Slashdot Mirror


GPU and Motherboard OEMs Readying Components Optimized For Cryptocurrency Mining (hothardware.com)

MojoKid writes: With the popularity of upstart cryptocurrencies like Ethereum on the rise and the value of well-established currencies like Bitcoin steadily increasing, there is new-found interest in cryptocurrency mining. As such, there is another run on AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, which is driving up prices. In an effort to prevent the same kind of GPU shortages that happened in the past, reports have surfaced claiming that AMD and NVIDIA are both readying stripped-down graphics cards, specifically targeting cryptocurrency miners. At Computex, ASRock also announced a new motherboard targeted at cryptocurrency miners, the ASRock H110 Pro BTC+. The ASRock H110 Pro BTC+ is packing 13 PCI Express slots -- twelve x1 slots and one x16 slot -- to accommodate as many graphics cards. ASRock didn't specify pricing or when the H110 Pro BTC+ will be available, however. And the reports that AMD and NVIDIA graphics card for mining will be made available sometime at the end of the June are as yet unconfirmed.

77 comments

  1. Is it april already? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought GPUs were long dead for 'BTC' per the prefix, mining?

    Or is this something like scrypt (before that goes to asic too)

  2. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Even if used for lawful transactions, cryptocurrencies by their very nature subvert our legal tender. Undermining a country's currency and/or the faith in its currency is a quick way to undermine the country itself.

  3. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by s1d3track3D · · Score: 2

    Don't bother with disingenuous statements about dollars being used for criminal activity.

    Oh please, I would much rather a world ruled by cryptocurrencies than the current banking system, talk about organized crime!

  4. The cryptocurrency craze must stop. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The fun is over, real people are getting killed by drug sales like fentanyl and graphics cards shortages are causing problems in the gaming community. It's time the NSA cracks the algorithms on cryptocurrencies and devalues them. It's time to treat Ethereum like trillion dollar Zimbabwe notes.

  5. Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Nkwe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I played with bitcoin mining a couple of years ago back when BTC prices were around $7. At that point it was just about at the point where it was not economical (power costs) to compete in mining with GPU based hardware - the shift to FPGA and ASIC was just beginning. Today is it even economically feasible to generate enough hash power with GPU based hardware? If so, what has changed? Sure the BTC price is 300-400 times higher, but GPU speed hasn't increased by two orders of magnitude, and there is lot more mining competition for a relatively fixed amount of mining rewards / transaction fees.

    Of course back when I was playing with it I purchased a couple of hundred dollars worth of graphics cards, mined about the same amount value in bitcoins, sold them and came out about $50 ahead - I was pretty proud of my self back then. Probably should have saved those 50 BTC...

    1. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by mhkohne · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I just played with one of the mining profit calculators (https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-mining-calculator/), and if you steal the hardware and only have to pay for the electric, then you could make a couple bucks a week, assuming bitcoin prices don't collapse down to something like $1000/BTC.

      In other words: Not really, and even WITH custom hardware I'm guessing that you can't easily make a buck if you pay for your own electricity.

      I think the best way to make money in Bitcoin mining is to sell stuff to Bitcoin miners.

      --
      A thousand pounds of wood moving at 300 feet per minute. Don't get in the way.
    2. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was under the impression that GPU long ago lost the battle to ASIC mining. I'd like to see if this is just marketing/advertising or an actual change in how the GPU's work

    3. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by bigfinger76 · · Score: 1

      There are other currencies to mine which are still within the realm of GPUs.

    4. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by DiSKiLLeR · · Score: 1

      You can make about $250/mo mining Ether, Zcash, etc.

      --
      You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
    5. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Useless information without knowing the capital and ongoing costs.

      How much for the machines and how much for the electricity?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    6. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      Or, just buy low and sell high. It's a gamble, but at least you don't have dead weight for hardware laying around.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    7. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I paid around $3k in used AM2+ motherboards, DDR2, AM2+/AM3 CPUs, and old R9 290/390 (Hawaii) graphics cards in . . . July of 2016? Anyway some of that hardware was funky and didn't work quite right - two of my 290s are dead, and I have an idle 390 due to driver issues on my main PC - but I am still putting out $500-$900 in profits mining ZEC. I convert it to ETH.

