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Bitcoin Mining

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Rushy

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Bitcoin Mining
« on: April 10, 2013, 10:20:26 PM »
I have 0.0004 bitcoins so far. That's a whopping seven cents. Considering I have been doing this about an hour and my computer is burning ~600 watts. My electric company charges $0.0801 per kilowatt hour. That means for every $0.128 I spend on electricity I make $0.14 in Bitcoins. Yeah, I'm going to be rich. FES needs to get in on this.


p.s. Turns out Nvidia sucks terribly at Bitcoin mining and that if I had gotten an AMD/ATI card I would be mining 300% faster.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2013, 10:22:44 PM by Rushy »
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Lorddave

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2013, 07:39:43 AM »
How do you mine bitcoin?
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2013, 07:49:35 AM »
Quote from: Lorddave on April 11, 2013, 07:39:43 AM
How do you mine bitcoin?

If you have ever done folding@home, I can say it is very similar to that. Basically you have your computer run 24/7 processing bitcoin transactions for the bitcoin network and the network rewards you for your work with 25 bitcoins after you "unlock" a block (via bruteforce calculations). Most people use "pool" sites, where a multitude of people work to unlock a single block and then share the 25 bitcoin reward amongst themselves (bitcoins can be divided up indefinitely, which is why I can get 0.0004 of a bitcoin).

You can start at this site, it explains things in depth a lot better than I can.

http://bitcoin.org/

Basically you choose a wallet (I use Armory) and then get your personal wallet address (like a bank account number, bitcoins are sent to your address). Then you can start mining (I use guiminer). Then you can choose a pool or go it solo.

Going solo can be... difficult. Unless you have the IBM supercomputer running in your basement, it will normally take a few weeks running your computer 24/7 to unlock a block, and that is if you are running high end video cards. Currently a block is worth $5000.


I strongly suggest using AMD/ATI video cards for mining. Like I said in the OP, I recently learned Nvidia blows at doing bruteforce calculations.
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Lorddave

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2013, 08:14:26 AM »
Quote from: Rushy on April 11, 2013, 07:49:35 AM
Quote from: Lorddave on April 11, 2013, 07:39:43 AM
How do you mine bitcoin?

If you have ever done folding@home, I can say it is very similar to that. Basically you have your computer run 24/7 processing bitcoin transactions for the bitcoin network and the network rewards you for your work with 25 bitcoins after you "unlock" a block (via bruteforce calculations). Most people use "pool" sites, where a multitude of people work to unlock a single block and then share the 25 bitcoin reward amongst themselves (bitcoins can be divided up indefinitely, which is why I can get 0.0004 of a bitcoin).

You can start at this site, it explains things in depth a lot better than I can.

http://bitcoin.org/

Basically you choose a wallet (I use Armory) and then get your personal wallet address (like a bank account number, bitcoins are sent to your address). Then you can start mining (I use guiminer). Then you can choose a pool or go it solo.

Going solo can be... difficult. Unless you have the IBM supercomputer running in your basement, it will normally take a few weeks running your computer 24/7 to unlock a block, and that is if you are running high end video cards. Currently a block is worth $5000.


I strongly suggest using AMD/ATI video cards for mining. Like I said in the OP, I recently learned Nvidia blows at doing bruteforce calculations.

My system is pure AMD so I'll give it a shot.

Now how to I convert bitcoin to $$$...
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2013, 08:33:55 AM »
I would suggest just holding the bitcoins. All of the exchanges are really wonky right now.
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PizzaPlanet

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #5 on: April 11, 2013, 09:27:03 AM »
But Bitcoin is crashing right fucking now :(
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PizzaPlanet

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #6 on: April 11, 2013, 09:28:28 AM »
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #7 on: April 11, 2013, 11:53:08 AM »
What do you mean its "crashing"? It is still worth a lot more than it was a week ago. It is simply recovering from hyper deflation. The market garnered a lot of attention recently by people just looking to make a quick buck, which is why it is fluctuating like shit. I'm honestly kicking myself for not mining bitcoins earlier, back when they were worth pennies. The worst that can happen to me now is I lose a few bucks in my electric bill.
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cmdshft

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2013, 09:45:24 PM »
You are not guaranteed the block you unlock. That's why there are pools, you are more likely to receive a bit of the plunder through a pool than to go solo.

http://startbitcoin.com

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The reason you shouldn’t go it alone is that Bitcoins are awarded in blocks, usually 50 at a time, and unless you get extremely lucky, you will not be getting any of those coins. In a pool, you are given smaller and easier algorithms to solve and all of your combined work will make you more likely to solve the bigger algorithm and earn Bitcoins that are spread out throughout the pool based on your contribution. Basically, you will make a more consistent amount of Bitcoins and will be more likely to receive a good return on your investment.

