Block confirms plans to build an open Bitcoin mining system

[Shawn Knight]

Recap: Block CEO Jack Dorsey back in October teased the company’s interest in building custom silicon to mine Bitcoin. He presented a laundry list of concerns that need to be addressed including making mining more decentralized, efficient and accessible as well as expanding silicon development beyond the handful of companies that currently specialize in this area.

Block has confirmed plans to move forward with the project. Thomas Templeton, Block’s general manager for hardware, reiterated the importance of making mining more distributed and efficient seeing as it goes far beyond the creation of new coins.

Block’s team spoke with members of the mining community and found that for most, mining rigs are expensive and delivery can be unpredictable. Reliability is also an issue as things like heat dissipation and dust build up can contribute to frequent crashes that require reboots. “We want to build something that just works,” Templeton said.

Unsurprisingly, Templeton found that miners universally want lower power consumption and higher hash rates. Finding the right balance of performance versus power usage and noise generation will be very important.

Block is also mulling over which tech to adopt and which industry partners to team with.

To help get the ball rolling, Block is building a core engineering team consisting of system, ASIC and software designers that’ll be led by Afshin Rezayee. The engineer graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2002 and has been with Block for nearly seven years as the lead of their Canadian hardware group.

Image credit: Michael Fortsch

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/92998-block-confirms-plans-build-open-bitcoin-mining-system.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

No matter what, Bitcoin will be reliable on the US dollar for value and the IRS recently passed a new law to ensure transfers over $600 are tracked and tax accountable.

 

[Dimitriid]

That's how you know he's selling snake oil now: The very nature of proof of stake necessarily means you will *never* fix the energy consumption problems. Not now, not in the future, not ever: as soon as someone mines faster for less power guess what? That's the new method 100% of all miners will switch to at a fairly high rate and the power consumption goes back up to unprecedented levels.

All Dorsey is doing is a more dedicated pump & dump scheme: he wants to inflate the level of his own investment by making people think he just *solved bitcoin!* and hiring engineers and ASIC manufacturers to be basically included on his song & dance show about the monorail.

We all know it ends up with Dorsey abandoning a barely functioning product and everybody reflecting on why they trusted a f-ing evil bastard with their money by investing in bitcoin when he always just wanted to run away with your money.

 

[terzaerian]

That's how you know he's selling snake oil now: The very nature of proof of stake necessarily means you will *never* fix the energy consumption problems. Not now, not in the future, not ever: as soon as someone mines faster for less power guess what? That's the new method 100% of all miners will switch to at a fairly high rate and the power consumption goes back up to unprecedented levels.

All Dorsey is doing is a more dedicated pump & dump scheme: he wants to inflate the level of his own investment by making people think he just *solved bitcoin!* and hiring engineers and ASIC manufacturers to be basically included on his song & dance show about the monorail.

We all know it ends up with Dorsey abandoning a barely functioning product and everybody reflecting on why they trusted a f-ing evil bastard with their money by investing in bitcoin when he always just wanted to run away with your money.

Could you at least double-check the jargon you're trying to drop to try and sound like an authoritative critic? Proof of work is Bitcoin (and currently Eth) and functions by mining; proof of stake (which Ethereum is eventually going to transition to) does not require mining whatsoever. Unless you think proof of stake will eventually require mining, which makes as much sense as claiming that a gas-powered internal combustion engine is inevitably going to have to fall back on coal and steam to power it. It's nonsensical on its face.

As for Dorsey he's a valley snake trying to position himself as the king of Bitcoin, the way Musk is trying to be 'king of Dogecoin.' Both of them can take a flying leap into the Pacific.

Crypto isn't going away; the only ones operating on the sunk cost fallacy are its hair-tearing, teeth-gnashing critics.

 

[grumblguts]

Wasting energy is so wrong it needs to stop.

 

[terzaerian]

LOL peaks are bad but overall increased usage 24/7 due to mining makes it sustainably green...usage is usage, like WTF that is not good either way.

And I would suggest stopping with the personal insults...

If you think "usage is usage" you don't understand a lot about the business of generating power.

 

[fps4ever]

If you think "usage is usage" you don't understand a lot about the business of generating power.

Actually yes I do...

 

[terzaerian]

Actually yes I do...

Off-Peak Electricity Hours: Cheapest Time to Use Electricity

Learn how time-of-use rates can save you money if you time electricity usage correctly during off-peak hours.

news.energysage.com

Then you'd know why electricity usage costs more during peak hours and costs less during off-hours.

Furthermore, power plants can't shut down or take a break during the off-hours - they still have to run and still have to generate electricity. That's power that's going nowhere and being wasted. Businesses like industry and mining farms are both ways that insure that off-hour usage doesn't go to waste. Residential users and gamers, by contrast, are almost certainly using during peak hours.

You also might have heard of this dam that managed to keep its operation in the black by mining:

123-Year-Old Hydroelectric Plant Sees New Life Mining Bitcoin — Revenue 3x Higher Than Selling to the Grid – Mining Bitcoin News

The old hydroelectric plant constructed back in 1897 was almost dismantled, but today the plant is mining bitcoins.

news.bitcoin.com

 

[m4a4]

Off-Peak Electricity Hours: Cheapest Time to Use Electricity

Learn how time-of-use rates can save you money if you time electricity usage correctly during off-peak hours.

news.energysage.com

Then you'd know why electricity usage costs more during peak hours and costs less during off-hours.