      I mine ZEC since ETH mining seems to stress out my cards more. The profits on both coins are usually similar. I run Linux on both, have nice 1200-1300W PSUs for the machine, use powered risers, and stuff like that thar.

      The prices on all the hardware I got then were basically inflated like they are now.

    8. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not for ETH, ZEC, and a few other coins.

    9. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

      I just played with one of the mining profit calculators

      ...which fail to take into account that the difficulty is constantly increasing, which means you'll have to continuously steal even more mining hardware if you want to turn a profit.

      If you want to make money in cryptocurrency, forget mining - the real money is in starting your own exchange, waiting for it to get popular, claiming it was "hacked" and making off with everyone's BTC. That, and ransomware. But be warned, there will probably be a special place in hell reserved for ransomware authors, right next to the furnace.

      --

      ---
      DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
    10. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ROI on a graphics card after electricity right now (in an insanely bullish/peak market) is just around 60 days.

      So accounting for electricity costs, you are making anywhere from $3-10/day per card (depending on the card) and after the first two months that's virtually all profit.

    11. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I think the best way to make money in Bitcoin mining is to sell stuff to Bitcoin miners.

      Exactly.

      The only way to make money with standard equipment is if you steal it. You know, malware that installs a mining client on your PC and steals CPU time. You're paying the bills, someone else gets the benefit.

      The only other way to do it is to sell the equipment to do the mining. Hell, I saw a funny ad the other day - a company that rents out "cloud computers" for mining! (Bitcoins, specifically). You rent out their hardware to do your mining. It only took me a couple of seconds to realize that's how they make their money - sure they may have a lot of hardware for you to rent, but if it was profitable, they wouldn't be renting out the equipment.

    12. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This to be honest.
      While some CCs are still able to be mined with graphics cards, a bunch are out of reach of any reasonable profit unless you have free energy.

      They'd be better off making a hybrid GPU / FPGA solution. (which would be neat in general, never mind just for CCs)
      GPUs have gotten more general purpose, but still for highly parallel workloads. It'd make sense to also slap an FPGA in there too.

    13. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by suzukizp · · Score: 1

      Why AMD graphics card is better than Nvidia for such activity?

    14. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by crtreece · · Score: 1

      fail to take into account that the difficulty is constantly increasing

      The first 3 I found in a search had either pre-filled the current difficulty, or had a field for you to select the difficulty.

      --
      file: .signature not found
    15. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by crtreece · · Score: 1

      malware that installs a mining client on your PC and steals CPU time

      I did some math back in January. A Core i7 3930k can do about 66 MEGAhash/sec. Playing with the profit calculator showed a CPU miner will generate about $0.001196/month. So, a botnet with 100k nodes would get you about $120/month. High end AMD GPUs would bump that up by about 5x, but I expect there are a lot less of those available. Seems there would be much better ways to put said botnet to use. That doesn't take into account any difficulty changes, or the recent price surge, so YYMV.

      --
      file: .signature not found
    16. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      So what you're saying is that I only need to commit a heist to get all this gear, and then get a 12 kW solar array installed on my roof complete with a Tesla PowerWall, and then I'll be rich! (after paying for the off-grid solar setup)

      Yeah, seems like a huge waste of resources.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    17. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, if everything stays the same with an incredibly volatile cryptocurrency for TWO MONTHS.

    18. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In August of 2015 I spent ~$30k on GPU rigs for Ethereum mining and today have 260 Ether and also 240 Monero from a few months' detour in mining that currency, as well... That's over 27 BTC worth, or about ~$80k

      Check back in four years :)

    19. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      shit, I meant 2016

    20. Re:Is non custom hardware still viable for mining? by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

      The first 3 I found in a search had either pre-filled the current difficulty, or had a field for you to select the difficulty.

