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Who's Keen for a MR BitCoin Team?

DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Original poster
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
100
London, United Kingdom
Hi guys,

I've been diving into BitCoin lately, have computed myself about 1BC (worth about $120-$140US at time of writing). It has been very up and down lately, but it's stable at +100USD when a month ago it was stuck around 15-30USD. I think it will stay high and therefore I will invest some resources into computing (mining) for those precious iMoneys.

Normally it's easiest to compute in a larger team, I personally am already a member at a few, but if there's interest for a MR based team, lets start one!!

So please feel free to discuss!

Price History:
1BTC Price vs USD (29th Apr 2013): $134.6
1BTC Price vs USD (7th Aug 2013) : $106.7

DoFoT9
 
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This is something I've been hearing Steve Gibson of the podcast Security Now talk about for a while now. But I don't fully understand it yet. What does it do, how does it work and what are the benefits?

I have to go to their website later to learn more about it.
 
I would be willing to donate some i7 computer cycles. It's on most the day not being used so may as well get some benefit from it.
 
SandboxGeneral said:
This is something I've been hearing Steve Gibson of the podcast Security Now talk about for a while now. But I don't fully understand it yet. What does it do, how does it work and what are the benefits?

I have to go to their website later to learn more about it.
Click to expand...

Hey mate - how you been?

It's actually a very interesting Internet, decentralised monetary system, I think it resolves a large number of "flaws" with current money systems (in the sense of trading money, it's so easy and free to do) but also creates others (hard to trace, etc).

But basically, you use your computer to calculate hashes, if you're successful in doing so, you get BitCoins. It's very related to electricity usage and whatnots so need to be careful

----------
stridemat said:
I would be willing to donate some i7 computer cycles. It's on most the day not being used so may as well get some benefit from it.
Click to expand...

CPU based computations is bad, you lose money - need to use GPU, 10-15x better
 
stridemat said:
Ah. I did not know this.

How does team based 'mining' work?
Click to expand...

:) you all mine in chunks, thousands of chunks - and you get part of the payment each time until its finished.

Edit: normally it takes a few months individually to mine 1 chunk, in a group it can take a few days/weeks. Each chunk is worth 50BTC (x130 for USD).
 
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Once the hashes are generated, what are they used for? How do they add value which is translated into BitCoin's and then normal currency?
 
Yeah, sounds interesting. I fold with the Folding@Home just for the greater good aspect, but I don't have a problem with making money, if that is what you're saying is possible. :p

I don't understand how it goes from compute power --> bitcoins --> actual money I can spend. I can crunch data and get paid for it?

This article certainly helps me understand the mining. Then you... exchange the bitcoin somewhere for dollars/pounds/euros/yen?
 
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Ok, after a bit of reading, I finally understand what BitCoin is about, and why it's definitely a bit late in the 'goldrush' of it... but it would be fun to try it anyway!
 
SandboxGeneral said:
Once the hashes are generated, what are they used for? How do they add value which is translated into BitCoin's and then normal currency?
Click to expand...
The hashes are chunks of the overall block, segments of it - however you want to refer to it. Once you compute the entire block and are the first to do so (as a team or an individual) you get rewarded with some money back, it goes onto your account and then you can transfer it into your own secure wallet.

dukebound85 said:
who keeps these bit coins?

do you split them up amoungst those mining them on the team in a % based?
Click to expand...
I'm still researching this point. Normally you join a website that has already set this up, but it is possible to create your own team to grab blocks and start crunching away without the need for a middle man (who often take their own cut).

wonderspark said:
I don't understand how it goes from compute power --> bitcoins --> actual money I can spend. I can crunch data and get paid for it?

......Then you... exchange the bitcoin somewhere for dollars/pounds/euros/yen?
Click to expand...
Download block -> compute it -> submit it -> get rewarded on account -> once account hits x amount of BTC, allowed to transfer to personal BitCoin wallet (most websites already setup require something like 0.01BTC minimum in order to transfer, if I figured out how to make my own I probably wouldn't enforce this.)

wonderspark said:
Ok, after a bit of reading, I finally understand what BitCoin is about, and why it's definitely a bit late in the 'goldrush' of it... but it would be fun to try it anyway!
Click to expand...
It's basically like shares, where you have the option to help create/compute your own. If you merely want to invest in them by converting USD or similar, you can!
 
I got into it a few weeks ago, but decided that it wasn't worth it. I joined one of the bigger mining teams, and while this is of course only a 'short' test run, it should give people a good idea on why the rush is over.

I have a late 2006 2,16 GHz Macbook Pro with 128 MB Radeon X1600 (Machine 1), and a 27" 3,4 Ghz i7 2011 iMac, with a Radeon 6970m 2GB VRAM card (Machine 2).

Using a mining client, machine 1 spits out around 100 kHPS (Kilo hashes per second) using its CPU. Machine 2 spits out 1500 kHPS using its i7 CPU, while machine 2 does 140 mHPS (Mega HPS). So, my radeon 6970m card, which is OpenCL capable, is roughly 100 times faster than my i7 CPU! - Ie. bitcoin mining is *only* feasible if you have modern video cards!

