614th post: No longer mining bitcoins
I have mine Bitcoins before since at least 1 or 2 years ago in hopes to generate Bitcoins for myself and then convert them to real money. It started at US$1 per bitcoin, but, since I last checked, it's hovering at US$0.1 per bitcoin.
During the time I used it, it was just solo mining. It was either be one among whoever else is mining at the same time to get 50 bitcoins per block solved. Problem with this? More people are jumping on the bitcoin mining bandwagon with PCs that are more powerful than mine, which translates to them having more chances of getting that 50 bitcoins. (See how bitcoin works) The configurations of this are quite similar to people who use powerful custom-made PCs that are usually seen only for being able to play the latest 3D-games in high resolution. What kind of games? The ones that has a PS3/Xbox360 version of the same game.
Next, it was mining in a pool. Similar to solo mining, but that entity is represented by many other people mining under the same mining pool. Well, I did at least earn a (tiny) fraction of the 50 bitcoins, which is divided among the number of "questions" solved in the mining block and other people in the same pool doing the same thing.
However, various problems are starting to arise, and existing ones gotten worse. Video processor instead of CPU are being used, which could solve those "questions" by up to 1000 times more, people using a computer room worth of computers to do that. More people are using a computer lab full of them. Also, converting that bitcoin into money (especially non-USD currencies) is more difficult due to higher minimum amount (which I'm nowhere near since I started) and, due to European regulations, I could no longer transfer directly to my bank/paypal and instead use some prepaid service that isn't popular or have a usage fee that itself is more than the amount that I had already generated. The increased processing power to generate bitcoins itself consumes more electricity, and the cost for that increased use of electricity alone isn't justified by my measly amount of bitcoins generated out of it.
Conclusion? If only I had a more powerful PC to mine, there being fewer people who have those ridiculously more powerful PCs, and/or more convenient way to convert those bitcoins it would have been better. To those who have only a normal PC, it's not worth it unless you turn back time.
During the time I used it, it was just solo mining. It was either be one among whoever else is mining at the same time to get 50 bitcoins per block solved. Problem with this? More people are jumping on the bitcoin mining bandwagon with PCs that are more powerful than mine, which translates to them having more chances of getting that 50 bitcoins. (See how bitcoin works) The configurations of this are quite similar to people who use powerful custom-made PCs that are usually seen only for being able to play the latest 3D-games in high resolution. What kind of games? The ones that has a PS3/Xbox360 version of the same game.
Next, it was mining in a pool. Similar to solo mining, but that entity is represented by many other people mining under the same mining pool. Well, I did at least earn a (tiny) fraction of the 50 bitcoins, which is divided among the number of "questions" solved in the mining block and other people in the same pool doing the same thing.
However, various problems are starting to arise, and existing ones gotten worse. Video processor instead of CPU are being used, which could solve those "questions" by up to 1000 times more, people using a computer room worth of computers to do that. More people are using a computer lab full of them. Also, converting that bitcoin into money (especially non-USD currencies) is more difficult due to higher minimum amount (which I'm nowhere near since I started) and, due to European regulations, I could no longer transfer directly to my bank/paypal and instead use some prepaid service that isn't popular or have a usage fee that itself is more than the amount that I had already generated. The increased processing power to generate bitcoins itself consumes more electricity, and the cost for that increased use of electricity alone isn't justified by my measly amount of bitcoins generated out of it.
Conclusion? If only I had a more powerful PC to mine, there being fewer people who have those ridiculously more powerful PCs, and/or more convenient way to convert those bitcoins it would have been better. To those who have only a normal PC, it's not worth it unless you turn back time.
Comments
No way. It's over US$7 per coin on 2012-07-12.