What is cryptocurrency mining used for?

[kajar9]

I know the miner gets credits and stuff, but is the resources to mine the currency actually used in something?

I know that F@H is for cancer research and such, but is Cryptocurrency mining like helping businesses that need distributed computing to solve problems or something?
Like are businesses buying mining resources and miners contribute by solving the computations or what? Or is it just a gimmick?

[themctipers]

nope

 

mining is just solving a hash by brute forcing it, or to help verify transactions (this is for Bitcoin though, idk if it applies to other things)

[Enderman]

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

[jolygoodday]

Miners basically contribute CPU power for transactions. Little different between currencies. They make money because there is a transaction cost, and that amount goes to the miners. 

 

 

[DXMember]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain

[2bitmarksman]

It honestly depends on the currency. Bitcoin is essentially just an electronic, no nation specific version of a currency, but something like Ethereum is actually being used in some distributed applications to facilitate transactions.

Honestly, ya gotta google your way to victory for this one.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Mining is basically the process of creating the coins and facilitating transactions. It is called mining due to the similarities to mining actual resources. It's not like there's just a "vault" of bitcoins sitting there that are released when someone completes a calculation. 

 

Pulled from the Bitcoin Wiki: "The primary purpose of mining is to allow Bitcoin nodes to reach a secure, tamper-resistant consensus. Mining is also the mechanism used to introduce Bitcoins into the system: Miners are paid any transaction fees as well as a "subsidy" of newly created coins. This both serves the purpose of disseminating new coins in a decentralized manner as well as motivating people to provide security for the system."

 

I believe there are a couple of cryptocurrencies that try to use mining power to advance some scientific fields, but I don't know how useful they actually are. If you want to use your PC's power for contributing to scientific research, Boinc or F@H are the better options. 

 

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining

[Spork829]

2 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

I've been wondering this too, so how exactly does one obtain money from computing stuff that does nothing?

[Enderman]

3 minutes ago, Spork829 said:

I've been wondering this too, so how exactly does one obtain money from computing stuff that does nothing?

Work = money. That's all it's based on.

It's a virtual currency that is simply created through pure work, and as it gets harder it becomes worth more.

 

Like most currencies, it is only worth anything because people believe it has value, and the more people that use it and mine it the more value it gets.

[jolygoodday]

If you are asking what can you buy with them? well anything from anyone who accepts the currency. Also all currencies tend to be worthless in reality, usually just a piece of paper, a digit on a screen, or a few bits of metal. (The metal being arguably the least worthless currency, having some real elemental value beyond its stated currency amount)

 

You can't expect to be able to buy gum from a gas station in Canada with Yen. You also can't expect to buy a pack of gum with $CAN in China. 

 

Society is what gives currency value. 

[camohiddendj]

Best way to put it... If all the miners were gone one day, transactions would cease to process across the network.

[DrMacintosh]

7 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Work = money.

Using GPUs to do calculations isn't work 

 

The definition of Work is:

"activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result" Crypto currency mining does not qualify as work. 

[DrMacintosh]

7 minutes ago, camohiddendj said:

Best way to put it... If all the miners were gone one day, transactions would cease to process across the network.

but only its network. 

 

The real world would be unaffected. 

[DrMacintosh]

8 minutes ago, jolygoodday said:

Society is what gives currency value

Nope, Governments, Earth Metals, Oil, and militaries give currency value. 

 

 

[DrMacintosh]

19 minutes ago, Spork829 said:

I've been wondering this too, so how exactly does one obtain money from computing stuff that does nothing?

They don't, the whole thing is a farce. 

 

Its not real money, it has no real value. I don't think it will be around for long because it seriously fucks with the world economy since it essentially prints money (which is illegal) and the big banks won't stand for that. 

[jolygoodday]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

Nope, earth Metals, oil, and militaries give currency value. 

 

 

without people metals, oil, ect would be worthless. 

 

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Using GPUs to do calculations isn't work 

 

The definition of Work is:

"activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result" Crypto currency mining does not qualify as work. 

Using a GPU to process and solve complex math problems is literally work... The difficulty is increased needlessly to make it require more work, very none Green tbh. 

