
Build a Bitcoin-Payable HTTP Proxy - mrb
https://21.co/learn/bitcoin-payable-http-proxy/
======
GrinningFool
Why a 21 Bitcoin Computer? It doesn't take a whole lot of horsepower to run a
wallet.

Second - I've read through the article a couple of times, and I'm just not
seeing why said computer would need to have 'built-in mining' to implement
this.

Kind of tempting to throw together an implementation that shows this, or at
least leads me to discover why it would be needed :/

~~~
mrb
The 21 Bitcoin Computer is meant to be a general purpose "dev kit" for
Bitcoin, it's not just a wallet. Think of it like a microcontroller dev kit:
they are large PCBs, with I/O pins, LEDs, flash, ram, and all the peripherals
to cover most needs for most projects. The 21 Bitcoin Computer is the
equivalent: it has hardware for mining, for just acting as a Bitcoin relay
node, and for acting as a wallet.

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nosuchthing
Maybe I'm missing something here, but what is the benefit of using the "21
Bitcoin Computer" here (versus a $400 equivalent computer)?

From what I gather it's a hardware wallet, which grants you access to the
21.co Bitcoin API?

~~~
StavrosK
> what is the benefit of using the "21 Bitcoin Computer" here

Well, so they can advertise it.

I don't see why using it is any better than using any other Bitcoin API, e.g.
Coinbase. A simple proxy library that would allow users after they paid a cent
or so would be interesting, although I guess it's pretty much the same as all
the wifi hotspots.

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seibelj
Remember HN, this blog post was brought to you by _121 MILLION_ in VC funding!

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astaroth360
Lol, that number is the main reason I'm so interested. Some very wealthy
people seem to think that 21.co knows something that the rest of us don't.

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astaroth360
"Do you realize it's tens of millions of dollars to spin an 18nm ASIC? They're
not doing additional revisions, the (at their websites admission) loss-
producing miner is as good as it gets." @steckerbrett There could be updates
to the design in the future. 21.co is such a mystery for the most part, who
knows what their plans are?

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astaroth360
Yay, an example of a useful service!

21.co seems to be confusing the crap out of people, so I'm hoping that some
examples of actual services will maybe cool out some of the more extreme
criticisms. The whole marketplace for digital goods thing sounds great to me,
I just don't know how they're going to make that $400 price tag tenable.

~~~
steckerbrett
Pity there's absolutely no documentation for any of it.

~~~
astaroth360
Yeah, I think it's going to be a while before this is well developed. For now,
it's kind of like an alpha/beta product as far as I can tell.

~~~
steckerbrett
They went to all the effort of getting it FCC certified and had injection
molds made at considerable expense, this is the final product.

It's all about the miner! Which is useless.

It's all about the software! Which is closed source, and has no documentation.

You'll need one to develop with us! Why?

You can buy and sell services with our network! Only to other people who have
$400 to drop on a Raspberry Pi.

~~~
astaroth360
Eh, it's a version of their final product. If I remember right this is the
gen2 chip already.

~~~
steckerbrett
Do you realize it's tens of millions of dollars to spin an 18nm ASIC? They're
not doing additional revisions, the (at their websites admission) loss-
producing miner is as good as it gets.

