What is cryptocurrency mining used for?

[kajar9]

6 minutes ago, WWicket said:

It isn't though. It is minimally complex for what it is doing.

You have to be naive to think you need hundreds of thousands of high end graphics cards and processors to keep up basically a transaction log.
It's currently like they use AES-99999999999999999999999999999999 encryption when AES-256 would do.

[jolygoodday]

Just now, kajar9 said:

I wonder if the resources could be used better. For general good or for actual profit.

Actual profit? I have realized over $100 in profit this year. (gross-capital=profits will only increase)

 

If you mean like solving complicated math problems or rendering stuff? Well there once were several places you could donate CPU time to Universities and such, just remember it will cost you money in power consumption. 

[WWicket]

Just now, kajar9 said:

You have to be naive to think you need hundreds of thousands of high end graphics cards and processors to keep up basically a transaction log.
It's currently like they use AES-99999999999999999999999999999999 encryption when AES-256 would do.

So design a better system that accomplishes the same thing with less processing power. You have to be naive to think that processing costs are arbitrarily built into the system.

[kajar9]

5 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Crypto Currency is largely used for illegal/shady purposes. Since its not controlled Criminals can run rampant with it. 

So is any other "controlled" currency.
I pay in euros for my weed

 

You could argue it's uncontrolled and basically untrackable nature is more prone to misuse but it gives also a lot of freedom in some scenarios.

[jolygoodday]

3 minutes ago, kajar9 said:

You have to be naive to think you need hundreds of thousands of high end graphics cards and processors to keep up basically a transaction log.
It's currently like they use AES-99999999999999999999999999999999 encryption when AES-256 would do.

this is actually a reason to consider it more stable and secure compared to other systems. If someone wanted to take over they would need to match the power of all the miners to an excessive degree. Practically impossible so long as the amount of miners increases. 

[jolygoodday]

Just now, kajar9 said:

So is any other "controlled" currency.
I pay in euros for my weed

 

You could argue it's uncontrolled and basically untrackable nature is more prone to misuse but it gives also a lot of freedom in some scenarios.

I have never purchased any illegal items with bit coin ever. I prefer bit coin for online transactions. 

[kajar9]

6 minutes ago, jolygoodday said:

Actual profit? I have realized over $100 in profit this year. (gross-capital=profits will only increase)

 

If you mean like solving complicated math problems or rendering stuff? Well there once were several places you could donate CPU time to Universities and such, just remember it will cost you money in power consumption. 

I do mean complicated math problems and rendering. Yes, you could donate your processing power, but the processing power could be sold.
While it is very generous to donate, there are reasons you could be paid for it a lot more generously. Like AI, Weather predictions, Market and engineering simulations for which companies would pay you. Instead of creating their own expensive render farms etc.

11 minutes ago, WWicket said:

So design a better system that accomplishes the same thing with less processing power. You have to be naive to think that processing costs are arbitrarily built into the system.

Visa, MasterCard etc... they have shit tonne of more transactions than all the cryptocurrencies combined. We're not inventing the wheel here.

[jolygoodday]

Just now, kajar9 said:

I do mean complicated math problems and rendering. Yes, you could donate your processing power, but the processing power could be sold.
While it is very generous to donate, there are reasons you could be paid for it a lot more generously. Like AI, Weather predictions, Market and engineering simulations for which companies would pay you. Instead of creating their own expensive render farms etc.

Visa, MasterCard etc... they have shit tonne of more transactions than all the cryptocurrencies combined. We're not inventing the wheel here.

Problem is its cheaper for companies to just buy the damn computers themselves XD. 

 

I am company X, why should I pay you? You want enough+more to cover the energy costs & cpu cost. I get energy cheaper then you do and I get the cpu cheaper then you do.

[kajar9]

10 minutes ago, jolygoodday said:

this is actually a reason to consider it more stable and secure compared to other systems. If someone wanted to take over they would need to match the power of all the miners to an excessive degree. Practically impossible so long as the amount of miners increases. 

Okay.... this sort of might be the answer I was looking for. Yet I still believe it could put to use a lot better. Bruteforce is extremely difficult even with easily created (resource efficient) encryption like AES-256.

