The economics of mining Bitcoin
Cryptocurrency has been getting a lot of attention in mainstream media lately, leading to a large influx of people wanting to get in on the action. As a co-founder of a cryptocurrency index fund, a blockchain developer and a Bitcoin miner, I have a little advice for those folks who are new to the scene and want to ride Bitcoin's coattails. I'm purposely targeting Bitcoin mining, ignoring other — possibly more profitable or easy to mine —currencies. However, most of the challenges and calculations I'm introducing in this article will apply to altcoins as well.
The Bitcoin mining hardware race is on
The ASIC mining hardware manufacturing industry has so far largely been dominated by Chinese manufacturer Bitmain, which has sold equipment equivalent to about 60% of the current hashrate. However, several reputable companies have made promising announcements lately about entering the ASIC mining hardware industry with cutting-edge new equipment.
Segwit2X — Forked from the get-go?
Announced on May 23rd, The New York Agreement (NYA) is the contract between the Bitcoin miners who represent the majority of Bitcoin’s hashing power, and a group of over 50 other businesses, to implement the Bitcoin software upgrade Segwit2x. While it’s no secret that the NYA isn’t loved by everyone in the Bitcoin community, a series of events on October 24th left many wondering if the agreement might unravel entirely — leaving the project with no path forward to achieve its goal of upgrading Bitcoin and increasing its block size.
Russia’s Internet Ombudsman takes on China’s Bitcoin mining industry
A Russian Government-linked startup named RMC One published a presentation on Tuesday that describes an upcoming Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The organization is looking to raise US$100 million to become a leading cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturer. Formally referring to themselves as the ‘Russian Mining Company,’ RMC One was founded by Dmitry Marinichev, better known as Russia’s Internet Ombudsman, the technology advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The State of Montana funds company working on a ‘bitcoin processing center.’
In the first-ever reported case of a US State funding what looks to be a Bitcoin mining operation, Montana’s Governor recently announced that $416,000 was awarded to a “data center that provides blockchain security services for the bitcoin network.”