      Yeah, they'll factor in the current difficulty but don't show you what your profitability (or lack-thereof) will be as the difficulty increases. It's kind of like calculating simple interest vs compounded interest. So, unless you're living in a Groundhog Day time loop and will always be mining at today's difficulty, you can't use a mining calculator to determine long-term profitability.

      Now, it's entirely possible to perform a statistical analysis on the average rate of difficulty increase over time and factor that into your profitability calculation. But be prepared to be a sad panda when you see your profitability results.

      --

      ---
      DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  6. Ethereum by DrYak · · Score: 2

    Or is this something like scrypt (before that goes to asic too)

    Scrypt *has gone* ASIC too.
    (Except, due to it being a key derivation function, not hash, even with its very conservative parameters, isn't as easy as sha256 to accelerate.
    ASIC Scrypt isn't many order of magnitude faster than GPU Scrypt - unlike sha256. But its much more power efficient)

    Ethereum is the *current hot stuff* for GPU. And is even more tuned against ASIC than Litecoin's Scrypt.

    Primecoin is another exemple which is currently mainly mined on GPU (which actual scientific use in the results).

    But above all, these motherboards and "light" GPU are also extremely useful for scientific computing, (specially for task which are more GPU than memory-bound, where the PCIe x1 isn't limiting).
    (Which I think was the primary target market before the marketing department decided to run for it with buzzwords).
    And the machines can also be used for much more nefarious purpose : that is also a very good hardware platform for comp

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
    1. Re:Ethereum by mhkohne · · Score: 1

      But above all, these motherboards and "light" GPU are also extremely useful for scientific computing, (specially for task which are more GPU than memory-bound, where the PCIe x1 isn't limiting).
      (Which I think was the primary target market before the marketing department decided to run for it with buzzwords).
      And the machines can also be used for much more nefarious purpose : that is also a very good hardware platform for comp

      Yep. A year or two back my company was contacted by one of the GPU manufacturers to see if we wanted to perhaps demo one of their no-output GPUs. They were giving away a couple for research purposes, and we weren't doing anything worth them giving us hardware.

      --
      A thousand pounds of wood moving at 300 feet per minute. Don't get in the way.
    2. Re:Ethereum by BozoForPresident · · Score: 1

      Ethereum is moving to Proof-of-Stake mining. https://btcmanager.com/ethereu... ZCash still likes GPU mining though... ;)

  7. Giza is tiny town by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    We're gonna build fantastic pyramids, the best pyramids! Nobody will have bigger pyramids than us!

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  8. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    not to mention the amount of energy pissed away mining these pointless tokens.

  9. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Banning them won't do anything. Do you understand how cryptocurrencies work?

    You realize they are currently being used to free humanity from government capital controls and asset thievery?

    They are a unmixed 'good thing', unless you're an authoritarian.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  10. Just ban anonymous crime. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They're a boon to Ransomware as well.

  11. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    they're wasteful and the argument about them saving energy because they'll replace banks all together and wont require branches and etc etc.because any solution to a problem that requires the entire world stop what they're doing and do something else entirely is the retarded fantasy of idealists.

    Also banks do more than just distribute money to people, how do you protect buyers and sellers from fraud? via trusted 3rd parties like silk road? that seems WAY better than federally/internationally regulated banks....

    government is unfortunately a necessary evil all you retarded idealists that think crypto is the key, seem to be expecting the world to descend into anarchy in an orderly fashion.

    please go bury your head in the sand and continue telling yourself that crypto is the solution to any of the worlds problems. its not its an interesting proof of concept that can lead to a lot interesting tech solutions but as it stands, it is not a solution to any problem that needs solving.

  12. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by DiSKiLLeR · · Score: 1

    Fuck off. Cryptocurrencies are better than all current legal tenders.

    --
    You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
  13. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    wah wah wah.

    Go bury your own head in the sand.

  14. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Fwipp · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I sure do love my cash to be more volatile in value than any stock I own. Not to mention, it's great how I can't spend it in any of the places I visit on a daily basis.

