4 ms·

The entire ETH VM is running at about 0.8 MIPS right now. Yes. That is not an exaggeration, current gas limit is 30 million / 3 gas for simpliest add instructio

The entire ETH VM is running at about 0.8 MIPS right now. Yes. That is not an exaggeration, current gas limit is 30 million / 3 gas for simpliest add instruction / 12 seconds per block. The calculation power of the network is absolutely inconsequential to the operation of the network. 99.999% of all the energy used is just for Proof of Work. Once they move to Proof of Stake, if they even do, most of the power usage will be to run the hard drives to hold the increasingly massive ledger that will spawn from it.

quickthrower2 4y ago
For humour sake, if I had time i would set up a raspberry pi to run psql and node and provide an alternative centralised blockchain that would compete computationally.
- rglullis 4y ago
  If you manage to convince all the millions of people that the data on your raspberry pi is valid and you pinky-swear that you are not going to manipulate their funds, go for it.
  - quickthrower2 4y ago
    Works for binance and many other centralized chains!
kennywinker 4y ago
The issue isn't how much computing power (aka carbon) does the network NEED. The issue is how much computing power the network consumes. Depending on the implementation of PoS, there could be all kinds of incentives or pressures for a lot of distributed computing power to get thrown at it, despite it only needing a fraction of that. None of that is a problem if the system is #1 displacing other higher consuming systems and #2 not actively harming people. Re: #1 So far most of what I've seen out of blockchain seems additive - it's not replacing old systems, it's layering on new systems. But it's still early days, maybe that'll change. As for #2, well, it's hard to trace the exact benefits and harms of blockchain we've seen so far. Which leaves me to fall back on history. You can call me a commie if you want to, but a system that benefits capital over labour usually shakes out to benefit a few while harming many ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

quickthrower2 4y ago

For humour sake, if I had time i would set up a raspberry pi to run psql and node and provide an alternative centralised blockchain that would compete computationally.

rglullis 4y ago
If you manage to convince all the millions of people that the data on your raspberry pi is valid and you pinky-swear that you are not going to manipulate their funds, go for it.
- quickthrower2 4y ago
  Works for binance and many other centralized chains!

kennywinker 4y ago

The issue isn't how much computing power (aka carbon) does the network NEED. The issue is how much computing power the network consumes. Depending on the implementation of PoS, there could be all kinds of incentives or pressures for a lot of distributed computing power to get thrown at it, despite it only needing a fraction of that. None of that is a problem if the system is #1 displacing other higher consuming systems and #2 not actively harming people. Re: #1 So far most of what I've seen out of blockchain seems additive - it's not replacing old systems, it's layering on new systems. But it's still early days, maybe that'll change. As for #2, well, it's hard to trace the exact benefits and harms of blockchain we've seen so far. Which leaves me to fall back on history. You can call me a commie if you want to, but a system that benefits capital over labour usually shakes out to benefit a few while harming many ¯\_(ツ)_/¯