Furthermore, power plants can't shut down or take a break during the off-hours - they still have to run and still have to generate electricity. That's power that's going nowhere and being wasted. Businesses like industry and mining farms are both ways that insure that off-hour usage doesn't go to waste. Residential users and gamers, by contrast, are almost certainly using during peak hours.

You also might have heard of this dam that managed to keep its operation in the black by mining:

123-Year-Old Hydroelectric Plant Sees New Life Mining Bitcoin — Revenue 3x Higher Than Selling to the Grid – Mining Bitcoin News

The old hydroelectric plant constructed back in 1897 was almost dismantled, but today the plant is mining bitcoins.

news.bitcoin.com

Woah, hey, don't be using logic here. Didn't you hear from the ignorant masses? Crypto is always a waste of energy and always creates carbon emissions! /s

 

[fps4ever]

Off-Peak Electricity Hours: Cheapest Time to Use Electricity

Learn how time-of-use rates can save you money if you time electricity usage correctly during off-peak hours.

news.energysage.com

Then you'd know why electricity usage costs more during peak hours and costs less during off-hours.

Furthermore, power plants can't shut down or take a break during the off-hours - they still have to run and still have to generate electricity. That's power that's going nowhere and being wasted. Businesses like industry and mining farms are both ways that insure that off-hour usage doesn't go to waste. Residential users and gamers, by contrast, are almost certainly using during peak hours.

You also might have heard of this dam that managed to keep its operation in the black by mining:

123-Year-Old Hydroelectric Plant Sees New Life Mining Bitcoin — Revenue 3x Higher Than Selling to the Grid – Mining Bitcoin News

The old hydroelectric plant constructed back in 1897 was almost dismantled, but today the plant is mining bitcoins.

news.bitcoin.com

You are comparing peak hours with cost savings. I am talking about saving energy overall. We are talking about power companies that have to increase average 24/7 capacity plus peak hours above wasted energy. It all depends on where you get that electricity locally to what end. My hope is to get away from fossil fuels altogether. We used to have clean Nuclear plants along the Great lakes but they keep getting shutting down. Of course Hydo plants help as well. I am seeing more Wind farms that are underutilized. If we can get to the point of diminishing fossil fuel plants even more it will be a boon for everyone.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/env...g-operation-ruining-one-finger-lakes-n1272938

https://apnews.com/article/bitcoin-...imate-change-516dbd319394a6a30f83d94947abad20

If mining can get away from using tactics like the above it might help the perception.

 

[terzaerian]

You are comparing peak hours with cost savings. I am talking about saving energy overall. We are talking about power companies that have to increase average 24/7 capacity plus peak hours above wasted energy. It all depends on where you get that electricity locally to what end. My hope is to get away from fossil fuels altogether. We used to have clean Nuclear plants along the Great lakes but they keep getting shutting down. Of course Hydo plants help as well. I am seeing more Wind farms that are underutilized. If we can get to the point of diminishing fossil fuel plants even more it will be a boon for everyone.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/env...g-operation-ruining-one-finger-lakes-n1272938

https://apnews.com/article/bitcoin-...imate-change-516dbd319394a6a30f83d94947abad20

If mining can get away from using tactics like the above it might help the perception.

Again, like I said, mining gravitates to cheap, abundant, and sustainable sources of power because their bottom line is spending as little on power as possible while mining as much as possible. Which is part of the reason you see it moving into older power plants like that. Where you see professional miners building new power infrastructure, they are almost always choosing wind and solar.

And again, if your concern is reducing power usage overall, gaming is a bigger target. Home console and PC usage may use less per capita than a BTC miner but in aggregate it is almost certainly much higher, especially after you factor in the power usage of the data centers that are the backend for services like Xbox Live, Playstation +, and Steam.

The fact is we only know the sum total of the power usage of Bitcoin because its blockchain is transparent. The power usage of gaming is completely opaque in comparison, but considering the sector's worth and reach, at least comparable.

 

[BadThad]

Good old Jack trying to stay relevant. Hopefully it all goes down in flames like Elizabeth Holmes.

 

[Uncle Al]

Looks like just another case of the blind leading the blind .... or is that dumb leading the dumber? Well, anyway, you get my point ....

 

[umbala]

Jesus H. Christ, enough with the Bitcoin nonsense already! How about just letting us enjoy the planet for a little while longer (or what's left of it) before you destroy it with *****ic ideas like crypto.

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

Nothing is decentralized especially when it comes to money.

 

[Bl00dyMinded]

People who still blame the state of the planet on crypto or mining LMAO

 

[NightAntilli]

Jesus H. Christ, enough with the Bitcoin nonsense already! How about just letting us enjoy the planet for a little while longer (or what's left of it) before you destroy it with *****ic ideas like crypto.

Environmentalists are selling snake oil, not only with regards to Bitcoin mining, but basically everything else.
Here's something for you, to maybe, just maybe, let you open your mind just a little regarding environmental concerns.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Furthermore, power plants can't shut down or take a break during the off-hours - they still have to run and still have to generate electricity. That's power that's going nowhere and being wasted. Businesses like industry and mining farms are both ways that insure that off-hour usage doesn't go to waste. Residential users and gamers, by contrast, are almost certainly using during peak hours.

You are over estimating the wasted energy. Sure there may be some but nothing to the scale you are portraying. Power is not produced without load. Just because a power plant has to continue running doesn't mean it is running at 100% production. Much the same as your car is not at 100% RPM when it is running*. Extra demand is just that extra demand. A mining farm running 24/7 is demand during peak and off-hours. Your argument falls flat on its face.

*And there is an energy consumption difference at 100% RPM while under load and not under load.