[kajar9]

4 minutes ago, jolygoodday said:

Problem is its cheaper for companies to just buy the damn computers themselves XD. 

 

I am company X, why should I pay you? You want enough+more to cover the energy costs & cpu cost. I get energy cheaper then you do and I get the cpu cheaper then you do.

You, the company X, doesn't have to carry the inital cost of buying the hardware. You pay only for energy + a little extra for use of my hardware.

You don't have to rent space, you don't have to create infrastructure, you can call quits and you don't have to liquidate all the hardware and you don't have to upgrade if your hardware ages?

A lot of interest for companies, no?

[WWicket]

22 minutes ago, kajar9 said:

Visa, MasterCard etc... they have shit tonne of more transactions than all the cryptocurrencies combined. We're not inventing the wheel here.

Those rely on a trusted party. They are not reliable public distributed ledgering like a blockchain. Capabilities between the two don't resemble each other.

 

Also (and I know you are talking about power consumption/ processing costs which is a bit different, but, just as a side note), a bitcoin transaction is cheaper than Visa's transaction fee for purchases greater than around $10s.

[jolygoodday]

19 minutes ago, kajar9 said:

You, the company X, doesn't have to carry the inital cost of buying the hardware. You pay only for energy + a little extra for use of my hardware.

Allot man, allot less. Any company that could utilize consumer CPU time on this scale can more than afford to buy a server rack, and a gas generator and make maybe 1,000% more profit than paying you enough to be happy and continue to give up CPU for profit.

 

Here in CA, USA consumer electrical price might be $.25 per kw (other places are cheaper I know, but any place that is densely populated has similar prices), commercial businesses with generators might only pay $.08 per kw. 

 

IMO for things to be worth it, you must at the very least achieve 7% profit. So $.27 per kw. Most people still wont bother, they would need at least $.30. For you to get everyone doing it profits would need to be at $.50 per kw. 

[camohiddendj]

23 hours 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). 

Many of the local business I frequently visit accept bitcoin right at the PoS. Not to mention BitCoin is accepted directly by MANY fortune 500 companies including Microsoft (Xbox and Windows stores only), Virgin Airlines, NewEgg, Dell, TigerDirect, Intuit, Bloomberg, Square, GAP, GameStop, JC Penny, Dish Network, T-mobile, Stripe... ETC, ETC, ETC.

You point holds no water.  You're just salty that you didn't get in early and now just talking shit you know nothing about.

[camohiddendj]

23 hours ago, jolygoodday said:

this is actually a reason to consider it more stable and secure compared to other systems. If someone wanted to take over they would need to match the power of all the miners to an excessive degree. Practically impossible so long as the amount of miners increases. 

As far as bitcoin is concerned, 3 Pools control the majority of the network.  If one entity has 51% control of the network, they can begin to falsify the ledger.  If 2 out of the 3 pools were to merge or collaborate they would then control over 51%.

 

This actually is one of the reasons for Ethereum.  Ethereum was created so that ASICs would be useless and anyone can just walk into a best buy to purchase viable mining hardware instead of contacting a bitcoin ASIC mfg, waiting months while preferred customers get a head start with the hardware making it unprofitable by the time you get yours.

[camohiddendj]

23 hours ago, WWicket said:

So design a better system that accomplishes the same thing with less processing power. You have to be naive to think that processing costs are arbitrarily built into the system.

That's already been done... https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Proof-of-Stake-FAQ

 

People aren't happy with Eth hard-forking to PoS, it's less secure and screws over the miners.  Most people I know holding eth aren't planning on moving to Casper and will keep mining the Dagger Hashimoto based Eth coin (At least until the bomb goes off and the ice-age hits). So PoS ETH will probably fail like all the other PoS Coins before it.

[camohiddendj]

The U.S. Treasury classified bitcoin as a convertible decentralized virtual currency in 2013.[18] http://www.fincen.gov/news_room/testimony/html/20131119.html

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC, classified bitcoin as a commodity in September 2015.

Per IRS, bitcoin is taxed as a property.[19] https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/irs-virtual-currency-guidance

In September 2016, a federal judge ruled that "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term".[20] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-jpmorgan-cyber-bitcoin-idUSKCN11P2DE