Is the Bitcoin bubble about to burst?

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Tin Pot

Guru
[QUOTE 5129209, member: 9609"]No body seems to have mentioned the bizarre use of energy consumed by these things. It's the bizarrest thing which requires huge factories full of super computers running flat out 24-7. Apparently they are using more energy then the entire country of Denmark - a whopping 32TWh per annum (That is equivalent to 10% of all the electricity generated in the UK) to mine and keep them valid ?????????????? WTF is going on - please somebody tell me I have got this wrong.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/bitcoins-insane-energy-consumption-explained/

can you think of anything more bizarre, all that energy to produce something that doesnt exist. There really is no hope for the planet.

I sometimes worry about leaving a light on[/QUOTE]
There is no hope for you. Just pretend it isn’t happening :£
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
[QUOTE 5129209, member: 9609"]No body seems to have mentioned the bizarre use of energy consumed by these things.[/QUOTE]
Actually, that's a TMN to @NickNick https://www.cyclechat.net/posts/5071266/

Bitcoin discussed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, basically where businesses tell our governments what to do, mostly off-camera these days http://www.euronews.com/2018/01/26/global-leaders-tackle-bitcoin-in-davos
 

Tin Pot

Guru
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Bonefish Blues

Banging donk
Location
52 Festive Road
[QUOTE 5129209, member: 9609"]No body seems to have mentioned the bizarre use of energy consumed by these things. It's the bizarrest thing which requires huge factories full of super computers running flat out 24-7. Apparently they are using more energy then the entire country of Denmark - a whopping 32TWh per annum (That is equivalent to 10% of all the electricity generated in the UK) to mine and keep them valid ?????????????? WTF is going on - please somebody tell me I have got this wrong.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/bitcoins-insane-energy-consumption-explained/

can you think of anything more bizarre, all that energy to produce something that doesnt exist. There really is no hope for the planet.

I sometimes worry about leaving a light on[/QUOTE]
I'd like to protest at the non-use of Wales here. Wales is always used as a unit of comparison. After Brexit we won't be able to use Denmark, so why use it now?
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
[QUOTE 5129415, member: 9609"]I never quite know if I am understanding these things correctly
Bit coin estimated annual electrical use 32 TWh (3,653 MWh ?)
Wales biggest Gas Powered Station Pembroke B is rated at 2,000 MWe

So does that mean BitCoin Mining/Processing is consuming the equivalent energy of nearly 2xPembroke B Flat out[/QUOTE]
It's not that straightforward, at least as far as a software author like me understands hardware. I believe it is possible to mine bitcoin (or do whatever else) at times when a computer is switched on and some of its processors would basically be running "do nothing" low-power wait instructions and you can set things so it won't accelerate the processor and extra energy consumption would be minimised. However, a lot of bitcoin seems to be mined by either people running their own computers full-tilt in a foolish get-rich-quick-oops-how-did-that-happen-to-my-electricity-bill attempt when they wouldn't otherwise be consuming that much power, or by criminals hijacking idle insecure computers and doing that, so it probably is consuming extra energy.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
[QUOTE 5129439, member: 9609"]I was going to pop down to the shops later on my bike, but I'm now thinking I may as well bob tail it in one of the 600hp tractor units - I'm not sure if there is any more point in trying to conserve energy[/QUOTE]
Every little helps :laugh: but also you have to hope that a lot of those bitcoin specialist computers are in places like Iceland and powered by renewables, whereas I'm guessing your tractor unit isn't running off batteries charged by solar or wind yet.
 

PK99

Legendary Member
Location
SW19
48D1D04800000578-5344379-image-a-4_1517577910976.jpg
 

PK99

Legendary Member
Location
SW19
Still following the classic bubble curve

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upload_2018-2-8_10-46-3.png
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
People speculating on Bitcoin are delusional. But when the dust finally settles on blockchain, there will be a small number of good companies with a good blockchain product. And these will be the next Facebook, Twitter etc

The difficult thing is sorting out which are the small number of good companies with a sound blockchain product from the hundreds of companies that will go bust and disappear without trace
 

Beebo

Firm and Fruity
Location
Hexleybeef
Who else wishes they had invested in Bitcoin years ago? When they were £12,000. That bubble burst and within a year they were down to £2,500.

Currently they are at £35,000. But they were above £40k just 5 days ago! So it’s still a crazy rollercoaster.

If they drop again to affordable prices I might invest and wait for the next bubble to come along.
 

PK99

Legendary Member
Location
SW19
Who else wishes they had invested in Bitcoin years ago? When they were £12,000. That bubble burst and within a year they were down to £2,500.

Currently they are at £35,000. But they were above £40k just 5 days ago! So it’s still a crazy rollercoaster.

If they drop again to affordable prices I might invest and wait for the next bubble to come along.

On the one-hand we, as cyclists, claim to be Enviroment Freindly.

On the other hand: https://www.verdict.co.uk/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-sustainability/#:~:text=Watts the problem with bitcoin,GW, according to the CBECI.
 
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