” It isnโt obvious that the world had to work this way.
But somehow the universe smiles on encryption.โ
Julian Assange
Nobody yet knows for sure if the universeโs smile is genuine or not.
It is possible that our assumption of mathematical asymmetries is wrong and we find that P actually equals NP, or we find surprisingly quick solutions to specific problems which we currently assume to be hard.
If that should be the case, cryptography as we know it will cease to exist, and the implications would most likely change the world beyond recognition.
โVires in Numerisโ
=
โStrength in Numbersโ
epii
Vires in numeris is not only a catchy motto used by bitcoiners.
The realization that there is an unfathomable strength to be found in numbers is a profound one.
Understanding this, and the inversion of existing power balances which it enables changed my view of the world and the future which lies ahead of us.
One direct result of this is the fact that you donโt have to ask anyone for permission to participate in Bitcoin.
There is no page to sign up, no company in charge, no government agency to send application forms to.
Simply generate a large number and you are pretty much good to go.
The central authority of account creation is mathematics.
Bitcoin is built upon our best understanding of reality.
While there are still many open problems in physics, computer science, and mathematics, we are pretty sure about some things.
That there is an asymmetry between finding solutions and validating the correctness of these solutions is one such thing.
That computation needs energy is another one.
In other words: finding a needle in a haystack is harder than checking if the pointy thing in your hand is indeed a needle or not.
And finding the needle takes work.
The vastness of Bitcoinโs address space is truly mind-boggling.
The number of private keys even more so. It is fascinating how much of our modern world boils down to the improbability of finding a needle in an unfathomably large haystack.
I am now more aware of this fact than ever.
Bitcoin taught me that there is strength in numbers.
Hashrate (Hash per second, h/s) is an SI-derived unit representing the number of double SHA-256 computations performed in one second in the bitcoin network for cryptocurrency mining.
Hashrate is also called as hashing power. It is usually symbolized as h/s (with an appropriate SI prefix).
What is hashing power or hash rate?
The hash rate is the primary measure of a Bitcoin miner‘s performance.
In 2014, a miner’s performance was generally measured in Ghash/s, or billions of hashes per second.
The hash/second unit is also part of a common measure of a Bitcoin miner’s electric efficiency in the term watts /Ghash/s, denoted as W/Ghash/s. As 1 watt is equal to 1 joule/s, this measure can also be expressed as J/Ghash, or joules per 1 billion hashes.
Bitcoin network hash rate
The hash/s is also used in calculations of the Bitcoin network’s overall hash rate. Because each miner or mining pool only relays a solved block to the network, the overall hash rate of the network is calculated based on the time between blocks.
While not an accurate measure of network hash rate at any given instance in time, measurements over longer periods can be considered indicative and similar calculations are used in Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment.
In January 2015, the network hash rate was around 300 Phash/s, or 300 quadrillion hashes per second.
If you compare a bitcoin mining device to one that is designed to mine, for example, Ethereum, you will notice a very large apparent difference in hash rates.
This is because there are many different algorithms that cryptocurrencies use. They all require different amounts of memory and computing power in order to be mined.
To put it simply, bitcoin and its SHA256 algorithm is considered by today standards to be relatively easy to compute. As a result, a mining device that is still relevant today would need to produce hashes in the terahash range and up.
If we were to compare this to Ethereum, youโll find that most modern Ethereum mining devices (typically GPUโs) operate in the megahash range.
At first glance, you may think that the bitcoin mining device is significantly more powerful or more productive.
While itโs true that it produces more hashes (of the SHA256 variety), this is because bitcoin hashes are easier to produce computationally.
As a consequence, the network difficulty is significantly higher for bitcoin.
To make things even more confusing, some cryptocurrencies intentionally chose algorithms that can only be mined using a basic CPU.
As a result, mining devices for this network that can produce hundreds of hashes per second are considered to be high and very competitive.
So what does all this mean?
Basically, it means that looking at the hash rate alone doesnโt necessarily tell you the effectiveness of the miner.
You also need to understand the network difficulty, and what the norm is for most mining devices for that particular cryptocurrency.
How can I calculate how many hashes I generate per second?
Your problem breaks down nicely into 3 separate tasks:
Sharing a single count variable across threads
Benchmarking thread completion time
Calculating hashes p/sec
Sharing a single count variable across threads
Now that we know that not all hashes are the same we need to know how to calculate the estimated profitability of a miner based on its hash rate.
For this, will need to use a mining profitability calculators, they are available in the Internet.
public static class GlobalCounter
{ public static int Value { get; private set; }
public static void Increment() { Value = GetNextValue(Value); }
private static int GetNextValue(int curValue) { return Interlocked.Increment(ref curValue); }
public static void Reset() { Value = 0; } }
Before you spin off the threads call GlobalCounter.
Reset and then in each thread (after each successful hash) you would call GlobalCounter.
Increment – using Interlocked.X performs atomic operations of Value in a thread-safe manner, it’s also much faster than lock.
