[NetBehaviour] bitcoin power (from Michel Bauwens, G+)

[Pall Thayer]

That's a good question, Jaka. Rob, how will miners be rewarded once all of
the coins have been mined?

On Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 3:20 AM Jaka Železnikar <jaka at jaka.org> wrote:

>
> I'm not properly acquainted too - how the security of the Bitcoin
> network will be achieved once all the Bitcoins are "mined"?
>
> best, Jaka
>
> On 27. 11. 2017 04:56, Rob Myers wrote:
> > On 26/11/17 05:06 PM, Alan Sondheim wrote:
> >> https://powercompare.co.uk/bitcoin/
> >>
> >> One question, why does it take so much power?
> > Security.
> >
> > "Miners" are machines that compete to be rewarded in Bitcoin for
> > securing the Bitcoin network. They do this by gathering up transactions
> > broadcast to the network every ten minutes or so into blocks, making
> > sure they all follow the rules of the system, then solving a difficult
> > mathematical puzzle to prove their good faith.
> >
> > The difficulty of that puzzle is set by an algorithm that measures the
> > average time of the last two weeks worth of blocks, and tries to ensure
> > that it will average out to ten minutes over the next two.
> >
> > Because Bitcoin has value, people compete for the block rewards. Lots of
> > people. Lots and lots and lots of people. With lots and lots and lots
> > and lots of ever more specialized computers. This means that the
> > difficulty algorithm keeps making the puzzle more difficult. And so it
> > takes more computing power to solve it. Which takes more energy.
> >
> > This is the "proof of work" system. It is not a waste of electricity, it
> > is the cost of securing the network.
> >
> > It is possible to try to create proof of work algorithms that are more
> > energy efficient. Or to use different security systems altogether, for
> > example "proof of stake", that use much less energy.
> >
> > But these are currently less popular than Bitcoin. So if people are
> > worried about blockchain energy usage they should make sure to use
> > hydro-electric or solar power for mining. ;-)
> >
> >> Excuse my ignorance.
> > No it's weird. It's an effect of the key technological breakthrough of
> > Bitcoin: cheating and using economic incentives to solve a computer
> > science problem.
> >
> >> And do you think this will affect future value?
> > It secures that future value.
> >
> > There was a hilarious article that extended the Bitcoin energy
> > consumption curve to show that in a couple of years it will consume all
> > the energy on the planet.
> >
> > If that happens its value will be absolute for a single moment before
> > the economy and human society collapses...
> >
> > - Rob.
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-- 
P Thayer, Artist
http://pallthayer.dyndns.org
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