Bitcoin mines and your Power Bill Just wait til the folks figure it out. Then you will see a quite a Circus

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.4565951/after-bitcoin-mines-trigger-energy-price-spikes-mayor-calls-for-ban-1.4568450

After Bitcoin mines trigger energy price spikes, mayor calls for ban

17 Comments

Michael Hey

Nothing is being created and nothing is being "mined". Digital currencies have been compromised by the very thing they meant to be an answer to. The need for digital currencies arose from a need to circumvent the fraud perpetrated by the banking establishment. It didn't take long to port the same pathological greed onto the new paradigm. Until we progress beyond this, any system of exchange that we may devise will be undermined and merely perpetuate the inequity ingrained in our culture.

David Amos

@Michael Hey Legend has it that 2000 years ago a mere 30 pieces of silver bought the whereabouts of a son of god. Cheap but at least it was real metal and base element hence it is still laying around somewhere in some form today and not a mere digital entry that can go "poof" overnight.. N'esy Pas?

Jonathan Quest

Digital currencies are not a viable means of currency in the long run. The amount of energy to facilitate the servers to log the transactions indefinitely can’t be sustained.

David Amos

@Jonathan Quest YUP

 
Neil R Mc Neill

hmm, so...is this "BITCOIN" the reason why Ontario/Quebec hydro rates "SPIKED" last year? (Most power is sold from Canada to the USA lately I heard?

David Amos

@Neil R Mc Neill I believe your pondering to be correct. Just wait til the folks figure it out. Then you will see a quite a Circus

 
P.J. Joseph's

Bitcoin SHOULD be banned. It's the pinnacle of silicon valley stupidity. A single bitcoin transaction uses more electricity than the average family home does in a month. The blockchain was used because it was virtually unhackable. Turns out It's hacked all the time and a couple dozen vulnerabilities have just been discovered.

Bitcoin represents the most efficient way to drive climate change. No product, no service just sucking up energy and spitting out numbers and CO2. All so a bunch of silicon valley rejects can pretend to be wealthy.

It's like leaving your air conditioner blasting 24/7 for the opportunity to get a pocket full of monopoly money.

Brian Smith

@P.J. Joseph's

These 2 statements you've made are simply untrue and factually incorrect.

"A single bitcoin transaction uses more electricity than the average family home does in a month. "
"The blockchain was used because it was virtually unhackable. Turns out It's hacked all the time and a couple dozen vulnerabilities have just been discovered. "

The encryption algorithms that all cryptocurrencies use cannot be “hacked”, that has never happened. That would completely defeat the purpose of blockchain and all currencies would very quickly become useless.

It’s worth is what we value it to be, just like gold or silver. They are just metal but we value them, why?

Eating mass quantities of animals represents the most efficient way to drive climate change.

Z3N17H1U5 .

@P.J. Joseph's Ridiculous statements from someone who knows nothing about Bitcoin. Ignore this complete fool.

P.J. Joseph's

@Brian Smith

Bitcoin transaction electricity usage:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/17/bitcoin-electricity-usage-huge-climate-cryptocurrency

Vulnerabilities:

https://futurism.com/blockchain-security-smart-contracts/

P.J. Joseph's

@Z3N17H1U5 . I know blockchain. Built my own using python. The hype around bitcoin is what is foolish.

People jump on to a system that they don't understand, the creator is shrouded in mystery and the players are suspect, to begin with.

Bitcoins' roots are in organized crime. The Silk Road loved it.

Sounds trustworthy.... Blockchain could do great things. The majority of people are misusing it already. Our second chance to get the internet right and we are blowing it.

David Amos 

@P.J. Joseph's "Our second chance to get the internet right and we are blowing it."

As far as control of the Internet or getting it right I don't think we had a prayer out of the gate. However the Internet has been a valuable resource anyway. That said my two bits worth about this article id as follows. Thr Mayor should look to the best interests of the majority of his constituents and pass an bylaw ASAP. in order make the newcomers capitalizing on the cheap rates pay their fair share which caused the rise in rates or get out of Dodge.

BTW I look on the Bitcoin nonsense as just that. It is just a flash in the pan and a lot of people investing in that scam will get burnt in the end.

