US government tracking the energy implications of booming bitcoin mining in US.

Over 2 percent of the US’s electricity generation now goes to bitcoin::US government tracking the energy implications of booming bitcoin mining in US.

  • cheese_greater@lemmy.worldEnglish
    51·
    10 months ago

    First of all I doubt the profits generated from this go towards anything or anyone worthwhile, second, doesn’t bitcoin mining cause diminishing returns individually and across the network? Like aren’t the problems getting harder and more expensive computationally?

    • deafboy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      10 months ago

      The mining difficulty adjusts automatically so that 1 block is produced every 10 minutes on average.

      More miners join, more difficult and expensive it gets, to the point it forces the least efficient miners to be turned off, or seek cheaper electricity. If too many leave or the price of BTC raises, more people are incentivized to join.

      • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        More miners join, more difficult and expensive it gets, to the point it forces the least efficient miners to be turned off, or seek cheaper electricity.

        So wealth continues to be concentrated by the wealthy while polluting a bunch.

        • deafboy@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          So wealth continues to be concentrated by the wealthy

          You know the business is legit, when the only complaint is “BuT ThE RiCh!!”