I had my iMac run for 36 hours mining, cranking out 140-141 mHPS at all times (It didn't really get that hot, quite pleasently surprised about that). But During that time, I managed to earn 0,009 bit coins and 0,143 name coins (What the heck are name coins? I can't seem to find any place that describes them properly!). Given that bit coins are around 100$ at the moment, means that I earned 1$ by having my machine run for one and a half day. I think that is even less than what it cost me to run it in electricity.

I don't really think that is worth it. If you by chance had a main frame that didn't do any work, or just happened to have an OpenCL array, then yes, you could earn some money, but for the mainstream person no, the gold rush is over! :)
 
T'hain Esh Kelch said:
I got into it a few weeks ago, but decided that it wasn't worth it. I joined one of the bigger mining teams, and while this is of course only a 'short' test run, it should give people a good idea on why the rush is over.

I have a late 2006 2,16 GHz Macbook Pro with 128 MB Radeon X1600 (Machine 1), and a 27" 3,4 Ghz i7 2011 iMac, with a Radeon 6970m 2GB VRAM card (Machine 2).

Using a mining client, machine 1 spits out around 100 kHPS (Kilo hashes per second) using its CPU. Machine 2 spits out 1500 kHPS using its i7 CPU, while machine 2 does 140 mHPS (Mega HPS). So, my radeon 6970m card, which is OpenCL capable, is roughly 100 times faster than my i7 CPU! - Ie. bitcoin mining is *only* feasible if you have modern video cards!

I had my iMac run for 36 hours mining, cranking out 140-141 mHPS at all times (It didn't really get that hot, quite pleasently surprised about that). But During that time, I managed to earn 0,009 bit coins and 0,143 name coins (What the heck are name coins? I can't seem to find any place that describes them properly!). Given that bit coins are around 100$ at the moment, means that I earned 1$ by having my machine run for one and a half day. I think that is even less than what it cost me to run it in electricity.

I don't really think that is worth it. If you by chance had a main frame that didn't do any work, or just happened to have an OpenCL array, then yes, you could earn some money, but for the mainstream person no, the gold rush is over! :)
Click to expand...

Based off of the 6970M alone - based off of the USD, about $40BTC and you manage to make a profit... So given that the price is around $130-140 now, you gain considerably. CPU based mining is silly, GPU only mining is where it's at.......
 
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So, show of hands willing to try it out?

1. DoFoT9
2. __________
3. stridemat
4. wonderspark
5. __________
????

Updated possible list of who's in.
 
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Don't count me in just yet. I still need to learn more and see about hardware because I don't think my computers have very good GPU's.

I'm just in a discovery phase right now.
 
MOD NOTE

C'mon Guys. Less of the bickering please as this is meant to be a 'helpful' thread.
 
Bitcoin is a way to send value over the internet for free. It is completely decentralized, open source and not controlled by any one entity. It uses military grade encryption (cryptography) to ensure the same bitcoin is not spent twice, preventing counterfeiting. This cryptography also secures wallets and transactions. Only 21 million bitcoins can ever be created, but they can be divided nearly infinitely should the need arise.

Bitcoins are "mined" by computationally calculating a 256 bit number (which is huge) that is less than or equal to the "target" number (set by the bitcoin software). If your computer can find this number, you are rewarded with a block of 25 bitcoins. This reward is halved every 210,000 blocks. The original reward was 50 bitcoins, and in 4 years it will drop to 12.5. The bitcoin software automatically adjusts the mining difficulty so a block of bitcoins is discovered on average every 10 minutes. The more mining power, the more difficult it is to find them. Because the probability of finding a block on your own is so low now, most miners belong to a "pool" that finds blocks together and splits the profits based on the computing power of each individual's rig.

Currently a bitcoin is worth between 130 and 150 dollars. You can exchange them for dollars or any other currency, or simply spend them in the bitcoin economy (which is still small but quickly growing).

The bitcoin "miners" are what create and secure the bitcoin network. In fact, they are the bitcoin network. Thousands upon thousands of computers, mining away, looking for bitcoins, collectively creating and verifying the blockchain.

What's the blockchain, you ask?

Put simply, think of it as a massive accounting ledger. Every transaction on the bitcoin network is recorded here, and each transaction is tied to the last. So if a hacker wants to spend a bitcoin twice, he would not only have to hack the transaction in question, but every transaction thereafter. When you sent bitcoins to another address, the blockchain verifies it within minutes, and the transaction is complete. A mining fee of (on average) .0001 bitcoins is added as a reward for the miners.

Bitcoin is a simple and elegant design that solves the problems plaguing currencies all over the world. It puts you in control of your money, secures your wallets (aka bitcoin addresses) with military grade encryption and keeps the government's grubby hands off of it. It is as anonymous as you make it.

That is why it's so popular.
 
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