  15. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They are a unmixed 'good thing', unless you're an authoritarian.

    Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

  16. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Cryptocurrencies are a solution to government imposed currency controls.

    For example: Without Bitcoin chinese citizens would be limited to about $50,000/year in money they can get out of China. Chinese citizens diversifying their holdings will make the eventual crash of the Chinese economy less severe. Sure they are overpaying for west coast USA real estate, but not nearly as much as they would have to overpay for Chinese real estate (the Chinese people, culturally and historically, love to invest in land.)

    Another example: Hardworking undocumented pharmacists were having trouble getting their money out of the USA, Bitcoin solves that too.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  17. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Only children deal in trite fictional morality. In the world their are many shades of grey of 'absolute'. Some rare ones are pure black/white.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  18. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.

  19. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

    Banning them won't do anything. Do you understand how cryptocurrencies work?

    Yeah, generally when the government tries to protect people from their own stupidity, the "solution" is poorly implemented and doesn't end well. Maybe if the slimmest prospect of becoming wealthy didn't make most people immediately shut their brains off, we wouldn't need the nanny state to step in.

    You realize they are currently being used to free humanity from government capital controls and asset thievery?

    Damn, I almost choked on my covfefe there. So, you're telling me the government can't seize cryptocurrency? I guess this must be fake news, or something.

    The primary uses of cryptocurrency are enabling rich people to play a game of Greater Fool Theory with each other, wasting electricity, and making ransomware authors cum in their pants. Don't get me wrong, the concept of digital currency as an encrypted blockchain on a peer-to-peer network isn't an inherently bad idea - it's just that people are too greedy to agree on an implementation which doesn't heavily reward the early adopters.

    --

    ---
    DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  20. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    The government can seize anything they know exists and can put their hands on. Bitcoin is excellent in that respect. There are no bitcoin wallet sniffing dogs.

    I kind of agree with you about people that hold bitcoin, that is _not_ it's purpose. It's about evading border controls on capital and tracking of transactions. That is enough. Volatility isn't such an issue when you're only going to hold it for a day or less before converting it into (cash/land/drugs/women/booze/influence).

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  21. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

    I kind of agree with you about people that hold bitcoin, that is _not_ it's purpose. It's about evading border controls on capital and tracking of transactions. That is enough. Volatility isn't such an issue when you're only going to hold it for a day or less before converting it into (cash/land/drugs/women/booze/influence).

    The people who need to be evasive with money transfers generally aren't up to much good. It's a bit like saying "Pirate Bay is great because it allows a parent to easily replace their legally purchased copy of The Little Mermaid, after their kid accidentally broke the DVD." Well, yeah, but we know that's not what the majority of their userbase is doing.

    I mean really, enabling malware authors to get paid and making it easier to fund terrorism really doesn't look good on Bitcoin's résumé.

    --

    ---
    DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  22. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 2

    Hey!!! They're only pointless if people don't believe in them...
    You know, like all other currencies...

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  23. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Lock your systems down. Don't browse as admin. Don't expose naked windows machines on the net. Duh. If the dude only wants one bitcoin, and you learn...

    I don't buy for a second that serious criminal organizations ever had much trouble moving cash. 'Fund terrorism'...oh noes...he said magic words...I peed 'em.

    Bitcoin just levels the playing field for the little criminal.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  24. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Additionally.

    Pirate bay IS great...

    Don't be a moron.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  25. Optimus? by Dwedit · · Score: 1

    It seems like a GPU without any video outputs would still be useful when paired with something like NVidia's Optimus technology. Since all the consumer Intel CPUs have GPUs on them anyway, it means that you could pipe the video data back to have the Intel GPU display it. The same thing that they're already doing for laptops, but for desktops this time.
    Exactly how much money is saved by omitting the video output ports?

  26. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I sure do love my cash to be more volatile in value than any stock I own.

    Since it is generally volatile in an upward direction, it has worked out well for me. I bought my stash when it hit $1 back in 2011. It is currently at $2800.

  27. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    not to mention the amount of energy pissed away mining these pointless tokens.

