-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 On 16 Nov, 2010, at 03:41 , Kyle Williams wrote:

For those who are wondering if it's worth trying to generate bitcoins, here is something to think about. I've had a single Quad-Core (2.6GHz/core, 12MB L2 cache) server crunching on bitcoins for about 6 months now. About 2-3 months ago, it stopped generating bitcoins. Someone is out there with a lot of GPU's, crunching away at the bitcoin network and is hording/generating all the bitcoins. I say this because the amount of chatter on the bitcoin forums in regards to GPUs vs CPUs has exploded, and new GPU clients are being released.

For those who are wondering if it's worth trying to generate bitcoins, here is something to think about. I bought an overpriced GPU for $700 (apparently they are closer to $500 from other sellers) that generates about 50 bitcoins a day on the LOW end. Bitcoins being worth approximately $0.25 USD (also on the low end), this card generates $12.50 a day for approximately $0.70/day in electricity. Both of these figures (how often it generates bitcoins, as well as how much coins are worth) will, without question, change radically in the next 90 days. Minting is not essential to the liquidity of bitcoins. If you are interested in using them, anyone can log on to any of the exchanges (of which I think mtgox.com is the largest) and purchase coins instantly. Their utility is not defined by "how easily can one make them out of thin air", but instead by "are there people who accept these as valuable". There are thousands of bitcoins available for sale, and thousands of Liberty Reserve dollars available as bids. The market, while small, is liquid and becoming more so every day. Also, this shadowy "someone" you speak of is sitting in the bitcoin-dev irc channel, and I think he's up to about 20 GPUs at this point. Still, his effect on the market only strengthens the cryptographic underpinnings of bitcoin. It doesn't affect anyone else, as the network regularly re-calibrates (as part of the bitcoin protocol) to ensure that no matter how many GPUs are running, there is a fixed rate of 50-coins-per-ten-minutes of inflation. - -jp - -- ======================================================== Jeffrey Paul -datavibe- sneak@datavibe.net +1 (800) 403-1126 http://sneak.datavibe.net 5539AD00 DE4C42F3 AFE11575 052443F4 DF2A55C2 "Virtue is its own punishment." ======================================================== -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIcBAEBCAAGBQJM4liLAAoJEAUkQ/TfKlXCTLQP/0PMvmaEW9RbF4bd3Frh3Ll6 fvLoYy4VXpCVu8IYEAvAKfyhRYvTqoic0MePf6F0ka/cO//ufIP6pmKjTJh1ZG16 Z1qYK03MIgfkTHSRK83Ir+r6aAophm6x0dwbLmjE00SPlrlv3AemDycuS2rs4b/9 tUtYKcvNtP+rg3KFEskn6vJHRIesLAKmCIOlDPHW75wIanYM+7TrOdKgYQJs6B7k wBZ938TAQ7SOY/G9jP3fFaUfqEEBq4Pwm4oi6GMyHFDod3P/nQhRNHKl3IU+56Hp 17mHs3Ej/4HTe7L5lwEU9mrVFqeC5cK7CyJKYpfV2qwbF6Hpf2uG03G2uN5pTBpz xzm6bN0eYkflVVn1j5UgNMeT3WixAe7BYPpPWx+ka/+WGt7PP4Ywxws9SZJyApmM YMQSOb3KWZGLHq9MutfUkAV1ImCLj/ciVR0BZsCORXUNqUcfvEo+8nM+W8wRyGmJ VuvToLH4GYqEPg8dpMt9maDezUMO4vL77wTDVZcsxDsa0H8VP/DWOsOH9/C8ZS2b vNdiAmJRk3BGrg2Yl8NBooK3AQxp2BboJDzM9Ko8+7WyEhidPWoagfRyHv7/5k6M hpiXB+V20as2Ky0Q+nC7jAcaO+orQBMhRaiY8bOI1ShJ3k2YgwfFnGe6jvFrsBc/ ZTIyy4Gne9/yDH8FDFAj =51Cn -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----