Octopus Overlords

The Meal wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:46 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:03 pm I recently saw it pointed out that the energy cost of mining enough bitcoin to buy a hamburger is the same as ordering a hamburger in California and having someone deliver it to you via Tesla from New York.

Is that so?

I've seen folks asking questions on solar forums regarding setups for bitcoin operations.

It's free to ask questions (even if they're really dumb questions), but that would seem to indicate to me that there are still places in the Western world where energy is cheap enough that bitcoin mining operations may provide a net positive gain.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:43 pm

Punisher wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:20 pm Does anyone here actually mine? Is it worth it? How do you do it? Just curious whats involved and if it's something I can just do on my PC (or with some minor purchases) I think I might want to give it a try.

I am just now setting up a dedicated rig to start mining. Surprisingly the critical components are graphics cards, not the cpu, and lots of them. It appears you need at least about 6 to start to hit stride (requiring a special motherboard to handle that) and it is creating a run on GPU's. I'm looking at about $3k for the initial rig, plus the power to run it 24/7 - fortunately I have solar panels. Probably looking at about a year to get ROI. But in addition, if the crypto currency goes up in value you have that going for you.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 10:22 am I think Grimes sold something like $6M in NFT tracks or art or something.

The NFL is looking to do something similar to what the NBA did with auctioning off NFT highlight clips. It's an endless source of income.

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 3:10 pm calculate the CO2 footprint of an ethereum address

https://carbon.fyi/

A non-fungible token by the artist Beeple sold at Christie’s for over $60 million, making it the most expensive NFT ever sold at auction.

Josebaker wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 10:55 am I was thinking about this too one day. Couldn't you just move all your funds off of an exchange and you'd essentially be dodging the government? On top of that couldn't you just keep creating new wallets on other exchanges? That's the beauty of this type of currency, nothing connects you to a wallet unless you reveal that it's yours.

Why am I doubtful about the future of Bitcoin?
1. People use Bitcoin as a speculative asset rather than as a means of payment. Bitcoin isn't used where it could be most beneficial: storing and communicating value across time and space.
2. Volatility. It could be solved if we all use Bitcoin and nothing else. I don't know how this can be achieved.
3. Energy consumption. I could close my eyes on this if Bitcoin delivered what it promises. If Bitcoin would revolutionize the way we think about the economy, then the benefits could outweigh the energy costs.
4. What kind of complex system do we want our economy to be? Static and fixed? Or dynamic and evolving - with ever-changing credit-assignment schemes? If we get stuck with a monetary system that can't be adapted and regulated, it could have a terrible outcome.
5. This one is sci-fi but relevant: can Bitcoin communicate value across unlimited time and space? Imagine a multi-species civilization spanning thousands of years and multiple solar systems.
6. I am not convinced that wealth preservation over unlimited time is beneficial for the progress of humanity. Perhaps we should reward those who create new value instead of hanging on to piles of gold/Bitcoin.
7. Maybe the future of money is a decentralized cryptocurrency, but I am not convinced it will be Bitcoin. What if people in the future decide not to use the current Bitcoin but to start a Bitcoin 2.0 with fewer flaws? One of the reasons could be to avoid rewarding today's Bitcoin early adopters and speculators. Why? You don’t want to reward those who just lucked out in your credit assignment scheme. I am not convinced that rentiersm is beneficial for the economy.
8. There are many more entities in the economy than just money. Each of them must be incentivized to use Bitcoin and not want to overthrow it.

“Gold will not always get you good soldiers, but good soldiers can get you gold.”
- Niccolo Machiavelli

Best,
Marek Rosa
CEO, Creative Director, Founder at Keen Software House
CEO, CTO, Founder at GoodAI

Jaymann wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:43 pm

Punisher wrote: ↑Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:20 pm Does anyone here actually mine? Is it worth it? How do you do it? Just curious whats involved and if it's something I can just do on my PC (or with some minor purchases) I think I might want to give it a try.

I am just now setting up a dedicated rig to start mining. Surprisingly the critical components are graphics cards, not the cpu, and lots of them. It appears you need at least about 6 to start to hit stride (requiring a special motherboard to handle that) and it is creating a run on GPU's. I'm looking at about $3k for the initial rig, plus the power to run it 24/7 - fortunately I have solar panels. Probably looking at about a year to get ROI. But in addition, if the crypto currency goes up in value you have that going for you.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 1:01 am My mining rig turned out to be a bust, so I used the parts to build this one. About a month ago I set up mining to run in the background. It's only about $15 per month, but it is going 24/7. And it does not interfere with gaming or PC performance.

em2nought wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 1:32 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 1:01 am My mining rig turned out to be a bust, so I used the parts to build this one. About a month ago I set up mining to run in the background. It's only about $15 per month, but it is going 24/7. And it does not interfere with gaming or PC performance.

