5 ms·

Browser Bitcoin Miner

13 points by dnadolny 15y ago

dnadolny 15y ago
I've just finished a browser-based bitcoin miner, written in Java (as an applet). I'd love to get some feedback on it. Once the page loads, hit "Start generating" and it should start mining bitcoin.
ZachPruckowski 15y ago
As I understand it, the real Bitcoin mining money is in GPUs, right? Does this work with GPUs (I'm guessing not)?
- dnadolny 15y ago
  Yep, GPUs are much faster than CPUs for mining. A top of the line GPU does 600 MHash/sec, on my graphics card it was doing I think 3 or 4 MHash/sec but the computer was unusably slow, and with a CPU miner I get 2 MHash/sec and my computer is perfectly usable. This is targeting the people who are interested in bitcoin (you can still mine a usable amount), but don't want to set up a dedicated mining machine. Right now it doesn't use the GPU but I've got plans to do it too (it might be able to work with the new OpenCL stuff that's going on)
  - dkersten 15y ago
    My GPU stably does 30 Mhash/s (when I underclock it a little bit), or 55 Mhash/s on stock speeds (about 65 is the max I can get overclocking) but then the GPU temperature increases quite quickly and if left for too long I've seen it do one of two things: automatically underclock to 30 Mhash/s or just crash. Not sure how to best do it in a (non-obtrusive) applet, but would certainly be interesting to get it working!
dkersten 15y ago
If I log into my account from multiple computers, I take it that it just does the right thing and accumulate work from all running miners?
- 3pt14159 15y ago
  I also wonder this. Also, say I have a highly trafficked site with a worthless customer base (say a puppy pictures site for 6 year olds) is there a way I can embed your applet into my site and have it generate me bitcoins invisibly to the six year old? I'd much rather do this than spam them with useless adwords. Edit: I'm aware that this will only generate about half a cent per hour, but you would be surprised how long kids can browse useless pictures.
  - dnadolny 15y ago
    That came up on the bitcoin forums (http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=8780.0 http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=8780.0). I've got plans for doing something like that - let you embed the miner in your website so your visitors mine bitcoin for you. It's a really cool idea because you get money based on how long people stay on your page, rather than how many pageviews or click-throughs you have. Instead it's based on a more accurate measure of user interest - time spent on the page. If anyone's interested in that, leave a reply here, or email me at donny@bitcoinplus.com and I'll let you know when it's ready.
    - jokermatt999 15y ago
      Just my opinion, but this feels really scummy. I'd wonder why your site caused my CPU to spike, and probably consciously avoid it from then on.
      - dnadolny 15y ago
        I get where you're coming from. Here's an interesting thought: consider this as an alternative to advertising. Which would you rather: a website use your mind by taking your attention to an advertisement, or a website using your CPU?
        jokermatt999 15y ago
        Advertising, no contest. Annoying, intrusive ads I have no qualms about adblocking, because they will never actually get me to buy a product. Helpful, non-invasive ads and clearly disclosed affiliate links? Feel free, since I'm getting some benefit too. There is no way for me to benefit from you using my cpu (ignoring the actual content in this comparison, obviously).
wmf 15y ago
This should be called GlobalWarming@Home because it's so inefficient; it's literally 200x slower than a GPU. The generated BTC are probably worth less than the electricity consumed.
- dnadolny 15y ago
  Yes, it is slower than GPU mining. I meant this to be more of an introductory easy to use miner to get people interested without having to download anything or configure anything. So it is slower than GPU, but you can generate a usable amount of BTC to play around with I wonder, what's the math behind the electricity use of an idle CPU vs a CPU at 100%?
- baggachipz 15y ago
  Unless your office is paying for the electricity ;) --edit-- Really? I'm getting downvoted for a valid point?
  - dnadolny 15y ago
    True. I've been thinking this over for a while. Right now, the general consensus is that the price of bitcoin will end up being related to the cost of electricity for computing, and in the long run transaction fees will have to go up or down to make that happen. I think this will change. When you have negative externalities like this, where people don't pay for electricity (they're renting, or in a condo/apartment building that has electricity included) or even free CPU power, as in an office, then the economics change. The price of bitcoin won't be tied to the price of electricity/CPU power, it will be tied to the cost of running a website like mine that lets people take advantage of free CPU power.
    - wmf 15y ago
      Yes, I think there will be a "base" of miners who basically have zero marginal cost, then a certain number of "suckers" who think that they'll make money even though they won't, and then "serious" miners whose number will vary according to profitability. Ultimately the base + suckers is probably enough to keep Bitcoin working in some form.

