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I think it might actually be somewhat accurate. There are 6.25*6*24*365 new bitcoins created every year and given to miners. That's over $6B at current prices.
by Thorrez 4y ago
I think it might actually be somewhat accurate. There are 6.25*6*24*365 new bitcoins created every year and given to miners. That's over $6B at current prices. So it sort of makes sense miners would spend $6B/year to acquire those $6B of new bitcoins. And that isn't factoring in transaction fees that miners also get, nor that this article was written in June when prices were a lot higher, meaning it would have been much more than $6B/year if I did those calculations then.
- andrewla 4y agoAnd that's the thing -- all the fancy gymnastics the article uses to derive the cost of running the network based on power utilization and power costs is irrelevant. The Bitcoin network pays 238,500 BTC annually for its maintenance, plus fees. This is the amount that will be paid regardless of network difficulty, price of bitcoin, mining capacity, cost of electricity, capital cost of mining equipment, etc.