5 ms·

Mining Bitcoin on the Game Boy [video]

133 points by faebi 6y ago

nayuki 6y ago
Obligatory: http://www.righto.com/2014/09/mining-bitcoin-with-pencil-and-paper.html http://www.righto.com/2014/09/mining-bitcoin-with-pencil-and... ; http://www.righto.com/2019/07/bitcoin-mining-on-apollo-guidance.html http://www.righto.com/2019/07/bitcoin-mining-on-apollo-guida... ; http://www.righto.com/2015/05/bitcoin-mining-on-55-year-old-ibm-1401.html http://www.righto.com/2015/05/bitcoin-mining-on-55-year-old-...
- gus_massa 6y ago
  I'm not sure why this was downvoted, but perhaps some context may help. Here nayuki linked a few posts made by kens about mining Bitcoins using weird old hardware (if you classify pencil and paper as hardware). A Gameboy is perhaps not vintage enough for kens :) . Old HN discussion of these links: * Pencil and Paper: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8380110 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8380110 (653 points, 104 comments) and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15950599 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15950599 (642 points, 158 comments) * Apollo computer: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20383561 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20383561 (217 points, 107 comments) * IBM 1401: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9593412 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9593412 (162 points, 34 comments)
_joel 6y ago
This video is really well done, good work
ibraheemdev 6y ago
[video]
ineedasername 6y ago
Great, now it's going to be impossible to get a vintage Game Boy on ebay for under $10,000, not to mention making AA batteries impossible to find at retail.
- ourmandave 6y ago
  But this could spark innovations, like an adapter to put a 3-fan RTX 3080 graphics card on it. Or a portable snap-on expansion to power it with 8 car batteries.
pts_ 6y ago
Global warming solved.
nezza-_- 6y ago
This is my video, happy to answer any questions
- nicetryguy 6y ago
  Not a question: I followed and really enjoyed your series on [REDACTED] as each video came out =)
  - nezza-_- 6y ago
    That's great, thank you! I had a ton of fun on that one.
    - nicetryguy 6y ago
      I like how they just EOR'd the data and called it a day =)
- monokh 6y ago
  Do you see any reason why the GBA couldn't perform the role of a hardware wallet? Secure element excluded of course.
  - stickac 6y ago
    Gameboy is really slow when compared to modern hardware. One ECDSA signature that takes around 100ms on Trezor (32-bit CPU @ 120 MHz) would take around a minute on GameBoy (8-bit CPU @ ~4 MHz. If we're talking about GameBoy Advance (32-bit CPU @ 25 MHz) - this more plausible but still 5 times slower than Trezor.
    - ineedasername 6y ago
      I think waiting a full minute is a perfectly justifiable trade-off for a dystopian future that at least forces people to have an iconic '80's handheld strapped to their hip. If we're headed toward a dystopia, we can at least try to set the stage for a certain standard of aesthetics.
cgb223 6y ago
Came to this video expecting a cheeky joke, left with a genuine understanding of how to implement a basic Bitcoin miner This is awesome!
egypturnash 6y ago
how to mine bitcoin on a gameboy 1. make an enteretaining video about trying to mine bitcoin on a gameboy 2. include bitcoin donation link 3. wait to see if you have sufficiently amused people with absurd numbers of bitcoin for them to donate some
Minenash 6y ago
I think the funniest part about this, is that the pico used for the cable probably can do miss hashes per second
CynicusRex 6y ago
Would've been more fitting on the Pyramid: https://theoffice.fandom.com/wiki/Pyramid https://theoffice.fandom.com/wiki/Pyramid.

133 points by faebi 6y ago

Obligatory: http://www.righto.com/2014/09/mining-bitcoin-with-pencil-and-paper.html http://www.righto.com/2014/09/mining-bitcoin-with-pencil-and... ; http://www.righto.com/2019/07/bitcoin-mining-on-apollo-guidance.html http://www.righto.com/2019/07/bitcoin-mining-on-apollo-guida... ; http://www.righto.com/2015/05/bitcoin-mining-on-55-year-old-ibm-1401.html http://www.righto.com/2015/05/bitcoin-mining-on-55-year-old-...

gus_massa 6y ago
I'm not sure why this was downvoted, but perhaps some context may help. Here nayuki linked a few posts made by kens about mining Bitcoins using weird old hardware (if you classify pencil and paper as hardware). A Gameboy is perhaps not vintage enough for kens :) . Old HN discussion of these links: * Pencil and Paper: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8380110 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8380110 (653 points, 104 comments) and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15950599 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15950599 (642 points, 158 comments) * Apollo computer: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20383561 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20383561 (217 points, 107 comments) * IBM 1401: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9593412 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9593412 (162 points, 34 comments)

_joel 6y ago

This video is really well done, good work

ibraheemdev 6y ago

[video]

ineedasername 6y ago

Great, now it's going to be impossible to get a vintage Game Boy on ebay for under $10,000, not to mention making AA batteries impossible to find at retail.

ourmandave 6y ago
But this could spark innovations, like an adapter to put a 3-fan RTX 3080 graphics card on it. Or a portable snap-on expansion to power it with 8 car batteries.

pts_ 6y ago

Global warming solved.

nezza-_- 6y ago

This is my video, happy to answer any questions

nicetryguy 6y ago
Not a question: I followed and really enjoyed your series on [REDACTED] as each video came out =)
- nezza-_- 6y ago
  That's great, thank you! I had a ton of fun on that one.
  - nicetryguy 6y ago
    I like how they just EOR'd the data and called it a day =)
monokh 6y ago
Do you see any reason why the GBA couldn't perform the role of a hardware wallet? Secure element excluded of course.
- stickac 6y ago
  Gameboy is really slow when compared to modern hardware. One ECDSA signature that takes around 100ms on Trezor (32-bit CPU @ 120 MHz) would take around a minute on GameBoy (8-bit CPU @ ~4 MHz. If we're talking about GameBoy Advance (32-bit CPU @ 25 MHz) - this more plausible but still 5 times slower than Trezor.
  - ineedasername 6y ago
    I think waiting a full minute is a perfectly justifiable trade-off for a dystopian future that at least forces people to have an iconic '80's handheld strapped to their hip. If we're headed toward a dystopia, we can at least try to set the stage for a certain standard of aesthetics.

cgb223 6y ago

Came to this video expecting a cheeky joke, left with a genuine understanding of how to implement a basic Bitcoin miner This is awesome!

egypturnash 6y ago

how to mine bitcoin on a gameboy 1. make an enteretaining video about trying to mine bitcoin on a gameboy 2. include bitcoin donation link 3. wait to see if you have sufficiently amused people with absurd numbers of bitcoin for them to donate some

Minenash 6y ago

I think the funniest part about this, is that the pico used for the cable probably can do miss hashes per second

CynicusRex 6y ago

Would've been more fitting on the Pyramid: https://theoffice.fandom.com/wiki/Pyramid https://theoffice.fandom.com/wiki/Pyramid.