TN Hillbilly Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 So here locally (rural area) we have had 2 "Bitcoin mines" set up. One is a semi trailer with a bunch of computers and fans (?) in it. The other is a complex on top of a ridge with a bunch of modular units. From what I understand, both "mines" really suck the electricity. They're loud, too. Now from what I understand, bitcoin is based on nothing, its a bunch of nothing that a group of people came up with, and all agreed with each other that their "nothing" had value. So what are these "mines" doing??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 I have read about it many times and still find it very confusing to say the least. It would appear that Crypto is here to stay and will become more and more widespread and acceptable the world over in the near future. https://money.usnews.com/investing/term/bitcoin-mining Now … read about NFT’s. Non Fungible Tokens…… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
806 man Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 I wish it was as simple as 12345678900987654321 now give me my $60k, but it's not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnightman Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 13 minutes ago, TomH said: I have read about it many times and still find it very confusing to say the least. It would appear that Crypto is here to stay and will become more and more widespread and acceptable the world over in the near future. https://money.usnews.com/investing/term/bitcoin-mining Now … read about NFT’s. Non Fungible Tokens…… I’ve read and reread lots about it also. I think the reason I find it hard to understand completely is that the whole system is based on nothing concrete. I think it requires a completely different way of thinking to find value in something that is completely virtual with no connection to anything real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheIHMan Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 I guess in a literal terms bitcoin is based on nothing but there is reason why it has value. The main idea behind bitcoin is that it is a decentralized currency that can't be inflated by a government. There is a fixed amount of bitcoin in existence with a small percentage that is added each year. What makes bitcoin legitimate is blockchain technology which verifies bitcoin transitions so that one bitcoin can't be "spent" in 2 places at the same time. In order to complete the blockchain, the bitcoin mining computers are used like what is described in TomH's linked article. What I find appealing about bitcoin and other cryptos is that it is not going to be devalued like the dollar is since there is a fixed amount of bitcoin. Also appealing is that government has no control over how bitcoin is used, ie- the freedom convoy situation. Which brings me to my current economic theory. Putting my tin foil hat on, I believe that the politicians and bureaucrats that run the US government are purposely spending as much money as possible. They actually want inflation so they can crash the dollar. Once they do that they will say ooops, our bad, we need to implement a new currency in order to get hyperinflation under control. So they will mandate that within a timeframe (like 1 year), you will have to convert all your USD to a new Digital US Dollar (which has already been talked about). Once they have the digital US dollar, that gets them to their coveted cashless society where they have complete control over the monetary system. Then they can use ESG (environmental, social, and governance) scores to decide your credit worthiness, and makes it much easier to stop dissidence like what we are seeing with the Canadian truckers because they can simply lock you out of your bank account. If this theory plays out (which I pray it won't), I would be surprised if they do not try to regulate bitcoin and crypto out of existence. I dont know if they will be able to, but for now it is another safe haven like gold and land to diversify your assets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ihfan4life Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 27 minutes ago, TheIHMan said: I guess in a literal terms bitcoin is based on nothing but there is reason why it has value. The main idea behind bitcoin is that it is a decentralized currency that can't be inflated by a government. There is a fixed amount of bitcoin in existence with a small percentage that is added each year. What makes bitcoin legitimate is blockchain technology which verifies bitcoin transitions so that one bitcoin can't be "spent" in 2 places at the same time. In order to complete the blockchain, the bitcoin mining computers are used like what is described in TomH's linked article. What I find appealing about bitcoin and other cryptos is that it is not going to be devalued like the dollar is since there is a fixed amount of bitcoin. Also appealing is that government has no control over how bitcoin is used, ie- the freedom convoy situation. Which brings me to my current economic theory. Putting my tin foil hat on, I believe that the politicians and bureaucrats that run the US government are purposely spending as much money as possible. They actually want inflation so they can crash the dollar. Once they do that they will say ooops, our bad, we need to implement a new currency in order to get hyperinflation under control. So they will mandate that within a timeframe (like 1 year), you will have to convert all your USD to a new Digital US Dollar (which has already been talked about). Once they have the digital US dollar, that gets them to their coveted cashless society where they have complete control over the monetary system. Then they can use ESG (environmental, social, and governance) scores to decide your credit worthiness, and makes it much easier to stop dissidence like what we are seeing with the Canadian truckers because they can simply lock you out of your bank account. If this theory plays out (which I pray it won't), I would be surprised if they do not try to regulate bitcoin and crypto out of existence. I dont know if they will be able to, but for now it is another safe haven like gold and land to diversify your assets. Beck had something about ESG scores, worth listening to… real inflation numbers, calculated like they used to be are closer to double the released official numbers- 15.6 compared to 7.5… bitcoin isn’t tied to anything to secure its value, but right now…I’m not sure the dollar is either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cattech Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 My knowledge on this is limited to only reading a couple articles about it years ago when bitcoin was in its infancy. So, I could be completely wrong, or it could be wholly different today. In various research places, and now in just the internet, vast amounts of computations need to be processed. IIRC, one earlier example is/was the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) project. We've all seen the massive antenna complexes erected to collect signals in movies and such. The signals collected by those antenna number in the billions per hour and the computer needed to process them all hasn't been built to this day. Someone realized how many computers are connected to the internet and the fact that they are only in use a fraction of the time.... why couldn't they be in use for something else when idle? The basis for bitcoin mining was born. So they devised a way to export chunks of data out to be processed by the public. The problem then was, how to get people and corporations to volunteer. There was little way to attach a cash value to the data produced since most of it was worthless gibberish, and if they did pay cash it would have broke the budget. Thus, the invention of bitcoin. Originally, bitcoin was to be a way to trade/barter database and computation power, only to be of value in the electronic world. Imagine it this way, you sign your computer up to provide data processing, you get something to pay your Netflix bill. Well, it didn't take long and this got big.. Somewhere along the line, bitcoin attained a cash value. People started trading it along with other currencies and it became something far different from intended. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
