A few thoughts - Sunday, June 8, 2014
Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 12:47 pm
A few thoughts:
A quick shout-out
Have you noticed /u/yruafraid's new banner? It's exceptional, and he deserves some praise for it.
Does anyone have an idea as to what we should use for flairs? "Bullish" or "bearish" could be copied. There could also be many flairs, one for each altcoin, so people can show which coins they are interested in. There could also be a list of issues that people are concerned about and you could choose between them. Can there be multiple flairs per person?
The Blake hashing algorithm
I was asked to give my thoughts on the Blake hashing algorithm, which is being used for several of the newer altcoins. Proponents of this algorithm claim that it uses less electricity than other algorithms, and that it can be used to "merge mine" multiple coins at the same time.
"Merge mining" is an interesting conundrum. If you are creating a new great altcoin, then you obviously want it to be the only altcoin, or one of the few altcoins, that survive. But the purpose of merge mining is supposedly to increase the security of many coins by allowing people to earn money by mining all of them simultaneously. Therefore, by merge mining, you effectively acknowledge that your coin is unlikely to gain traction, and that you need others' help to secure it.
Merge mining doesn't address the security issue as much as one thinks, however. In fact, it could be a disaster. Huge pools are going to start to add all of the Blake coins to them. Then, a pool like GHash.io could form and end up with more than 50% of the hashing power - except that it now controls the majority of the hashing power for 100 coins, and could take out both junk coins and popular coins at the same time.
Merge mining seems like it could be dangerous, because it means giving up control of your coin to external actors who care nothing whatsoever about your security.
The seduction community
The seduction community, hosted at /r/seduction and http://pua-zone.com, among other places, is a community that teaches its members how to seduce women (and there are some women who talk about how to seduce men as well).
It was brought to my attention that many people who started out in the seduction community left that community and turned their attentions to bitcoins. I myself posted an "anti-seduction community" blog in 2005, and some of the big names in the bitcoin community were once seduction gurus.
I wonder what it is in bitcoins (other than the fact that they are more interesting than dating) that has drawn a lot of people to leave the seduction community and change their posts or even careers.
GHash.io and its hashrate
Every few months, GHash.io starts inching up towards a 50% hashrate on the bitcoin network, there is a panic, and they fall back down.
I myself disapprove of GHash.io because they are anonymous cowards. Anyone who runs an operation where millions of dollars are changing hands and doesn't reveal his name is not to be trusted. It is imperative that people leave their pool.
But many people aren't going to leave it because they don't charge any fees. Why would anyone be incentivized to leave a pool that charges nothing and has the lowest variance? This brings up what GHash.io's business model exactly is. They aren't spending thousands on hardware just to be nice.
Instead, they have an alternate business model that relies on being able to find blocks. Perhaps they want to undo transactions, or add on additional blockchain features. Since they are anonymous, they can do whatever they want with impunity, and their anonymity, not how much hashrate they have, is their biggest flaw.
Other
A quick shout-out
Have you noticed /u/yruafraid's new banner? It's exceptional, and he deserves some praise for it.
Does anyone have an idea as to what we should use for flairs? "Bullish" or "bearish" could be copied. There could also be many flairs, one for each altcoin, so people can show which coins they are interested in. There could also be a list of issues that people are concerned about and you could choose between them. Can there be multiple flairs per person?
The Blake hashing algorithm
I was asked to give my thoughts on the Blake hashing algorithm, which is being used for several of the newer altcoins. Proponents of this algorithm claim that it uses less electricity than other algorithms, and that it can be used to "merge mine" multiple coins at the same time.
"Merge mining" is an interesting conundrum. If you are creating a new great altcoin, then you obviously want it to be the only altcoin, or one of the few altcoins, that survive. But the purpose of merge mining is supposedly to increase the security of many coins by allowing people to earn money by mining all of them simultaneously. Therefore, by merge mining, you effectively acknowledge that your coin is unlikely to gain traction, and that you need others' help to secure it.
Merge mining doesn't address the security issue as much as one thinks, however. In fact, it could be a disaster. Huge pools are going to start to add all of the Blake coins to them. Then, a pool like GHash.io could form and end up with more than 50% of the hashing power - except that it now controls the majority of the hashing power for 100 coins, and could take out both junk coins and popular coins at the same time.
Merge mining seems like it could be dangerous, because it means giving up control of your coin to external actors who care nothing whatsoever about your security.
The seduction community
The seduction community, hosted at /r/seduction and http://pua-zone.com, among other places, is a community that teaches its members how to seduce women (and there are some women who talk about how to seduce men as well).
It was brought to my attention that many people who started out in the seduction community left that community and turned their attentions to bitcoins. I myself posted an "anti-seduction community" blog in 2005, and some of the big names in the bitcoin community were once seduction gurus.
I wonder what it is in bitcoins (other than the fact that they are more interesting than dating) that has drawn a lot of people to leave the seduction community and change their posts or even careers.
GHash.io and its hashrate
Every few months, GHash.io starts inching up towards a 50% hashrate on the bitcoin network, there is a panic, and they fall back down.
I myself disapprove of GHash.io because they are anonymous cowards. Anyone who runs an operation where millions of dollars are changing hands and doesn't reveal his name is not to be trusted. It is imperative that people leave their pool.
But many people aren't going to leave it because they don't charge any fees. Why would anyone be incentivized to leave a pool that charges nothing and has the lowest variance? This brings up what GHash.io's business model exactly is. They aren't spending thousands on hardware just to be nice.
Instead, they have an alternate business model that relies on being able to find blocks. Perhaps they want to undo transactions, or add on additional blockchain features. Since they are anonymous, they can do whatever they want with impunity, and their anonymity, not how much hashrate they have, is their biggest flaw.
Other
- There are a lot of great contributors to this place, and they often write thoughts more valuable than my own. If you comment on this post, make sure to read some of the other great content and comment there too, so that we can build a community.
- Days until July 24: 47