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Isn't the reason more about limiting currency. Most of the crypto bros all hate the money printers. The fact that faster hashers will come about just adds some

Isn't the reason more about limiting currency. Most of the crypto bros all hate the money printers. The fact that faster hashers will come about just adds some natural competition, but it's still about limiting money supplies.

quirino 2y ago
The hashing is about consensus. It's related how a low hash stands as proof of computational power, you can't just fake it. The "adding more zeros" is done automatically, according to an algorithm, so that the time between blocks is more or less the same. There's this incredible MIT course about all of this, it's where I got the idea for the site from: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP61KHzhg3JIJdK08JLSlcLId https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP61KHzhg3JIJdK08...
- noman-land 2y ago
  Thanks for the playlist! I've already been going through the later videos.
bawolff 2y ago
Its about preventing double spending of the same bitcoin.
olalonde 2y ago
That's incorrect. The money supply is fixed irrespective of the hash rate.
- brokenmachine 2y ago
  But it halves every so often.
  - olalonde 2y ago
    Yes, the block reward halves every 210K block or roughly every ~4 years, but that's independent of the hash rate. Bitcoin adapts to the hash rate so that blocks are produced approximately every 10 minutes. Eventually the total supply of 21M BTC will be reached after which new bitcoin issuance will cease.
    - brokenmachine 2y ago
      But "it's still about limiting money supplies" is correct, no? One's investment in mining equipment becomes half as profitable every so often.
      - olalonde 2y ago
        No, mining profitability and money supply are distinct concepts. In fact, mining profitability constantly fluctuates depending on many factors aside from the block reward (e.g. electricity cost, total hash rate, equipment depreciation, BTC price, etc.). Bitcoin could have been designed with a different money supply mechanism (e.g. no halvings) but it would still have required mining. The hash rate has basically no impact on the money supply. That's because mining doesn't solve the problem of limiting the money supply, it solves the problem of decentralized consensus, aka the double spending problem.
        brokenmachine 2y ago
        I understand the purpose of mining and how the hash rate adjusts but I'm trying to understand about the profitability. Imagine you are a miner and a halving is next week. One week you earn 1btc. None of those other factors you mentioned have changed. Then the halving happens so the next week you make 0.5btc. However yours and everyone else's held bitcoins are still worth the same as they were before. Hasn't your mining profitability halved?
        olalonde 2y ago
        Given the scenario you proposed, yes it has.

quirino 2y ago

The hashing is about consensus. It's related how a low hash stands as proof of computational power, you can't just fake it. The "adding more zeros" is done automatically, according to an algorithm, so that the time between blocks is more or less the same. There's this incredible MIT course about all of this, it's where I got the idea for the site from: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP61KHzhg3JIJdK08JLSlcLId https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP61KHzhg3JIJdK08...

noman-land 2y ago
Thanks for the playlist! I've already been going through the later videos.

bawolff 2y ago

Its about preventing double spending of the same bitcoin.

olalonde 2y ago

That's incorrect. The money supply is fixed irrespective of the hash rate.

brokenmachine 2y ago
But it halves every so often.
- olalonde 2y ago
  Yes, the block reward halves every 210K block or roughly every ~4 years, but that's independent of the hash rate. Bitcoin adapts to the hash rate so that blocks are produced approximately every 10 minutes. Eventually the total supply of 21M BTC will be reached after which new bitcoin issuance will cease.
  - brokenmachine 2y ago
    But "it's still about limiting money supplies" is correct, no? One's investment in mining equipment becomes half as profitable every so often.
    - olalonde 2y ago
      No, mining profitability and money supply are distinct concepts. In fact, mining profitability constantly fluctuates depending on many factors aside from the block reward (e.g. electricity cost, total hash rate, equipment depreciation, BTC price, etc.). Bitcoin could have been designed with a different money supply mechanism (e.g. no halvings) but it would still have required mining. The hash rate has basically no impact on the money supply. That's because mining doesn't solve the problem of limiting the money supply, it solves the problem of decentralized consensus, aka the double spending problem.
      - brokenmachine 2y ago
        I understand the purpose of mining and how the hash rate adjusts but I'm trying to understand about the profitability. Imagine you are a miner and a halving is next week. One week you earn 1btc. None of those other factors you mentioned have changed. Then the halving happens so the next week you make 0.5btc. However yours and everyone else's held bitcoins are still worth the same as they were before. Hasn't your mining profitability halved?
        olalonde 2y ago
        Given the scenario you proposed, yes it has.