
Iceland Takes Hard Look at Tech Boom Sparked by Its Cheap, Bountiful Power - rbanffy
https://www.wsj.com/articles/iceland-takes-hard-look-at-tech-boom-sparked-by-its-cheap-bountiful-power-1524130201
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mg74
The crux of the issue isn't mentioned until the very last paragraphs of the
article:

"One particular concern is cryptocurrency mining—a processor and electricity-
intensive computing process for generating currencies such as bitcoin. The
process accounts for about 90% of Iceland’s data center industry in terms of
electricity consumed"

If these data centers where actually being utilised for something useful then
people would be happier about this. But no, it is just some speculators mining
for crypto.

~~~
mathgenius
But these are eco-friendly bitcoins. In china they burn coal for this. So I
think this is definitely a good thing.

~~~
wklauss
> But these are eco-friendly bitcoins. In china they burn coal for this. So I
> think this is definitely a good thing.

I'm hoping this is sarcasm, but in case it's not the cost of opportunity here
is the main issue. Imagine all that computer power applied to protein folding
simulation, to name a simple, useful-for-everyone task.

~~~
TheSpiceIsLife
You would think someone would have by now invented a crypto currency who’s
token is a correctly folded protein.

There’s probably a rule, or law, or some such, that predicts if I do an
internet search for this I will find it is already a thing.

~~~
mg74
Sadly, the reason PoW works as a way to provide a trustless system that
functions as long as 51% of the power is neutral, the solution has to be
completely random and unpredictable. Otherwise the operator with the most
powerful rig would outperform everyone else often enough for the system to be
susceptible to bad actors.

It is not sufficient for the PoW just to be extremely hard.

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neonate
[http://archive.is/UrC65](http://archive.is/UrC65)

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indigodaddy
A quick Google check of dedicated server offerings in Iceland from various
vendors reveals ridiculously high prices, so what gives?

~~~
lozenge
Bandwidth prices? Iceland is pretty isolated.

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montrose
Thank you, rbanffy, for submitting such consistently interesting stories. When
I see your name, it's a recommendation.

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tudorconstantin
The +$10bn transferred daily through the Bitcoin network seems to contradict
individuals who say Bitcoin is useless.

~~~
foepys
$10 billion including transactions to and from exchanges or $10 billion
excluding exchanges? Where did you get the numbers from?

I could trade a broken bicycle with my friends all day long, that doesn't make
it useful.

~~~
tudorconstantin
All these trades incur fees. Why would someone pay those fees without getting
anything useful in exchange?

I took the numbers from coinmarketcap, which lists the flow within exchanges
actually, which are off chain. I am sure the numbers for on chain transactions
can also be found.

Edit: the chart with the daily on-chain transferred bitcoins
[https://blockchain.info/charts/output-
volume](https://blockchain.info/charts/output-volume)

~~~
xapata
Ever heard of the Tulip Mania?