806 man Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 China is the biggest producer of counterfeit USA paper money some kind of crypto would eliminate that issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadstar Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 To me bitcoin "mining" makes little sense. Mining produces a product that can be seen, sold, and used to produce more actual products that we can see and use. Seems to be in the same category as carbon credits. Being paid , or paying for, something we can't see or use. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale560 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 They are building the biggest computer storage in the US out in the oil patch here in North Dakota. Specifically for crypto. Their reasons climate makes cooling computers and availability of large amounts of electricity available.another company bought a power plant that is operating but Minnesota governor doesn’t want coal produced electricity so they are going to build a crypto mine and produce their own power 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnightman Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Know if a couple bitcoin mining operations set up here in southwest Manitoba, with talk of more. Talked with one of the guys setting the last one up. Was an hour and half away from me and he needed a mobile welder on site for a couple days. I had to pass on it as I was too busy, but would have liked to take the job just to see it. Must be a fair investment to set up. Crew was from Kelowna, BC and had been here working on it for over a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkandcattle Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Bitcoin mining is a close relative of shoveling unicorn sh!t 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoilerRed Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 3 hours ago, midnightman said: .... the whole system is based on nothing concrete. Kinda like any fiat currency, including the US dollar? We quite tying the value of the dollar to anything concrete quite a while back. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkG Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jass1660 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 After all of my bills are paid every month I have only a bit of a coin left...... 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gearclash Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 1 hour ago, BoilerRed said: Kinda like any fiat currency, including the US dollar? We quite tying the value of the dollar to anything concrete quite a while back. Right. Money is a concept. Currency is an object. Loosely interpreted anyway. Much of our currency is nothing more than digital information stored in electronic devices. Having currency not tied tied to anything doesn’t really bother me. Things get real weird when something with intrinsic value like gold gets used as money. In order for it to really be ‘money’, a gold coin has to have more value as ‘money’ than what it’s value as ‘gold’ is. Otherwise it is nothing more than a chunk of gold with fancy worthless artwork on it, worth whatever gold is at the moment. The value of gold itself is largely artificial. Its actual commercial use is a small faction of what is produced every year. Most gold gets counted, squirreled away and looked at, nothing more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Hillbilly Posted February 12, 2022 Author Share Posted February 12, 2022 I wouldn't care to buy about $50 of that bitcoin, but they wouldn't send it to me! I'd feel better with it in my safe, than letting them hold on to it... so I didn't buy any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ihfan4life Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.5875363/this-man-owns-321m-in-bitcoin-but-he-can-t-access-it-because-he-lost-his-password-1.5875366 If you buy bitcoins, write down your password or you’re s-o-l if you forget it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1586 Jeff Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 32 minutes ago, Ihfan4life said: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.5875363/this-man-owns-321m-in-bitcoin-but-he-can-t-access-it-because-he-lost-his-password-1.5875366 If you buy bitcoins, write down your password or you’re s-o-l if you forget it Sid, You should have taken more of that “Ginko Bologna” to improve your memory!!! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acem Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 My son's roommate in college was mining bitcoin 10 years ago. I'd never heard of it then. He has made some profit off that coin he mined. It's not so easy to mine now. Bit coin is easy to loose so be careful. It's not backed by anything but no currency is. It is only worth what someone will give you for it. Gold, silver and diamonds are the same. Ammunition is considered a currency by some people. Thx-Ace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 I got some ocean-front property in South Dakota I would swap for a few 'bit-coins'!!! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKwelder Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 Very true, it’s not controlled by any government, but it’s now traded and speculated on the open market, so there is a very good chance for a wild ride. Read an article recently on one of the computer pages, they did an analysis of buying and building a mining rig, setting it up and running it, and the pay out. Turns out they needed a lot of mining to make any money, and then it wasn’t much. So unless your using economics of scale or cheap energy for some reason it won’t break even very fast, or ever. A few interesting facts I found when I was reading about this (I wanted to rack together 10 raspberry pi units and mine) 1) The units are loud because they buy efficient and cheap equipment, and user comfort is not needed and would be more expensive. 2) China is supposedly mining currency on vast scales. 3) Since the available currency is limited, it takes more mining to get some, and that takes computers, power, and lots of bandwidth. All of which cost you money and returns the conversation to economics of scale. 4) since the currency is traded it’s value will change, and like any traded item it may be or could be worthless when you need it. 5) One guy is documented as buying with his covid stimulus money one of the new crypto currency’s at less that 50 cents a share. The value went up on the market. At the time of the article he was worth millions. I lost track of how it turned out Lots of stuff here, good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acem Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 It's easy to loose your money in bitcoin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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