RealAlHazred
Frumious Flumph (Your Grace/Your Eminence)
Thanks for the head's up! Fixed now!Hmm... that ExplainXKCD link is borked, and I can't figure out what it ought to be.
Thanks for the head's up! Fixed now!Hmm... that ExplainXKCD link is borked, and I can't figure out what it ought to be.
That’s a really good thread!
My understanding is that while the biggest power drain is cryptocurrency mining (I've seen it described as "What if leaving your car idling could solve sudokus that you could then trade for heroin?"), just making transactions is also much more costly in terms of energy than traditional methods.Doesn't blockchain eat up significant electrical power? I know something related to cryptocurrency is a significant power drain, and that's the last thing we need when trying to reduce greenhouse gasses. Might get me to completely swear off kickstarting.
This is not quite right. It is not the updating the blockchain that takes a lot of energy, it is the crypto-token mining (that authorises one to edit the blockchain) that takes all the energy.My understanding is that while the biggest power drain is cryptocurrency mining (I've seen it described as "What if leaving your car idling could solve sudokus that you could then trade for heroin?"), just making transactions is also much more costly in terms of energy than traditional methods.
The reason is that if I'm using a traditional bank and I'm paying you money, there are basically two databases/ledgers involved: my account and your account. The energy cost of that is pretty much negligible But if we're using crypto, the change has to be recorded in every instance of the blockchain, which takes a lot more energy (depending on how wide spread it is).
That's what I said. The mining is what makes it take up enormous amounts of energy, but even without the mining just making transactions takes a significant amount, compared to traditional transactions.This is not quite right. It is not the updating the blockchain that takes a lot of energy, it is the crypto-token mining (that authorises one to edit the blockchain) that takes all the energy.