[Spork829]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

They don't, the whole thing is a farce. 

 

Its not real money, it has no real value. I don't think it will be around for long because it seriously fucks with the world economy since it essentially prints money (which is illegal).

Well surely it can be turned into real money, and that's why people are after it, correct? So I would think it's less like printing money and more like making a product which people will pay money for.

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, jolygoodday said:

Using a GPU to process and solve complex math problems is literally work... The difficulty is increased needlessly to make it require more work, very none Green tbh.

The GPU is doing work, you are not. You should not get paid for doing nothing.

[jolygoodday]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

They don't, the whole thing is a farce. 

 

Its not real money, it has no real value. I don't think it will be around for long because it seriously fucks with the world economy since it essentially prints money (which is illegal) and the big banks won't stand for that. 

What gives any other money any real value? it is the people. If people back crypto then it has value... It clearly has value currently, we can debate what if it will have value in the future, but as of now it is simply a fact that it has value. 

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, Spork829 said:

more like making a product

Crypto Currency has no product. Mining for it yields nothing. 

 

 

[Enderman]

4 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Using GPUs to do calculations isn't work 

 

The definition of Work is:

"activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result" Crypto currency mining does not qualify as work. 

You know that english words can mean more than one thing, right?

 

1. a task or tasks to be undertaken; something a person or thing has to do.
    
    
    
   deeds acts actions
   • the materials for this.
   • cosmetic plastic surgery.
   • good or moral deeds.
2. something done or made.
    
   handiwork doing act deed
   composition piece creation opus oeuvre
   writings oeuvre canon output
    
    
    
    
   • the result of the action of a specified person or thing.
   • a literary or musical composition or other piece of fine art.
   • all literary or musical pieces by a particular author, composer, or artist, regarded collectively.
   • a piece of embroidery, sewing, or knitting, typically made using a specified stitch or method.
   • a defensive structure.
   • an architectural or engineering structure such as a bridge or dam.
   • the record of the successive calculations made in solving a mathematical problem.
3. the operative part of a clock or other machine.
    
4. the exertion of force overcoming resistance or producing molecular change.
    
5. everything needed, desired, or expected.
   everything the full treatment the lot the whole shebang the full nine yards the whole kit and kaboodle the whole ball of wax

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, jolygoodday said:

but as of now it is simply a fact that it has value.

A currency has no value until a person can go to target and buy stuff with it, buy gas with it, buy food with it, etc. 

 

Currently you have to convert it to use it anywhere, which admits its not a legitimate currency in any country. In addition, it gets converted into currencies like USD without having anything backing it. 

 

The IRS wants to tax it and I hope they do. Over 50% would be preferable (making it illegal would be best). 

[jolygoodday]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

The GPU is doing work, you are not. You should not get paid for doing nothing.

Well lets ignore all the capital, and the cost of energy, and all the other things that go into mining. If you want to complain about getting "free money without really working" lets debate that, don't try and railroad your argument with another complaint about society. You can make money lots of ways with very little effort, however all of them have risks involved and a capital investment. Economics 101. 

[Spork829]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

Crypto Currency has no product. Mining for it yields nothing. 

 

 

Clearly that's not the case if you can make money off of it. Are you claiming people are giving something away for free when they accept Bitcoin as a form of payment?

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

The GPU is doing work, you are not. You should not get paid for doing nothing.

You have to buy, install, understand how to use and maintain the GPU(s), and pay for the electricity. That's like saying the owner of a factory shouldn't make any money off of it, because they're not at the assembly line.

[jolygoodday]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

A currency has no value until a person can go to target and buy stuff with it, buy gas with it, buy food with it, etc. 

 

Currently you have to convert it to use it anywhere, which admits its not a legitimate currency in any country. In addition, it gets converted into currencies like USD without having anything backing it. 

 

The IRS wants to tax it and I hope they do. Over 50% would be preferable (making it illegal would be best). 

By your logic I can use YEN to buy gum at my local gas station. Your arguments are invalid since I can convert 100 bit coins into any currency, and many establishments already accept bit coin.