13 points by dnadolny 15y ago

I've just finished a browser-based bitcoin miner, written in Java (as an applet). I'd love to get some feedback on it. Once the page loads, hit "Start generating" and it should start mining bitcoin.

ZachPruckowski 15y ago

As I understand it, the real Bitcoin mining money is in GPUs, right? Does this work with GPUs (I'm guessing not)?

dnadolny 15y ago
Yep, GPUs are much faster than CPUs for mining. A top of the line GPU does 600 MHash/sec, on my graphics card it was doing I think 3 or 4 MHash/sec but the computer was unusably slow, and with a CPU miner I get 2 MHash/sec and my computer is perfectly usable. This is targeting the people who are interested in bitcoin (you can still mine a usable amount), but don't want to set up a dedicated mining machine. Right now it doesn't use the GPU but I've got plans to do it too (it might be able to work with the new OpenCL stuff that's going on)
- dkersten 15y ago
  My GPU stably does 30 Mhash/s (when I underclock it a little bit), or 55 Mhash/s on stock speeds (about 65 is the max I can get overclocking) but then the GPU temperature increases quite quickly and if left for too long I've seen it do one of two things: automatically underclock to 30 Mhash/s or just crash. Not sure how to best do it in a (non-obtrusive) applet, but would certainly be interesting to get it working!

dkersten 15y ago

If I log into my account from multiple computers, I take it that it just does the right thing and accumulate work from all running miners?

3pt14159 15y ago
I also wonder this. Also, say I have a highly trafficked site with a worthless customer base (say a puppy pictures site for 6 year olds) is there a way I can embed your applet into my site and have it generate me bitcoins invisibly to the six year old? I'd much rather do this than spam them with useless adwords. Edit: I'm aware that this will only generate about half a cent per hour, but you would be surprised how long kids can browse useless pictures.
- dnadolny 15y ago
  That came up on the bitcoin forums (http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=8780.0 http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=8780.0). I've got plans for doing something like that - let you embed the miner in your website so your visitors mine bitcoin for you. It's a really cool idea because you get money based on how long people stay on your page, rather than how many pageviews or click-throughs you have. Instead it's based on a more accurate measure of user interest - time spent on the page. If anyone's interested in that, leave a reply here, or email me at donny@bitcoinplus.com and I'll let you know when it's ready.
  - jokermatt999 15y ago
    Just my opinion, but this feels really scummy. I'd wonder why your site caused my CPU to spike, and probably consciously avoid it from then on.
    - dnadolny 15y ago
      I get where you're coming from. Here's an interesting thought: consider this as an alternative to advertising. Which would you rather: a website use your mind by taking your attention to an advertisement, or a website using your CPU?
      - jokermatt999 15y ago
        Advertising, no contest. Annoying, intrusive ads I have no qualms about adblocking, because they will never actually get me to buy a product. Helpful, non-invasive ads and clearly disclosed affiliate links? Feel free, since I'm getting some benefit too. There is no way for me to benefit from you using my cpu (ignoring the actual content in this comparison, obviously).

wmf 15y ago

This should be called GlobalWarming@Home because it's so inefficient; it's literally 200x slower than a GPU. The generated BTC are probably worth less than the electricity consumed.

dnadolny 15y ago
Yes, it is slower than GPU mining. I meant this to be more of an introductory easy to use miner to get people interested without having to download anything or configure anything. So it is slower than GPU, but you can generate a usable amount of BTC to play around with I wonder, what's the math behind the electricity use of an idle CPU vs a CPU at 100%?
baggachipz 15y ago
Unless your office is paying for the electricity ;) --edit-- Really? I'm getting downvoted for a valid point?
- dnadolny 15y ago
  True. I've been thinking this over for a while. Right now, the general consensus is that the price of bitcoin will end up being related to the cost of electricity for computing, and in the long run transaction fees will have to go up or down to make that happen. I think this will change. When you have negative externalities like this, where people don't pay for electricity (they're renting, or in a condo/apartment building that has electricity included) or even free CPU power, as in an office, then the economics change. The price of bitcoin won't be tied to the price of electricity/CPU power, it will be tied to the cost of running a website like mine that lets people take advantage of free CPU power.
  - wmf 15y ago
    Yes, I think there will be a "base" of miners who basically have zero marginal cost, then a certain number of "suckers" who think that they'll make money even though they won't, and then "serious" miners whose number will vary according to profitability. Ultimately the base + suckers is probably enough to keep Bitcoin working in some form.