    The mining centers are in Iceland and the US Pacific Northwest, where nearly all the energy comes from hydropower. So mining just means the water is flowing to the sea slightly differently.

    Bitcoin mining is way better for the environment than gold mining.

  28. The gold pan and pickaxe sellers got rich by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... selling to all the n00b johnny-come-latelies who flocked to Alaska and Yukon long after the best claims were already staked. This GPU market is sort of like that.

    1. Re:The gold pan and pickaxe sellers got rich by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      And the 'California Gold Rush' wasn't even very much about gold. They had just bought/stolen the West Coast from Mexico and needed to rapidly shift a bunch of US Citizens there. Convincing a lot of rubes to rush across the continent was easy. "Gold! Gold!"

    2. Re:The gold pan and pickaxe sellers got rich by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, exactly! Glad to see someone else gets it.

  29. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by smallfries · · Score: 1

    That has no relation to the truth at all.

    Most cryptocurrency mining happens in China.

    --
    Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
  30. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about we kill all the authoritarians like you instead?

  31. and that can be limted by the pci-e bus by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    and that can be limited by the pci-e bus

  32. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is the retarded gibberish crypto-currency supports spout/believe to offset any guilt they may have and try to justify their endeavors

  33. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hahaha it's just a pump bro! It's just a pump!

  34. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

    Until it stabilizes to the dollar and other regular currencies, nobody will use it as a currency. That's how currencies work. People need to trust when they sell you something for X amount that that X amount will be the same next week and next month.

    People who carry on about how much the value has increased since they 'bought in' are arguing against mainstream adoption.

  35. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

    Undocumented pharmacists? You mean people operating meth labs?

  36. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the dude only wants one bitcoin, and you learn...

    Well yeah, that genie isn't going back in the bottle. If cryptocurrency suddenly went *poof* overnight, ransomware authors would start asking for cash in the mail, prepaid phone cards, western union transfers or who knows what else. But Bitcoin did for ransomware what PayPal did for eBay - made it a whole lot easier to get more people in on the action.

    I don't buy for a second that serious criminal organizations ever had much trouble moving cash. 'Fund terrorism'...oh noes...he said magic words...I peed 'em.

    I'm sure terrorists, criminals, and other ne'er-do-wells have their ways of moving cash without Bitcoin. They did it just fine before Bitcoin. I just have a hard time accepting "easy money transfers for the world's most undesirable people" as a feature, not a bug.

    As for Pirate Bay, I'd rather live in a world where it wasn't needed. I'm talking one with reasonable copyright term limits (sorry Disney), no DRM, abandoned/out-of-print IP automatically falls into the public domain (use it or lose it).

  37. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

    And thanks to the touchpad on my laptop, I accidentally posted as anon. Wonderful.

    --

    ---
    DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  38. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

    If the dude only wants one bitcoin, and you learn...

    Well yeah, that genie isn't going back in the bottle. If cryptocurrency suddenly went *poof* overnight, ransomware authors would start asking for cash in the mail, prepaid phone cards, western union transfers or who knows what else. But Bitcoin did for ransomware what PayPal did for eBay - made it a whole lot easier to get more people in on the action.

    I don't buy for a second that serious criminal organizations ever had much trouble moving cash. 'Fund terrorism'...oh noes...he said magic words...I peed 'em.

    I'm sure terrorists, criminals, and other ne'er-do-wells have their ways of moving cash without Bitcoin. They did it just fine before Bitcoin. I just have a hard time accepting "easy money transfers for the world's most undesirable people" as a feature, not a bug.

    As for Pirate Bay, I'd rather live in a world where it wasn't needed. I'm talking one with reasonable copyright term limits (sorry Disney), no DRM, abandoned/out-of-print IP automatically falls into the public domain (use it or lose it).

    --

    ---
    DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  39. Going to be a great business for the GPU vendors by guacamole · · Score: 1

    What a great idea. I can imagine the sales pitch. Spend $1200 on a GPU then waste lots of energy to mine the shitcoin of the week. Great business model. It will work very well for the vendors of hardware.

