[enko]

I don't see what the point of this is? ASICs are actually good; they perform the necessary proof of work while using a lot less power. Running all those GPUs is a needless waste.

It sounds like this is just some GPU owners wanting to turn back time to protect their assets.

[wes-exp]

ASICS are actually good

False. Mining difficulty automatically adjusts to compensate for faster hardware. Nothing is gained.

Increased efficiency is generally beneficial in non-zero-sum games, but cryptocurrency mining is actually a zero-sum game where increased efficiency does not add value anywhere.

[enko]

> Nothing is gained.

Well, where's the gain from mandating GPUs?

> increased efficiency does not add value anywhere

Back to CPUs, then?

[sliverstorm]

ASICS centralize the power in the network to people with five to six figures of capital. GPU mining is more accessible and keeps the hashing power distributed.

Also, don't fool yourself on power efficiency. The network adjusts the difficulty, so if ASICS are 100x as power efficient the difficulty will tend towards 100x harder.

[enko]

I've seen some mining rooms which disprove your notion that GPU-only mining will stop the capitalised players having an advantage. They always will.

And yes, it's always a balancing act. The network adjusts the difficulty based on total hashrate, not on power efficiency, which is just an overhead. More and more people will pile in until the difficulty is high enough to render mining unviable. However, ASICs at least will shift the balance more towards hardware costs vs the raw power cost that it is now, and reduce the number of useless components that need to be manufactured, etc.

[Aqueous]

the energy usage of bitcoin and the altcoins is, in my opinion, one of the few things that could threaten its viability long term. people aren't going to be able to understand the reasoning that this is the cost of decentralization - it's going to look like a phenomenal waste of energy, even if low-powered ASICs are doing most of the work. not that the average consumer has a problem with that, but govts might.

i wonder if there is a solution to the byzantine general's problem with that is resistant to 50% malicious nodes but doesn't require so much energy overhead. even proof-of-stake coins still require energy wasting.

[eloisius]

> people aren't going to be able to understand the reasoning that this is the cost of decentralization

As compared to entire blocks of office high-rises in every major city required for our current financial system?

[iwwr]

You also have to look at the cost of the conventional banking system, fees and periodic capital destruction by inflation, bailouts and malinvestment.

[gedrap]

I guess the idea is to let a regular Joe to mine some coins too, so that he doesn't have to invest a few grands.

[enko]

If we're going to do that, why not get rid of GPUs, too. ASICs are merely an efficiency increase, just like GPUs were.

I somehow suspect, however, the proponents of this change are not "regular joes", who might have an intel HD2000 in their laptop. And if we're going to play the "democratising" card, with GPU mining it's a lottery of where you happen to live - electricity prices vary wildly around the globe. ASICs help to take that out of the equation, so if anything they're more "democratic"!