others feel its value is a way to store money outside of any single government controlled currency, others find its value is in the pseudonymity that it can provide, others find that being able to put small amounts of data on a globally immutable ledger is immensely valuable, and many people find its value as a way of gambling on the price.
  - dmra327 9y ago
    Well, to be frank.. if I buy solar panels and mine bitcoin with a portion of the energy who are you to tell anyone they shouldn't? Of the number of things that are wasteful in this world Bitcoin is just the latest scapegoat and no one really has evidence to show how the mining is powered.
    - Semirhage 9y ago
      Because that’s not how the majority of coins are mined, so your hypothetical pissing-in-the-ocean operation wouldn’t even warrant praise or scorn. and no one really has evidence to show how the mining is powered. The majority are mined in China, and that’s for the utility of cheap coal. If you have some evidence of massive solar farms powering mining in a China, please do cough it up.

Cryptocurrency is driving both improvements in computational efficiency and in cheaper clean energies. Most of the big mining operations are run on 100% renewable energy sources.

dmead 9y ago

This sounds wrong as hell, for anyone reading.

billmalarky 9y ago
Of course it is. Bitcoin is mined via the cheapest possible available source of energy. Generally that isn't renewable (at this time).
- dmra327 9y ago
  The number of times I've seen mining have a double use leads me to believe that it isn't so clear cut as this statement. It generates heat, and I use that heat in my greenhouses and no longer need a heater. It's not the most efficient way to heat the greenhouses but it's more profitable that using a normal heater.
  - Semirhage 9y ago
    Other than individual-scale mining being an inefficient greenhouse heater, (or just heater in general) what are some of those dual uses you’ve seen so many times? On what scale compared to the bulk of mining activity?

nwah1 9y ago

>Cryptocurrency is driving both improvements in computational efficiency and in cheaper clean energies. This is also true of war and those who buy computers to make models of why the Earth is flat. >Most of the big mining operations are run on 100% renewable energy sources. Admit it, you just made this up.

altfredd 9y ago
100% renewable as in "100% likely to be stolen or heavily subsidized with taxpayers' money".
mikepurvis 9y ago
Even if it was "renewable energy sources" (lol), that's still energy consumed which could be doing things like supplying light, refrigeration, or, you know, useful computation.
- Klathmon 9y ago
  Can we stop the "bitcoin has no use" game? It might not be the most efficient, it's absolutely not the most scalable in its current state, and it isn't a physical product, but it has value, and it has uses. Every single thread about bitcoin like clockwork people will say stupid one-liners like "but at least X has value" or "but X is useful" and like clockwork someone will bring up that Bitcoin has use and value, and then the whole discussion will derail into insults and what-ifs on what-ifs. Bitcoin has value, Bitcoin is useful. You may not think it is that useful, or has that much value, but it has some. Many feel that it's value is a way to transact without trust, others feel its value is a way to store money outside of any single government controlled currency, others find its value is in the pseudonymity that it can provide, others find that being able to put small amounts of data on a globally immutable ledger is immensely valuable, and many people find its value as a way of gambling on the price.
- dmra327 9y ago
  Well, to be frank.. if I buy solar panels and mine bitcoin with a portion of the energy who are you to tell anyone they shouldn't? Of the number of things that are wasteful in this world Bitcoin is just the latest scapegoat and no one really has evidence to show how the mining is powered.
  - Semirhage 9y ago
    Because that’s not how the majority of coins are mined, so your hypothetical pissing-in-the-ocean operation wouldn’t even warrant praise or scorn. and no one really has evidence to show how the mining is powered. The majority are mined in China, and that’s for the utility of cheap coal. If you have some evidence of massive solar farms powering mining in a China, please do cough it up.