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© 2021 AFPChina's crypto-miners look abroad as regulators tighten noose
By Beiyi SEOW and Daniel HOFFMAN BEIJING/NEW YORK©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Jsapc
Bitcoin is just a successful ponzi scheme with a shameful carbon footprint. Get rid of it.
nishikat
Bitcoin scammers!! (and in hindsight I should have been a scammer back in 2010), if you made off with the millions by cashing out in real (USD/JPY) currency I'm happy for you and please enjoy your safe conventional currencies into your golden years. Now cryptos, PLEASE CRASH because I want to play some cool games and get a graphics card without having to take out another mortgage. Also, it's kind of killing the environment and making chip shortages in other areas as well. At this point it's not doing any good for anyone.
BunkerBilly
I was a bitcoin miner until i realized how much power mining uses. Mining should be Illegal everywhere as the energy consumption is insane!
Fuzzy
So you stopped because of your concern for the environment? Or because you realized your mining wasn't profitable? Be honest.
So is the energy consumed by Christmas lights every year. Don't see people calling for a ban on them.
William Bjornson
Do all of your judgements depend on the judgements of others?
ian
Doesn't playing video games consume more power?
Desert Tortoise
Holiday lights and video games do not even come close to the energy consumption of a bit mine. On average a single bitcoin requires 72 Terawatts (72,000 gigawatts) of power to mine based on the average power consumed by ASIC miners.
https://www.thebalance.com/how-much-power-does-the-bitcoin-network-use-391280
ian
And how much do video games consume?
Jsapc
About as much as energy efficient washing machines. (this is not a joke).
ian
That's not a joke really, if comparable. So how much power do washing machines/ video games consume?
Won't really mind the consumption for washing machine, to me it's one of the most important machines/inventions ever
Jsapc
The average unit energy use for the newer generation consoles is estimated at 123 kWh/year, putting it on par with the energy use of efficient washing machines sold in the European market.
https://c2e2.unepdtu.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/10/reducing-the-energy-use-of-video-gaming-energy-efficiency-and-gamification-en.pdf
The problem of video game consoles and PCs is their constant consumption in sleep mode more than how much they actual consume during playing sessions. Anyway, it's incomprable to the consumption of bitcoin.
ian
That's it? No figures really to base the "comparison" on?
commanteer
Really? Just a couple months ago, the big argument against bitcoin here was that it was centralized in China. Seems taking China out of the equation is a good thing. In the past, when some countries tried to restrict or even ban gold ownership, the price went up, not down. When governments become too oppressive, the underground economy exceeds the official economy. It becomes the only way people can survive.
nishikat
Yes but it's entertainment...it brings value to my life. Like my TV that has to be plugged in.
Bitcoin is open source? I should fork it, come up with a cute name then cash it in for real currency when it bubbles out. What is special about Bitcoin? More specifically how is it special compared to other cryptos?
The most common transaction for Crypto is scams like ransomware:
Former U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency director Christopher Krebs warned that crypto has enabled criminals to deploy more ransomware attacks.
(News source)
ian
Good that point has been clarified.
Anyway, yes, you justify video games' power consumption because you put value in it.
Same reason other people justify bitcoin's power consumption, they put value in it
I don't know why people keep mentioning that criminals use bitcoin for crimes, I think regular money and currencies are used far more in crimes.
Ex, How much cash is used to trade in drugs?
How much cryptocurrencies are used in drugs?
How much in cash have people been scammed for?
How much in crypto?
ian
Anyway I wasn't able to post it earlier but I did a quick search on power consumption,
A source written 2018 estimated PC games (doesn't include consoles) yearly consumption at 75 terawatthour.
The source above written 2020 estimates bitcoin power consumption at 63 terawatthour yearly.
Not sure if thats accurate though, I may have erred in conversion
ian
And apparently miners now are looking to setup shop in the world's biggest economy, among other smaller economies, now that they're being shutdown in China.
Seems 90% of Bitcoin mining capacity in China, half of global production, is down at present and mining machines sell like scrap
nishikat
The problem is BC holders always think the value in dollars (or yen) and never the value of BC itself. When you have dollars you feel like you have dollars. And when you have BC you feel you have...[fill in the blank]
When you get scammed for BT you have no chance of getting it back (you do at least have some chance with regular currency). And how does BC work with probate for inheritance for example? It sounds like a pretty sorry currency when all Elon has to do it slam it a bit on Twitter and it crashed. It is trading at 34,000 USD, down from the high of 60,000 USD. Happy for the millionaires who cashed it for real currency now I hope it crashes because I want to get a cheaper video card (I'm not talking about the power to run it, I'm talking about the price of the GPU/card itself made by NVidia, etc)
Again, I wish I was in on the scam, minded BC back in 2010 then cashed out for millions in real currency. Then I would say so long suckers and kick it on a beach somewhere.
Very small chance I can become a millionaire from BC as of now, probably no chance. I should instead fork the open source code of BC, hype it up with a cute name (like Hello Kitty coin) then sell out when it bubbles out. I have a better chance of becoming a crypto millionaire that way.
Why is BC so special compared to other cryptos?
yes, more than other transactions
Is it easy and cheap to transfer BC?
ian
As I mentioned above price of hardware dove/diving at the moment because of China mining ban.
You should be able to get GPUs for cheap now though I haven't checked myself.
ian
Yes quick search turned results specifically stating China crypto ban causing prices of Nvidia and Asus GPUs to plummet
Jacobo
It is no the name of the cryptocurrency that is important.
It is the blockchain technology that is going to shape the future.
Jacobo
kaimycahl
The problem is China is introducing its own CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) they want to control all money and want to get rid of the dollar and they do not want Crypto to come into play as they work effortlessly to try to get rid of all currency and create their own for world markets.
Desert Tortoise
In the US a 120 volt appliance is limited to 12 amps max. That means they draw a maximum of 1440 watts. A string of 150 incandescent mini lights draws 36 watts. A Bitcoin mine is literally a building filled with many hundreds, even thousands, of specialized computers. It consumes vastly more power than the average household.
Fuzzy
@Desert
You can't stop there. How many washing machines are there worldwide? How many strings of mini lights? A bitcoin mining rig of course consumes vastly more power than the average household. But there are vastly more average households than there are mining rigs. Keep working on your calculations and come back with a fair comparison.