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

[Pall Thayer]

To be honest, I suspect that these concerns about bitcoin's energy
footprint are a bit like when some people freaked out over all the birds
that are killed by solar reflectors and windmills. When a study was done
and compared to the full environmental impact of fossil fuel based power
stations, the latter's impact was far greater. A full comparison of the
environmental impact of the traditional banking industry and bitcoin would
need to factor in a lot more than just the energy consumption of
traditional bank's computer systems.

On Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 11:23 AM Alan Sondheim <sondheim at panix.com> wrote:

>
> And what will happen to the power grid?
>
> This may seem of small consequence, but, say, the foreclosure crisis in
> the U.S. wrecked a huge number of lives, and I keep thinking about the
> South Sea Bubble and Tulip Mania. But those examples might be way off the
> mark. -
>
> On Mon, 27 Nov 2017, Pall Thayer via NetBehaviour wrote:
>
> > 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 ?eleznikar <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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> >
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> >
> > --
> > P Thayer, Artist
> > http://pallthayer.dyndns.org
> >
> >
>
> New CD:- LIMIT:
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> email archive http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.org/
> web http://www.alansondheim.org / cell 718-813-3285 <(718)%20813-3285>
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>
-- 
P Thayer, Artist
http://pallthayer.dyndns.org
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