I will not have any precious empathy to share with the greedy people when it happens

  

Chris Halford

What a farce! All for a wildly unstable "investment". All this energy invested to "produce" something that could be worth 10% less tomorrow. In what galaxy does that make any sense?

Z3N17H1U5 .

@Chris Halford one where people are fighting the establishment to have a currency which isn't continually inflated. It wouldn't cost so much energy if advanced technology wasn't suppressed. And the mining won't last forever either.

David Amos

@Chris Halford "In what galaxy does that make any sense?"

Only the greedy space cadets know where that faraway place is and they are welcome to keep it a secret.

David Amos

@Z3N17H1U5 . "And the mining won't last forever either"

True there are just so many fools willing to pay that much money for the hardware the building and the power bill. They will go the way of the Dodo Bird of that I have no doubt.

After Bitcoin mines trigger energy price spikes, mayor calls for ban

CBC Radio · March 8

Bitcoin mining computers are pictured in Bitmain's mining farm near Keflavik, Iceland. Read compares the computers to space heaters, and says they have to be plugged in at all times and use a lot of energy. (Jemima Kelly/Reuters )


Colin Read has nothing against Bitcoin —  but he says his city has been overwhelmed with how much power the digital currency mining operations have consumed since they set up shop in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

"I'm a little bit of a nerd myself and I love computers and I'm very interested in this whole phenomenon," Read, the mayor of Plattsburgh, told As It Happens host Carol Off.

• What is bitcoin and why is the digital currency surging?
• AS IT HAPPENS: Someone solved a $40K Bitcoin puzzle

"We're just really worried about the health and safety concerns of such large scale production."

That's why Read has proposed a law that would put an 18-month moratorium on any new, large-scale Bitcoin mining operations opening up, while the city drafts new regulations around zoning and electricity use.

Bitcoin mining operations are essentially warehouses full of computers that solve math problems, and then are issued a certain amount of the digital currency in exchange. The computers must be plugged in at all times, they run hot, need to be cooled down and use a lot of electricity.

One study found that Bitcoin mining around the world used more power than the entire country of Ireland last year.

An interior view of U.S. bitcoin mining company Bitfury's mining farm near Keflavik, Iceland. An old paper mill in Plattsburgh has been converted into a Bitcoin mining operation. (Jemima Kelly/Reuters )

"Sometimes they'll get a thousand or two thousands of these units in, each using up about an equivalent amount of energy and generating about the same amount of heat as a small little space heater," Read said.

The value of Bitcoin fluctuates wildly, from $7,000 US to $12,000 US.

Although there's only a couple large scale operations in Plattsburgh, Read said they're already using 20 per cent of the city's power supply.

Plattsburgh is an ideal location for a Bitcoin mining operation because it has some of the cheapest electricity rates in the country. The city gets a fixed amount of electricity from hydroelectric dams on the St. Lawrence River as part of a deal signed in the 1950s.

It allows the city to sell power to its residents at about a third of the normal rates.

The problem is, once the city goes over their fixed amount, they have to buy it from what's called a "spot market"  —  and it can be very expensive.

"You're paying 20, 50, 100 times more for the power that we normally wouldn't have to. And that then is shared amongst all the ratepayers, not just the Bitcoin miners that have put us over the edge," Read said.

Old factories in Plattsburgh are fast becoming the new homes for "bitcoin mines" — and now, the mayor wants to shut them down, at least temporarily. (Submitted by Colin Read)

Read said the city usually goes over the power limit when it is very cold or warm out, and he would like to work with the Bitcoin miners to shut down the operations during these critical times.

• THE CURRENT: Is bitcoin an environmental hazard?
• SPARK: The Bitcoin power drain

One of the known bitcoin mining operations in Plattsburgh is in an old paper mill, which used to employ many residents of the city. Now, there is usually only one person employed to watch the machines and make sure the fans ejecting the heat are operating properly.

Read finds this use of electricity discouraging.

"I can't blame someone for investing in us from out of state or even out of country in this case. But what we really want to try to do as a city is build community and generate local jobs," he said.

"That to me is a healthy community."