The Technology Of Cryptocurrency

It is easy to look at cryptocurrency as a financial instrument while overlooking the technological aspect to it. This is especially true with Bitcoin which most focus upon as a mechanism to transfer value.

If you ask 1,000 people about it, almost all would refer to the financial aspects of Bitcoin.

But what about the technology related to it?

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One of the most fascinating aspects to the entire cryptocurrency industry is the advancement and innovation of technology. People who are involved, up to this point, are DIYers since there is an absence of mega-corporations. The technologies being developed are mostly done by individual entrepreneurs who are putting forth a vision.

In the development of Web 3.0, we are starting to see enough impact to develop a new industry. Just like the Industrial Revolution, certain communities can be lifted by the technology entering their area. Not only does this potential create some jobs, it also brings wealth into an area.

Could Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies be the revitalization of entire areas?

There was an article the other day that talked about an industrial area of Russia that is being populated with miners. Unlike much of the mining in the commodity rich country, this does not entail pulling stuff out of dirt.

During the Cold War, Siberia was an industrial center. With the collapse of that country, much of the business rapidly died as the national economy plunged. One of the major benefits to this area was the development of hydropower. This offers an advantage when dealing with power costs.

This, obviously, is very attractive to cryptocurrency miners. It is well known that these companies are looking for ways to reduce the costs associated with running mining gear. Being in a cold region is a good start. Couple this with cheap renewable energy and it is a natural marriage.

We are now seeing many of the old Soviet-Era factories being reopened and filled with mining equipment. Bratsk, a military industrial city, during the Cold War saw the relocation of many Bitcoin mining companies to the area. The benefits of the city in keeping the mining rigs cool is just too appealing.

“The surplus of electric power in Russia is huge, due to the closure of some of the Soviet plants and to the fact that energy consumption, in general, became much more efficient over time,” said Dmitry Ozersky, CEO of Eletro.Farm, a mining company building a large venue in Kazakhstan.

As a result, bitcoin mining farms across Russia now wield a joint capacity of 600 megawatts, accounting for almost 10 percent of the total 7 gigawatts of power supporting the bitcoin network worldwide, said Ozersky, a former banker and top manager at the Russian state corporation Rusnano. His estimate is based on data from manufacturers of specialized mining chips, known as ASICs.

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-mining-farms-are-flourishing-on-the-ruins-of-soviet-industry-in-siberia

Not only is there great appeal of Bitcoin mining in Siberia among large corporations. There is a move to bring the average homeowner into the fray.

Hotmine is a start up that created a mining rig which doubles as a home heating system. Obviously, Siberia is a very cold place which makes warming not only vital, but expensive. The same aspects that make it attractive to miners also makes it very difficult to live.

The Hotmine miner is looking to penetrate Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia. This is an area where the temperature is normally sub-zero in the Winter. The goal is to sell 200,000 of these mining rigs in the area.

To be successful, financial viability remains key.

According to Slobodenyuk, each Hotmine miner performs calculations at a rate of 8 tera hashes per second (th/s). With the current price of bitcoin, he said, 1 th/s earns about $7.20 a month, so a single heater can make about $55 for its owner while radiating heat for up to 10 square meters.

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-miners-are-heating-homes-for-free-in-frigid-siberia

If a project like this is successful, not only will it be providing a practical use to Bitcoin miners, it also will help to decentralize the mining a bit more. The accusation that Bitcoin mining is too centralized plagued it since it started a decade ago.

I believe we are seeing something very interesting happening with technology. Convergence is taking place to a degree I never witnessed. There are so many technologies working off or impacting each other that it is getting baffling. This will really help to accelerate things going forward. Much in the same way as the Smartphone was the convergence of computing, the Internet, and mobile phone technology, we will see numerous industries grow in a similar manner.

The development of Web 3.0 has the ability to radically change the world in ways technologically that we cannot even imagine. When individuals start to apply their creativity, we see breakthroughs that transcend any particular industry.

I believe we will see a shift that exceeds the impact that was felt with the introduction of the Internet.

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