[yholio]

> Proof of work mining uniquely only draws electricity when prices are economically viable, only buying electricity when there is excess supply

The numbers don't make sense to do that.

The average time a piece of hardware lives on the Bitcoin network is just 16 months, after which it becomes e-waste, too underpowered to matter.

So assuming the CAPEX is $1000 for a piece of hardware that draws 1kW, the most it can consume is 11 MWh during its lifetime - about $1500 at residential prices (Texas) or $500 at wholesale prices.

So just how deep can you throttle down the rig to take advantage of the low energy prices? The numbers seem to show that anything below 70-80% active ratio will start to cost you more in capital than you save in electricity.

So you can avoid the peaks but certainly cannot wait for the relatively rare excess renewables events.

[cubic_earth]

The amount of time a miner is economically viable for should be increasing as "Moore's Law" for ASICs slows down. Just the same laptops are usable for more years nowadays than they were in the early 2000's.

Also - if you have free electricity, which is a thing in certain settings, where prices can and do go negative, mining hardware will be viable for "a long time".