OK Bitcoin experts, riddle me this if you please.

[MarathonMike]

I read that over 93 percent of all Bitcoins have been mined. I also read that it is expected that the remaining 7 percent will not all be mined until 2140! So why the huge discrepancy in the rate of bitcoin discovery? Everything about BC is just goofy imo.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

Hopefully they will hurry up and finish so the price of graphics cards can come down. Papa needs an upgrade.

 

[0311]

I read that over 93 percent of all Bitcoins have been mined. I also read that it is expected that the remaining 7 percent will not all be mined until 2140! So why the huge discrepancy in the rate of bitcoin discovery? Everything about BC is just goofy imo.

Using money that does not exist...now that is one helluva ood con.

 

[CrazyTrader55]

I don't know what to make of bitcoin. I still think it's a Ponzi scheme and somebody is eventually going to really get burned on it, but it hasn't happened yet.

 

[Jim H - VA USA]

I read that over 93 percent of all Bitcoins have been mined. I also read that it is expected that the remaining 7 percent will not all be mined until 2140! So why the huge discrepancy in the rate of bitcoin discovery? Everything about BC is just goofy imo.

It gets harder and harder to solve the algorithm as time goes by.

That's supposed to make the price of Bitcoin increase for a couple of reasons.
1. Law of Supply and Demand - Supply increase slows with time.
2. It takes more energy to mine as time goes on, increasing the "value of work" that went into each coin.

It is kind of goofy, but arguably so are today's US dollars. Bitcoin is not backed by anything. All the work and money (electricity) that went into mining it ends up as just waste heat. But I play the swings a bit

 

[MarathonMike]

It gets harder and harder to solve the algorithm as time goes by.

That's supposed to make the price of Bitcoin increase for a couple of reasons.
1. Law of Supply and Demand - Supply increase slows with time.
2. It takes more energy to mine as time goes on, increasing the "value of work" that went into each coin.

It is kind of goofy, but arguably so are today's US dollars. Bitcoin is not backed by anything. All the work and money (electricity) that went into mining it ends up as just waste heat. But I play the swings a bit

My son bought Bitcoin years ago and sold it and made a few hundred bucks. If he'd held it, he could have retired by now.

 

[justoffal]

It gets harder and harder to solve the algorithm as time goes by.

That's supposed to make the price of Bitcoin increase for a couple of reasons.
1. Law of Supply and Demand - Supply increase slows with time.
2. It takes more energy to mine as time goes on, increasing the "value of work" that went into each coin.

It is kind of goofy, but arguably so are today's US dollars. Bitcoin is not backed by anything. All the work and money (electricity) that went into mining it ends up as just waste heat. But I play the swings a bit

It's being scrutinized by the department of energy as heinous power consumer.

 

[Jim H - VA USA]

It's being scrutinized by the department of energy as heinous power consumer.

This article says that Bitcoin mining consumes about 5 GW of power in the US and Canada....

Mining Map Update: These Companies Operate 2.7 GW in Texas - TheMinerMag

Bitcoin mining operations account for 95% of the Large Flexible Loads in Texas, according to industry nonprofit the Texas Blockchain Council.

theminermag.com

That's the power output of five large power plants, or about 1% of US electrical energy output (back of the envelope).

It's probably somewhat underestimated, as there are plenty of individuals mining bitcoin on GPUs in their basement.

 

[dblack]

My son bought Bitcoin years ago and sold it and made a few hundred bucks. If he'd held it, he could have retired by now.

Yep. I had a friend trying to sell me bitcoins for $100 a piece many years ago.