Replace 50 with 25 now that there was a split.
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #9 on: April 11, 2013, 10:16:28 PM »
Mining is purposefully designed so that you're not going to make a lot of money. You get marginal profits because if people lost money mining, no one would do it and the whole system would collapse.  If you want to make money you should trade bitcoins, not mine them.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2013, 10:18:11 PM by Rushy »
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PizzaPlanet

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #10 on: April 11, 2013, 10:58:08 PM »
Quote from: Rushy on April 11, 2013, 11:53:08 AM
What do you mean its "crashing"? [...]
Sorry, I forgot you don't understand simple stuff. Just observe patiently, then.
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #11 on: April 11, 2013, 11:14:42 PM »
Quote from: PizzaPlanet on April 11, 2013, 10:58:08 PM
Quote from: Rushy on April 11, 2013, 11:53:08 AM
What do you mean its "crashing"? [...]
Sorry, I forgot you don't understand simple stuff. Just observe patiently, then.

A currency recovering from deflation isn't crashing, you dolt.
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EnigmaZV

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #12 on: April 12, 2013, 01:13:20 PM »
This bitcoin experiment will end with quantum computing.
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #13 on: April 12, 2013, 04:51:28 PM »
Quantum computing is theorized to be over a century away and bitcoins "run out" in the year 2140. So it is a definite maybe.
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #14 on: April 13, 2013, 12:57:11 PM »
Just ordered 2x 7970's, gonna mine the shit out of these coins.
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Particle Person

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #15 on: April 13, 2013, 01:22:58 PM »
Try not to forget your humble roots here when you're wildly rich.
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #16 on: April 13, 2013, 01:29:16 PM »
I'm going for more of a mildly rich. Just you wait. I've already mined over slightly over a dollar using my GTX 580.
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General Disarray

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #17 on: April 13, 2013, 03:02:33 PM »
I managed to make about $100 mining these about 2 years ago, then got out while the gettin was good. Looks like the bubble just popped a few days ago.
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Quote from: Thork on April 02, 2012, 01:56:05 AM
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #18 on: April 13, 2013, 03:07:16 PM »
It isn't a bubble, since Bitcoin has stayed at a constant mean. Yeah, it has soared up and gone down every now and then, but it has, on average, gone up its expected route. If it continues at this pace, by the time bitcoins become a very popular internet currency, they'll be worth thousands a piece. (One fellow said he calculated if they match USD in value, they'll actually be worth roughly 550 million a piece, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here).


Worse comes to worse I lose some money on my electricity bill. Big deal.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2013, 03:10:09 PM by Rushy »
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Lorddave

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #19 on: April 13, 2013, 05:34:39 PM »
What value do these calculations have to the people giving you bitcoin?
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General Disarray

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #20 on: April 13, 2013, 06:40:15 PM »
All I know is that when I tried it a few months ago, I got a fraction of the amount of 'coins' that I got 2 years ago with the same amount of effort. I'm not willing to upgrade my hardware to get a questionable currency right now.
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Quote from: Thork on April 02, 2012, 01:56:05 AM
You don't want to make an enemy of me. I'm very powerful.
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #21 on: April 13, 2013, 07:25:07 PM »
Quote from: Lorddave on April 13, 2013, 05:34:39 PM
What value do these calculations have to the people giving you bitcoin?

Each mining node is actually processing the transactions people use to give bitcoin to one another. What miners are also doing is solving an exceedingly difficult equation that completes the block containing recent transactions. This system insures bitcoins can't be duplicated. So far, no one has managed to break the system, since it is based on majority-rules software. If one rogue person introduces a counterfeit block, no other node would accept it.

Mining results in a minor monetary compensation for the miner because mining is necessary for the system. No miners = no bitcoins changing hands. Miners also process transactions with higher fees faster. If you pay a higher fee, you get a higher priority above others.

Quote from: General Disarray on April 13, 2013, 06:40:15 PM
All I know is that when I tried it a few months ago, I got a fraction of the amount of 'coins' that I got 2 years ago with the same amount of effort. I'm not willing to upgrade my hardware to get a questionable currency right now.

The difficulty has increased a lot, which is why bitcoins are worth more. If it was still easy to get them, then they would be just as worthless as they were two years ago. You probably should have just kept the bitcoins you had.



