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Re:Many Bitcoin Miners Are at Risk of Turning Unprofitable by wufufufu on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @10:32AM (#16867675)
Gold mining is wasteful also but it's not fundamentally necessary for gold to exist.

I think the problem with bitcoin waste is that it's proportional to how valuable it is.

Re:Many Bitcoin Miners Are at Risk of Turning Unprofitable by cookingrobot on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @11:08AM (#16867963)
Gold only has to be mined once, bitcoin has to be mined every time it changes hands.
Re:Many Bitcoin Miners Are at Risk of Turning Unprofitable by pc2g4d on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @01:02PM (#16868959)
I don't think that's strictly true. When the last bitcoin is issued, "mining" per se will cease. But "miners" will still be rewarded by transaction fees.
Re:Many Bitcoin Miners Are at Risk of Turning Unprofitable by chuckkir on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @01:16PM (#16869085)
A distinction without a difference.
Re:Many Bitcoin Miners Are at Risk of Turning Unprofitable by VMG on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @04:20PM (#16870799)
You can send an arbitrary about of Bitcoin in an on-chain transaction. Payment channels also allow you to send Bitcoin off-chain.
Re:Many Bitcoin Miners Are at Risk of Turning Unprofitable by rm_-rf_slash on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @11:23AM (#16868105)
The computer you used to post this comment uses gold.
Re:Many Bitcoin Miners Are at Risk of Turning Unprofitable by mancerayder on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @01:10PM (#16869028)
Sure, but electronics and other industrial uses for gold are a small percentage of its demand. The demand for those two are 9.1 and 6.2 percent in 2017, respectively, according to Statista. The same stats attribute more than 50% to jewelry.
Re:Many Bitcoin Miners Are at Risk of Turning Unprofitable by rm_-rf_slash on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @04:47PM (#16871033)
By volume even 15% is still a shit ton of gold.