  40. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by slew · · Score: 2

    Cryptocurrencies are a solution to government imposed currency controls.

    For example: Without Bitcoin chinese citizens would be limited to about $50,000/year in money they can get out of China. Chinese citizens diversifying their holdings will make the eventual crash of the Chinese economy less severe. Sure they are overpaying for west coast USA real estate, but not nearly as much as they would have to overpay for Chinese real estate (the Chinese people, culturally and historically, love to invest in land.)

    Another example: Hardworking undocumented pharmacists were having trouble getting their money out of the USA, Bitcoin solves that too.

    FWIW, you don't buy "land" in china the same way you buy land in the US (or other countries), in china the govt owns the land.

    You can of course buy the condo or house on land, but not the land itself (which is governed by a 20-70 year land-use contract). Presumably that contract will be renewed when the land-use contract has expired (or maybe not) and some property-tax like fee will become due (which is unclear since the laws that allowed for this were only passed in 2007). There are also restrictions in many cities to limit speculation such as a limit on the maximum number of residential units a household could buy (which unintentionally sparked a mini "divorce" boomlet).

    For the Chinese investor, buying real-estate in the US is in comparison much more deterministic (albeit somewhat more expensive in terms of recurring property tax payments).

  41. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ok how about funding crime you can relate too, like local drug dealers, crack houses, and human trafficking of sex slaves?

  42. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    That's called deflation, isn't it? You think that's a good thing for something calling itself "a currency"? Look what happens - you hold onto virtual cash for six years because of it. Now imagine the whole economy running (or more like "crashing"?) at a fourfold-per-year deflation. Legal tender my ass. Who in his sane mind would want to actually pay with it? Unless you have debts with 300% interest rate. :-p

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  43. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    Do you understand how cryptocurrencies work?

    That one is easy; they don't. At least not as a currency. (But perhaps you could call them "cryptoassets"?)

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  44. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

    That's called deflation, isn't it?

    No, the bitcoin supply is still inflating by 1800 coins/day. The price is simply going up due to increased demand. I agree that volatility is bad for a currency, but I don't consider bitcoin a currency. I think it's best compared to "digital gold". You can store it, and trade it, but it's not really practical for day to day replacement of fiat money.

  45. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but then they start saying younglings and it's just awkward.

  46. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    As you note: the world's 'most undesirable' already knew how to move money.

    The 'bad criminal use of bitcoin' (money laundering) will never outweigh the 'good criminal use of bitcoin' (evading capital controls).

    Think about the nations that impose capital controls. They are all corrupt kleptocracy shitholes, evading capital controls is a basic human need for the citizens of those nations that don't have the influence to be 'guaranteed wins'. Children of the Chinese central committee members don't need bitcoin to get their money out of China.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  47. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Oh noes...he said 'magic words'...I peed 'em again.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  48. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    In China rent doesn't come close to covering mortgage payments/property tax (hence they tend to leave 'investment units' empty). In America they are at least of the same order of magnitude to start, rent will cover the mortgage inside 10 years (for almost all purchase years).

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  49. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by unixisc · · Score: 1

    One great justification: once everyone can mine bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies, it will fill in the demand of universal basic income, and let people w/o jobs make the money they need to live, and more.

    If anything, cryptocurrencies should replace national currencies, that are usually manipulated by their governments via their central banks

  50. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by unixisc · · Score: 1

    Time has come to yank government out of the business of money, since that's where it derives its subversive power from. Toss it all out to cryptocurrencies, and let that become the basis of all transactions

  51. Re:Just ban cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the number of coins per day does not amount to inflation if the deflation forces are stronger than the inflation then there is net deflation.

  52. Ummm... Nvidia Tesla? OpenCL? GPGPU? by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

    GPGPU efforts started many years ago before Bitcoin, and there are tons of scientific and technical applications for headless GPUs. So pardon me if the "mining-only" definition seems idiotic. Some people even render graphics on headless machines.

    --
    Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.