Thanks for the reply. What problems did you face that turned it into a bust, if you don't mind elaborating?

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 1:41 pm

em2nought wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 1:32 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 1:01 am My mining rig turned out to be a bust, so I used the parts to build this one. About a month ago I set up mining to run in the background. It's only about $15 per month, but it is going 24/7. And it does not interfere with gaming or PC performance.

Thanks for the reply. What problems did you face that turned it into a bust, if you don't mind elaborating?

The motherboard we got was designed for many graphic cards but we couldn't get it to work. Then it got fried and we gave up. Sold the graphic cards to recoup somewhat then used the other components.

As a result, the attacker had built $4.2 billion in Bitcoin short positions by April 11. Simultaneously, the attacker also builds $1 billion in over-the-counter (OTC) position in UST. Now, this sets the stage to liquidate the UST and simultaneously short the Bitcoin, knowing the fact that LFG will sell its Bitcoins to protect the UST peg.

pr0ner wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 8:05 pm LUNA is down to $0.003.

El Guapo wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2011 12:18 pm This seems like the very definition of a speculation bubble. It seems like BitCoins aren't tied to anything, so their value derives solely (I gather) from people assigning them value and speculating that their value will increase in the future.

Assuming, as appears to be the case, that BitCoins are readily exchangeable into currency via Mt Gox and the like, isn't a run on BitCoins inevitable? Eventually the Warren Buffet of BitCoins is going to decide that they are overvalued and cash out en masse. That gets out, and others cash out for fear that they will be left holding worthless currency. That rush, in turn, makes the currency worthless.

To a degree this is true of any currency, but it's certainly different when it's backed by a loose agglomeration of people on the internet vs. the United States government.

Holman wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 8:57 pm

El Guapo wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2011 12:18 pm This seems like the very definition of a speculation bubble. It seems like BitCoins aren't tied to anything, so their value derives solely (I gather) from people assigning them value and speculating that their value will increase in the future.

Assuming, as appears to be the case, that BitCoins are readily exchangeable into currency via Mt Gox and the like, isn't a run on BitCoins inevitable? Eventually the Warren Buffet of BitCoins is going to decide that they are overvalued and cash out en masse. That gets out, and others cash out for fear that they will be left holding worthless currency. That rush, in turn, makes the currency worthless.

To a degree this is true of any currency, but it's certainly different when it's backed by a loose agglomeration of people on the internet vs. the United States government.

11th anniversary of this prescient post.

malchior wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 9:15 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 8:57 pm

El Guapo wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2011 12:18 pm This seems like the very definition of a speculation bubble. It seems like BitCoins aren't tied to anything, so their value derives solely (I gather) from people assigning them value and speculating that their value will increase in the future.

Assuming, as appears to be the case, that BitCoins are readily exchangeable into currency via Mt Gox and the like, isn't a run on BitCoins inevitable? Eventually the Warren Buffet of BitCoins is going to decide that they are overvalued and cash out en masse. That gets out, and others cash out for fear that they will be left holding worthless currency. That rush, in turn, makes the currency worthless.

To a degree this is true of any currency, but it's certainly different when it's backed by a loose agglomeration of people on the internet vs. the United States government.

11th anniversary of this prescient post.

FWIW despite recent runs on some cryptocurrencies, BTC is still flying pretty high and can fall 66% yet to reach 2020 levels which would still be multiples of the 2011 price. In any case, every time there is some market turbulence someone predicts the end of crypto. Maybe it'll happen this time but I sort of doubt it.

pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:07 am Luna is now $0.00003.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:09 am

pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:07 am Luna is now $0.00003.

I think they minted like 15B coins yesterday. No idea who is buying at that or any price. It's garbage.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:09 am

pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:07 am Luna is now $0.00003.

I think they minted like 15B coins yesterday. No idea who is buying at that or any price. It's garbage.

pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:20 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:09 am

pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:07 am Luna is now $0.00003.

I think they minted like 15B coins yesterday. No idea who is buying at that or any price. It's garbage.

Who knows. The whole situation is batshit.

There's also a rumor out there now that Terra's collapse was a result of BlackRock and Citadel manipulation, but both companies have denied it.