It turns out I entered my address incorrectly and missed my first real bitcoin payment. Some lucky little devil out there got my 0.01 bitcoin.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2013, 07:29:45 PM by Rushy »
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markjo

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #22 on: April 13, 2013, 07:55:56 PM »
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Science is what happens when preconception meets verification.
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Besides, perhaps FET is a conspiracy too.
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #23 on: April 13, 2013, 08:10:27 PM »
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Genius

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #24 on: April 14, 2013, 03:45:57 AM »
Picture of Rushy:

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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #25 on: April 14, 2013, 07:00:59 AM »
Instead of buying 7970's, now that I think about it, it probably would have been better to just to buy $800 in bitcoin.


Buy hey, $800 in bitcoin can't play Crysis at medium settings. Just for clarification, the 7970's will mine 6.8 times faster than the GTX 580 and that is being generously low because I'm pretty sure their 7970 benchmarks were using the 2012 BIOS.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 07:06:07 AM by Rushy »
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markjo

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #26 on: April 14, 2013, 12:48:49 PM »
Rushy is an environmental terrorist.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-12/virtual-bitcoin-mining-is-a-real-world-environmental-disaster.html
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Blockchain.info, a site that tracks data on Bitcoin mining, estimates that in just the last 24 hours, miners used about $147,000 of electricity just to run their hardware, assuming an average price of 15 cents per kilowatt hour (a little higher than the U.S. average, lower than some high cost areas like California). That, of course, is in addition to the money devoted to buying and building the mining rigs.

The trade-off here is that as virtual value is created, real-world value is used up. About 982 megawatt hours a day, to be exact. That’s enough to power roughly 31,000 U.S. homes, or about half a Large Hadron Collider
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Science is what happens when preconception meets verification.
Quote from: Robosteve
Besides, perhaps FET is a conspiracy too.
Quote from: bullhorn
It is just the way it is, you understanding it doesn't concern me.
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Rushy

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #27 on: April 14, 2013, 01:11:17 PM »
Bloomberg has been nothing but a Bitcoin hater. They're just jealous because Bitcoin is taking off and they still don't know how to work the command prompt on their Windows well enough to get in on the action. They linked to Butterfly Labs, an ASIC pre-order company that I'm pretty sure is just taking peoples money. The only company that has actually shipped their ASICs is Avalon.

Also, $0.15 per kilowatt hour? Holy shit, where does this guy live that causes electricity to cost that much?
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 01:14:37 PM by Rushy »
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Lorddave

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Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #28 on: April 14, 2013, 02:29:33 PM »
Quote from: Rushy on April 14, 2013, 01:11:17 PM
Bloomberg has been nothing but a Bitcoin hater. They're just jealous because Bitcoin is taking off and they still don't know how to work the command prompt on their Windows well enough to get in on the action. They linked to Butterfly Labs, an ASIC pre-order company that I'm pretty sure is just taking peoples money. The only company that has actually shipped their ASICs is Avalon.

Also, $0.15 per kilowatt hour? Holy shit, where does this guy live that causes electricity to cost that much?
Add in transmission costs, taxes, fees, etc...

I pay roughly $0.12 per kwh.
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Thork

Re: Bitcoin Mining
« Reply #29 on: April 14, 2013, 03:23:07 PM »
Like all fiat currencies, bitcoin is based on trust. "I promise to pay the bearer on demand ...". You have to trust the issuer of bitcoins won't just start supplying more and more bitcoins. Creating 'inflation' which of course they will do if the currency is successful. How can you trust any one private individual not to print currency when they are the issuer of that currency? Enter the Federal Reserve, Bank of England etc etc.

Digital money can only ever be considered a fiat currency. The owners saying that they will only ever issue 21 million is an act of trust. And companies screw people over for money all the time. If that currency was adopted by a few million people, the creator would have the power to legally counterfeit as much as they liked for monetary gain.

Alternatively they could act like a central bank and make bitcoin loans demanding interest. This would be usurious because then the bitcoin would be a debt based currency and it would not be possible to pay back the interest as the interest does not exist in bitcoin form. See national debts.

Even if the issuer was straight, a finite digital currency is also subject to price manipulation. I could hoard millions of bitcoins if I was wealthy enough, push up the value and dump them on the market. Alternatively I could sell bitcoins I don't have to push the price down and buy them back later. Its such a small currency that one or two wealthy individuals could push the prices around as they pleased. If I was to use bitcoins to dabble in say the futures markets with a large share of the currency I could legally perform insider trading. As bitcoins grow more popular some of the larger players will get involved and you'll see more of these wild swings in prices.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 03:27:37 PM by Thork »
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