In a first, Bitcoin developers have done something amazing amid the criticism over the lightning network and issues associated with it. A team of developers has made an international payment using the radio … Continue reading International payment using the radio waves→
My inspiration for this page was given to me by my new aquired friend, a fellow Truth Seeker – Joris and to whom I dedicate this page… Wish you… as well as to … Continue reading Discipline Quotes→
Bitcoin white paper turns 15 and the Legacy of Satoshi Nakamoto lives on. โIโve been working on a new electronic cash system thatโs fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party,โ Satoshi Oct. 31, … Continue reading Bitcoin White Paper turn 15→
BTC total daily payout is 6.25 BTC * 6 times per hour * 24hours…on average = 900 BTC mined every day.ย
That has to be spread out, on average, evenly across then ENTIRE network.ย Granted, luck is involved, so it isn’t exactly even, but on average, it should be.
If network is running at 17,608,758 TH/s, and every TH gets an even share of the reward, then that would be 1800BTC / 17,608,758 TH/s = .00010222 BTC/(TH/s).
You then take that figure and multiply by number of TH for miner, and then you get daily BTC revenue ; )
In a first, Bitcoin developers have done something amazing amid the criticism over the lightning network and issues associated with it. A team of developers has made an international payment using the radio … Continue reading International payment using the radio waves→
My inspiration for this page was given to me by my new aquired friend, a fellow Truth Seeker – Joris and to whom I dedicate this page… Wish you… as well as to … Continue reading Discipline Quotes→
Bitcoin white paper turns 15 and the Legacy of Satoshi Nakamoto lives on. โIโve been working on a new electronic cash system thatโs fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party,โ Satoshi Oct. 31, … Continue reading Bitcoin White Paper turn 15→
No, Governments Canโt do a Better Job Developing Crypto
Would a state-backed cryptocurrency be better than its decentralized counterpart?
International media has already rolled out their opinions on the matter. Itโs a YES-IT-CAN.
The opinions find theirย inspirations in comments made byย Christine Lagarde last week. The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that a government-backed cryptocurrency would eliminate the issues of trust that have clogged the decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
New York Times reacted to the IMF chiefโs remarks, calling it โa hopeful sign for digital tokens,โ while predicting it could โhave a chilling effect on existing, nongovernmental tokens.โ
The Guardian offered its editorial space to a long-time Bitcoin critic and economist Nouriel Roubini to furtherย his plan. He outrightย called cryptocurrencies worthless when compared to central bank digital currencies (CBDC).โIf a CBDC were to be issued, it would immediately displace cryptocurrencies, which are not scalable, cheap, secure, or [actually] decentralized,โ Roubini claimed.
The comments mentioned above appear at a time when the cryptocurrency market cap has plunged by more than 70 percent since its all-time high.ย
It has allowed critics to jump to the conclusion that decentralized digital currencies, mainly Bitcoin and Ethereum, have no intrinsic value, that they are highly speculative unlike central-bank issued fiat money.
Yet, critics have ignored the whys and whats that prompted the launch of decentralized assets at the first place.
They have been unable to respond to how Federal Reserve stimulus programmes, secret bailouts, and money production have destroyed the value of the US Dollar.
Their focus has turned more towards proving Bitcoin as a sugar-coated false promise of a financial revolution while ignoring the very bads of the existing financial system.
Economy believes that an assetย has value when it checks scarcity and utility.
The US Dollar lacks scarcity, for its supply is governed by a centralized body called Federal Reserve. There is no check on how many dollars would get printed, allowing insiders to manipulate a greenback-backed market on their whims.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, has a set cap of 21 million tokens. Its supply is governed by mathematical algorithms, meaning no corrupt human involvement would be able to topple it.
As far as the use-cases are concerned, Bitcoin has been constantly looked at for its potential of becoming a store-of-valueย asset like Gold, while being constantly considered for settling cross-border payments despite its price volatility.
The critics then say that bitcoin has no intrinsic value.
But even gold and paper money suffers from the same stigma.
According to the World Council, only 15 percent of the global Gold supply is used in industrial applications. The rest goes into making bars, bullions, and jewelry โ mainly because people trust they have value.
Trust is the Only Factor
The launch of Bitcoin was a response to a global financial crisis in which โ letโs accept it โ banks had f***ed up the economy.
The digital currency โ more or less โ follows the philosophy of the Austrian Monetary Theory.
According to it, money can be sound only when its supply is limited. It believes that money should not be controlled by the state.
These facts are missing from the reports and opinion pieces of anti-Bitcoin economists.
The Federal Reserve and central bankers believe that only they have the right to print money.
Bitcoin is only a beginning towards breaking the myth.
As long as the central banks do not innovate and protect people against currency inflation โ as evident in the case of Zimbabwe and Venezuela โ there is no chance they would be able to outrun crypto.
People need to trust their banks, but mainstream media and economists are avoiding a broader discussion.
The next financial crisis should bring more evidence to the theory. No rush.
In a first, Bitcoin developers have done something amazing amid the criticism over the lightning network and issues associated with it. A team of developers has made an international payment using the radio … Continue reading International payment using the radio waves→
My inspiration for this page was given to me by my new aquired friend, a fellow Truth Seeker – Joris and to whom I dedicate this page… Wish you… as well as to … Continue reading Discipline Quotes→
Bitcoin white paper turns 15 and the Legacy of Satoshi Nakamoto lives on. โIโve been working on a new electronic cash system thatโs fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party,โ Satoshi Oct. 31, … Continue reading Bitcoin White Paper turn 15→