The current state of Bitcoin mining conducted by introducing tens of thousands of computers

ByApolitikNow

It was traded at a high price of more than 1200 dollars (about 140,000 yen) at a time,2014 Trendy Language Grand PrizeAlso nominated for the virtual currency "Bitcoin (bit coin)"is. It was the world's largest bit coin exchangeMt. Gox applies for civil rehabilitation proceedingsAlthough the reliability was greatly lost temporarily as a result of closing the site,Microsoft supports payment with bit coinsOr,Rakuten group also supports payment in partI gradually recovered that credit.

Bitcoin: The magic of mining | The Economist
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21638124-minting-digital-currency-has-become-big-ruthlessly-competitive-business-magic


Bit coin is a virtual currency that can be mined (acquired) by running the special software "Bitcoin - Qt" on PC, and the bit coin system is maintained by the machine power of those who run special software. In the bit coin system, the limit number is set for the reserve quantity of the bit coin, and since a clever algorithm for keeping the excavation pace constant is adopted, the number of users who perform the bit coin mining work (mining) is increased The more it gets, the more difficult it is to mining bit coins. In addition, this is a structure that if mining is done using a computer equipped with a higher performance CPU, more bit coins can be obtained than others, and as a result, a large investment in a computer for mining bit coins I came into a situation where users to do are coming up.

A huge former aircraft hangar in the northern part of Sweden is lined with 45,000 computers in a place too large to store 12 helicopters. These computers constantly run Bitcoin-Qt and are prepared for bit coin mining only.

These computers are competing with hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of computers all over the world and succeeded in mining each time a difficult mathematical puzzle was solved, so 25-bit coins (1 bit coin Approximately 590,000 yen as converted to 200 dollars) can be obtained.


Although it is bit coin mining where huge investment is done all over the world, there is no organization that operates the bit coin system itself. Instead, it is possible to maintain a bit coin system by running this software with "Bitcoin - Qt" of bit coin mining software, and users can maintain system maintenance You can get bit coins (mining) in return.

Users who run Bitcoin-Qt will continue to update the "block chains" which are transaction records of bit coins that recorded all of the bit coin exchanges that exist in the world. So, if you want to use a bit coin stolen by "bit coin thief", you need to tamper with this block chain, which requires bit coin thief to support more than 50% of bit coin network by itself, ... apparently ...

In addition, we are providing data on bit coinsCoinometricsAccording to the fact that in order to support 50% or more of the bit coin network, the cost of about 425 million dollars (about 50 billion yen) is required for both capital investment and electricity bills, It is not the cost of.

In addition, detailed explanation of "block chain" which is a transaction record of bit coin is in the following article.

Summary of things I would like to know to perfectly understand the virtual currency "Bitcoin" - GIGAZINE


In the case of traditional settlement systems, operators earn revenue from transaction fees, but at the initial stage of bit coins the number of users is too small to give sufficient rewards to bit coin miners (users who digit bit coins) I could not do it. However, as bit coins evolved to become more popular, the number of transactions increased, bit coin miners were able to obtain legitimate reward from transaction fees, bit coin miners paid remuneration by mining You can also make it a main source of income.

Despite the fact that the price of bit coins has fallen to about 17% of the peak period, there are companies currently expanding their powerful mining equipment combining multiple computers, and bit coin miners We continue to invest capital in computers.

Bin coin mining is being done on an amazing scale in China, and the appearance inside the mining facility can be seen in the following article.

What is the current state of large-scale Bitcoin mining that is also taking place in the suburbs of China? - GIGAZINE


The early birth of bit coin was mining possible for individuals. However, as bit coin prices rise, personal mining will gradually become difficult. Bit coin minor now uses more than one computer, if users who mining with multiple people also appear, it is suitable for miningDedicated hardwareIt appeared to.

Moore's lawAs you can see, the microprocessor usually doubles its performance in 18 months. However, as biting coin mining competition intensified, the needs of hardware increased and in the peak period microprocessors with double the performance were born every six months. In addition, companies that sell the capacity for bit coin mining in units of GH / s (giga hash per second) also appeared. For exampleGenesis MiningSo, 1000 GH / s can be rented for $ 702 (about 82,000 yen).

Although there are many alternatives, facilities for bit coin mining are being built. Because mining consumes a lot of electricity like the energy intensive industry, it is preferable to have a place where the electricity bill is cheap and can be supplied stably. Also, since the mining computer heats up, it needs to be cooled, and considering the location, it is said that the cooler the cold place, the lower the cost for cooling.

Currently, the number of people participating in bit coin mining has decreased, cloud-based mining agency business and manufacturing of microprocessor for mining are also stagnant. Still, users who have invested heavily in capital investment continue mining, but there are also many who are considering how much bit coin prices will fall and how mining will be in deficit.

"KnCMiner" working on bit coin mining with more than 40,000 computers in the aircraft hangar in the northern part of Sweden is very cold as it is close to the Arctic Circle, it is located very close to the hydropower station, It fulfills exactly the elements required for mining facilities. Mr. Sam Cole, who manages the mining facilities of KnCMiner, expects mining to be more efficient due to fewer competitors in the mining market and has recently gained $ 14 million from venture capital We have also succeeded in getting a capital contribution of 400 million yen).

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In addition, when operating facilities of the mining facility scale of "KnCMiner" in Sweden, it seems to consume 1.46 terawatt hours of electricity per year, which is equivalent to 135 thousand times the average household of the United States is.

The price of the bit coin is gradually decreasing even now, and it seems that it is going back and forth around 200 dollars (23,000 yen) at the stage of writing the article. Incidentally,CoinDeskAs you can see from the price fluctuation graph, we can see that in January 2014, one year ago, bit coins were trading at a price higher than 1000 dollars (about 120,000 yen) in January 2014.