4 ms·

It's supposed to be slow. That's what secures it. The production speed comes from layer 2 solutions built on top of it (analogous to how a secure VM can go fast

It's supposed to be slow. That's what secures it. The production speed comes from layer 2 solutions built on top of it (analogous to how a secure VM can go faster with a JIT while still maintaining security). It's not expensive. Transaction fees are just fine and getting cheaper over time. It doesn't destroy the planet. You're thinking of the fossil-fuel industry.

louthy 4y ago
> It doesn't destroy the planet. You're thinking of the fossil-fuel industry. But the fossil-fuel industry has had very real benefits (whether we like it our not!). It's surely debateable whether fuelling crime, scams, and what is tantamount to a massive casino is of any benefit to humanity. Especially when running it consumes more energy than Argentina [1] Of course there are plenty of other aspects of human existence that requires energy, and therefore has an impact on our home. That doesn't give individuals who are engaged in this casino an 'out'. It is an entirely greed driven exercise right now. Perhaps something will come along that makes blockchain and other crypto concepts viable and valuable to society, it ain't here yet though. So I don't see how anybody can justify an Argentina's worth off energy usage. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56012952 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56012952
- ashwagary 4y ago
  >Perhaps something will come along that makes blockchain and other crypto concepts viable and valuable to society, it ain't here yet though. So I don't see how anybody can justify an Argentina's worth off energy usage. Central banking finally has a freer market and you can choose (or create) an asset with your preferred monetary policy... Avoiding or atleast limiting exposure to global currency debasement is now a possibility when you choose the right product/chain/coin. That's a problem that costs workers around the world 100s of trillions of dollars and it's being solved.
woodruffw 4y ago
> analogous to how a secure VM can go faster with a JIT while still maintaining security …what? You can’t JIT your way out of the underlying machine being slow. The machine is a watch; JITs typically achieve performance by speeding up an interpreter running on the machine (in other words, taking advantage of missed performance opportunities). This analogy doesn’t work for POW schemes, since wasting energy is the entire point. My understanding of “L2” solutions is that they’re really just pseudo-verified batching techniques, where transactions are rolled up off-chain and settled in bulk. That doesn’t “solve” PoW; it fundamentally undermines the original integrity promise.
GLGirty 4y ago
Previously retired coal power plants are being brought back into service just to power bitcoin. https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/ameren-deploys-bitcoin-mining-data-center-at-coal-power-plant/ https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/ameren-deploys-bi...

louthy 4y ago

> It doesn't destroy the planet. You're thinking of the fossil-fuel industry. But the fossil-fuel industry has had very real benefits (whether we like it our not!). It's surely debateable whether fuelling crime, scams, and what is tantamount to a massive casino is of any benefit to humanity. Especially when running it consumes more energy than Argentina [1] Of course there are plenty of other aspects of human existence that requires energy, and therefore has an impact on our home. That doesn't give individuals who are engaged in this casino an 'out'. It is an entirely greed driven exercise right now. Perhaps something will come along that makes blockchain and other crypto concepts viable and valuable to society, it ain't here yet though. So I don't see how anybody can justify an Argentina's worth off energy usage. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56012952 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56012952

ashwagary 4y ago
>Perhaps something will come along that makes blockchain and other crypto concepts viable and valuable to society, it ain't here yet though. So I don't see how anybody can justify an Argentina's worth off energy usage. Central banking finally has a freer market and you can choose (or create) an asset with your preferred monetary policy... Avoiding or atleast limiting exposure to global currency debasement is now a possibility when you choose the right product/chain/coin. That's a problem that costs workers around the world 100s of trillions of dollars and it's being solved.

woodruffw 4y ago

> analogous to how a secure VM can go faster with a JIT while still maintaining security …what? You can’t JIT your way out of the underlying machine being slow. The machine is a watch; JITs typically achieve performance by speeding up an interpreter running on the machine (in other words, taking advantage of missed performance opportunities). This analogy doesn’t work for POW schemes, since wasting energy is the entire point. My understanding of “L2” solutions is that they’re really just pseudo-verified batching techniques, where transactions are rolled up off-chain and settled in bulk. That doesn’t “solve” PoW; it fundamentally undermines the original integrity promise.

GLGirty 4y ago

Previously retired coal power plants are being brought back into service just to power bitcoin. https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/ameren-deploys-bitcoin-mining-data-center-at-coal-power-plant/ https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/ameren-deploys-bi...