Bitcoin: rise of the machines

[whatchamacallit]

I know this sounds way out there but does anyone else have this fear?

People thought it was bad when computers were spinning up all over the world trying to make commerce more productive.

Now we have computers spinning up all over the world to compete and providing the exact same production as a much much smaller amount of computers could do.

Are we being played by the machines?


Here is bitcoin computing power historical chart:

https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/bi ... hrate.html

My understanding is the math problem bitcoin solves isn't of any real value outside of confirming the transaction. But there is more and more processing that is all connected. Is this the brain of the machine?

[whatchamacallit]

Picture of the matrix just entered my head.

Someone using their body to power crypto processor to get mining earnings.

At lowest level, pedaling a bike to generate power.
At highest, full on jacking into the matrix using bodies electricity.

All to create no real production. Just more and more competitive advantage at mining. In turn, adding more processing power to the machine.

[Smith1776]

What's rather grotesque about Bitcoin's environmental footprint is that its inefficiency is intentional. The mathematical algorithm must continue to increase in difficulty in order to slow down the blockchain. Were it not for this intentional braking the blockchain would be forking everywhere incoherently. The network is literally slowed down on purpose to maintain pseudo-consensus.

[Vil]

Are we being played by the machines?

We are tricked by humans. Once again. If Bitcoin was invented, operated (<> 'calculated') and valuated by machines - OK, then I'd concur, however it's not the case...

[Vil]

What's rather grotesque about Bitcoin's environmental footprint is that its inefficiency is intentional.

Smith, regarding environment footprint one can read many things, most of them quite controversial. Gold mining and bitcoin mining might not be directly comparable as for the pricing of gold you have its dual nature: value store vs physical/hard asset that can be used for other purposes (jewelry, medicine,..). Not sure though whether its other purposes have only marginal weight on the overall gold valuation, or not, but anyway... I've seen on some places gold beating BTC with 3:1, 5:1 , (even more) in terms of Wh of used energy, whether on some other places just the opposite is stated ... Have you looked into that as you did your crypto research recently ? Or is it like comparing apples and pears (i.e. compare what ? what's behind 1USD of those assets, compare 1g, 1kg, 1 tonne, .... vs 1BTC)

[whatchamacallit]

Are we being played by the machines?

We are tricked by humans. Once again. If Bitcoin was invented, operated (<> 'calculated') and valuated by machines - OK, then I'd concur, however it's not the case...

I know but think about how humans are now being manipulated to keep it running. Bitcoin now feels like something new that can never be turned off. Just like the internet can not be stopped at this point. It would take global disaster to shutdown the whole internet or bitcoin network.

May be Bitcoin wasn't created by a machine but we still don't know the human that did. That also doesn't mean a human couldn't have created this new life form.

[Vil]

Bitcoin now feels like something new that can never be turned off.

Well, not really sure about that. Manias come, manias go (as tulips did). After the 2018 peak and prior 2020 bitcoin went pretty much in oblivion as the mania .. Of course that lead to the number of mined BTCs dropping substantially, and that appears a bit weird as replication tends to be one of the the shortest ways to immortality .. so it seems BTC is not yet that sort of self-reproducible and self-sustainable cyberpunk asset... Once the people mania is gone => BTC value goes to zilch, irrespective of the hash complexity at the time and irrespective of the involved teraflops of mining rigs ..

[whatchamacallit]

Wow. This escalated quicker than I expected.



MICROSOFT WANTS TO 'READ PEOPLE'S BRAIN WAVES' TO MINE CRYPTOCURRENCY
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 6.html?amp

[Tortoise]

Wow. This escalated quicker than I expected.



MICROSOFT WANTS TO 'READ PEOPLE'S BRAIN WAVES' TO MINE CRYPTOCURRENCY
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 6.html?amp

I posted about that last year. Note the patent number.

viewtopic.php?p=195112#p195112

EDIT: Corrected link

[whatchamacallit]

Wow. This escalated quicker than I expected.



MICROSOFT WANTS TO 'READ PEOPLE'S BRAIN WAVES' TO MINE CRYPTOCURRENCY
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 6.html?amp

I posted about that last year. Note the patent number.

viewtopic.php?t=10575&start=125

No way. I give up. There is no way we are not living in a simulation.