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Bitcoin mining does not need to be nearly the scale that it is right now to sustain the volume of transactions. If the value of bitcoin completely crashed tomor

Bitcoin mining does not need to be nearly the scale that it is right now to sustain the volume of transactions. If the value of bitcoin completely crashed tomorrow, back down to a cent per coin, how many people would still be interested? How many people would still be mining?

dudebrooo 4y ago
Its based on free market and freedom principals, both of which are under a very subversive attack by powerful forces for a while now but has been intensifying lately for many reasons, but... The electricity is either for sale in a market or it is not a free market and you are in some communist or fascist style rule of law. What we have now is turning into some kind of worst of all worlds. A price cap on btc by law or manipulation is despotic. Value judgements on what you use electricity for is despotic. And using propaganda to destroy competition in currency markets is despotic. Competition makes us all better and nothing anyone can say on a washed up startups website can change that.
- somewhereoutth 4y ago
  There is no more a 'free market' as there is such a thing as a 'free house cat'. Markets require an outside authority to impose structure, otherwise it is simply a question of who is strongest. The 'powerful forces' of which you speak are actually the further right, since Reagan, who would rip up social structures precisely so they can take by force what otherwise would be rightfully denied them.
- Telemoto 4y ago
- imtringued 4y ago
  If there is such a thing as a free market then Bitcoin and similar currencies that do not neutralize liquidity preference are the reason we don't have free markets. >under a very subversive attack by powerful forces for a while now but has been intensifying lately for many reasons, What many reasons? As I already said liquidity preference in combination with non neutral liquidity is ultimately the reason why markets aren't "free".
latchkey 4y ago
> Bitcoin mining does not need to be nearly the scale that it is right now to sustain the volume of transactions. Mining isn't related to the volume of transactions. The reason why mining is so large right now is because it is a land grab before each drop in emissions.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  The volume of transactions is pretty much fixed on the hardcoded max anyway. The amount of energy spent on mining is pegged to the value of the payout. If the current reward is 1 amount of bitcoin, the energy consumed will always cost around the same amount as that block reward amount bought on the market. Because if it was cheaper to mine bitcoin than buy it, more would mine instead of buying, and if it was cheaper to buy than mine, you’d shut your miners off and buy until they became equal again. So crashing bitcoin value directly cuts electricity consumption.
  - latchkey 4y ago
    At a large scale, the cost to mine one BTC is so low that it is silly. The large miners can mine at a loss for brief periods because they learned the lessons already... just hold until the market recovers and the gains are exponential. Play with the numbers here [0], just change the electricity cost by $0.01 and you'll see. [0] https://insights.braiins.com/en/cost-to-mine/ https://insights.braiins.com/en/cost-to-mine/
thefz 4y ago
I wonder how many miners will go up and mighty with the argument that they are providing free money transactions to third world/controlled countries.
- latchkey 4y ago
  Zero

dudebrooo 4y ago

Its based on free market and freedom principals, both of which are under a very subversive attack by powerful forces for a while now but has been intensifying lately for many reasons, but... The electricity is either for sale in a market or it is not a free market and you are in some communist or fascist style rule of law. What we have now is turning into some kind of worst of all worlds. A price cap on btc by law or manipulation is despotic. Value judgements on what you use electricity for is despotic. And using propaganda to destroy competition in currency markets is despotic. Competition makes us all better and nothing anyone can say on a washed up startups website can change that.

somewhereoutth 4y ago
There is no more a 'free market' as there is such a thing as a 'free house cat'. Markets require an outside authority to impose structure, otherwise it is simply a question of who is strongest. The 'powerful forces' of which you speak are actually the further right, since Reagan, who would rip up social structures precisely so they can take by force what otherwise would be rightfully denied them.
Telemoto 4y ago
imtringued 4y ago
If there is such a thing as a free market then Bitcoin and similar currencies that do not neutralize liquidity preference are the reason we don't have free markets. >under a very subversive attack by powerful forces for a while now but has been intensifying lately for many reasons, What many reasons? As I already said liquidity preference in combination with non neutral liquidity is ultimately the reason why markets aren't "free".

latchkey 4y ago

> Bitcoin mining does not need to be nearly the scale that it is right now to sustain the volume of transactions. Mining isn't related to the volume of transactions. The reason why mining is so large right now is because it is a land grab before each drop in emissions.

Gigachad 4y ago
The volume of transactions is pretty much fixed on the hardcoded max anyway. The amount of energy spent on mining is pegged to the value of the payout. If the current reward is 1 amount of bitcoin, the energy consumed will always cost around the same amount as that block reward amount bought on the market. Because if it was cheaper to mine bitcoin than buy it, more would mine instead of buying, and if it was cheaper to buy than mine, you’d shut your miners off and buy until they became equal again. So crashing bitcoin value directly cuts electricity consumption.
- latchkey 4y ago
  At a large scale, the cost to mine one BTC is so low that it is silly. The large miners can mine at a loss for brief periods because they learned the lessons already... just hold until the market recovers and the gains are exponential. Play with the numbers here [0], just change the electricity cost by $0.01 and you'll see. [0] https://insights.braiins.com/en/cost-to-mine/ https://insights.braiins.com/en/cost-to-mine/

thefz 4y ago

I wonder how many miners will go up and mighty with the argument that they are providing free money transactions to third world/controlled countries.

latchkey 4y ago
Zero