Post ABqyM24VZCbGOsToTw by Moon@shitposter.club
(DIR) More posts by Moon@shitposter.club
(DIR) Post #ABqotlGlXpSuapeqa8 by rra@post.lurk.org
2021-09-29T06:01:43Z
0 likes, 3 repeats
"Bitcoin's increasing energy consumption has triggered a passionate debate about the sustainability of the digital currency. And yet, most studies have thus far ignored that Bitcoin miners cycle through a growing amount of short-lived hardware that could exacerbate the growth in global electronic waste. E-waste represents a growing threat to our environment, from toxic chemicals and heavy metals leaching into soils, to air and water pollutions caused by improper recycling. • Bitcoin's annual e-waste generation adds up to 30.7 metric kilotons as of May 2021.• This level is comparable to the small IT equipment waste produced by a country such as the Netherlands.• On average #bitcoin generates 272 g of e-waste per transaction processed on the blockchain.• Bitcoin could produce up to 64.4 metric kilotons of e-waste at peak Bitcoin price levels seen in early 2021.• The soaring demand for mining hardware may disrupt global semiconductor supply chains. "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921344921005103
(DIR) Post #ABqotmnlqbSbLU6ifI by rra@post.lurk.org
2021-09-29T06:30:07Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
This is mostly tied to the use of ASICs: "In 2013, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) entered mining and quickly replaced GPUs as the standard hardware. As implied by the name, ASICs perform one specific task: finding the required proofs at optimal efficiency. In fact, ASICs are so specialized that they only fit one mining algorithm. Bitcoin ASIC-based mining devices cannot be used to mine any alternative digital currency. This hyper-specialization of devices also implies that miners rapidly cycle through vast amounts of increasingly powerful mining devices." And apparently ASIC-resistant algorithms are not effective either:"In other words, it may be impossible to remove the incentive to build an ASIC miner in the first place; this is explicitly confirmed in a recent proposal by the community of the digital currency Ethereum [...]. The proposal explicitly states that “a custom ASIC to implement this algorithm is still possible” and that an efficiency gain of 1.1–1.2x over regular GPUs should be expected. More research is therefore required to determine if a strategy that includes frequently changing mining algorithms can actually help to mitigate e-waste output or if this simply creates the world’s most unsustainable game of whack-a-mole."
(DIR) Post #ABqotoMC46acAXDixU by rra@post.lurk.org
2021-09-29T06:37:04Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Proof of Stake is the only way out:"A more desirable route from a sustainability perspective would be to replace the PoW system in its entirety. In fact, there are already more than 350 cryptocurrencies where PoW was abandoned partially or entirely in favor of less energy-hungry and hardware-heavy Proof-of- Stake (PoS) consensus algorithms (Cryptoslate, 2020). A PoS-based system removes the incentive to engage in a computational arms race (Saleh, 2018) and only requires a device with an Internet connection to participate. These devices can be any computer, phone, or tablet that can also be used for other purposes. As such, excesses in energy con-sumption or e-waste generation would be mostly eliminated. We, therefore, conclude that the only effective way to mitigate e-waste and the large amounts of energy these devices consume during their active lifetime would be to replace the PoW-system in its entirety with a more sustainable alternative; this would remove all incentives to develop and use specialized equipment."How likely is it though that the transition to PoS will happen for established blockchains like Bitcoin? Honest question, I don't know.
(DIR) Post #ABqyM24VZCbGOsToTw by Moon@shitposter.club
2021-09-29T12:17:09.105918Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@rra Ethereum, the second most popular crypto, is transitioning to proof of stake, their roadmap says will take them a year or maybe a bit more. Bitcoin will never move away from proof of work but it may become irrelevant in the future and lose its place as number one.
(DIR) Post #ABr1X7t0aYJNTv5B7Q by rra@post.lurk.org
2021-09-29T12:37:17Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@Moon Isn't etherum's PoS essentially cryptocurrency's 'the year of the linux desktop'?
(DIR) Post #ABr1X8IB4yRcjyrHLk by Moon@shitposter.club
2021-09-29T12:52:45.151500Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@rra people have said that for a while, but progress has finally been taking place. they already have it turned on and validating transactions but proof of work is still the consensus mechanism. I've been eth2 staking since december. The actual switch is supposed to happen sometime before middle of 2022.
(DIR) Post #ABr29HNFlGkJuaQE6a by Moon@shitposter.club
2021-09-29T12:59:40.022295Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@rra to answer your question directly, I think it used to be "yes" but now I'm optimistic because they're actually running code and distributing (future) rewards
(DIR) Post #ABrnJxArtpx6IJDkiO by seachaint@hackers.town
2021-09-29T09:50:06Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@rra Bitcoin is owned and monopolised by the operators of the big mining pools. They represent a massive, massive sunk investment (that is, waste) that a non-proof-of-waste algorithm would instantly deprecate.This means any move to less waste would in effect mean a hard fork. And Bitcoiners abhor that idea, they've had a few already for less important reasons.Fundamentally though, Bitcoiners are all billionaire fanbois. They don't respect science, society, or humanity. It is unlikely that most of them even accept that reducing waste is important. Only wealth is important.
(DIR) Post #ABrrm2Wfzl1Cok4Mds by Mr_Teatime@social.tchncs.de
2021-09-29T13:06:44Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@rra»may disrupt global semiconductor supply chains.«haha, anyone tried buying a graphics card in the last year? I have two broken PCs here, with two broken graphics cards, the "better" one if which cost me 100€ new, in 2018. I could not get an equivalent reolacement for less than 250€ now. For a 3-year-old lower-end graphics card.Cryptocurrencies *are* a huge drag on global semiconductor supply, right now.
(DIR) Post #ABsz2xOdDLTEfTHRE8 by Hyolobrika@mastodon.org.uk
2021-09-30T11:34:14Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@rra ( @bonifartius boosted )Sadly it may become even more necessary in the near future: https://archive.ph/740Rb>Bank of England tells ministers to intervene on digital currency 'programming'>Digital cash could be programmed to ensure it is only spent on essentials, or goods which an employer or Government deems to be sensible