2013-05-23 CNN: Bitcoin more powerful than fastest supercomputers - page 3.

superduh

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Quote from: SEC agent on May 23, 2013, 10:33:10 AM

What a waste of energy.

It's a shame this computing power hasn't but put to something useful, like Folding@home or Rosetta@home.

yes, i would also come to the conclusion that a government wastes a lot of energy, human energy and actual energy. what is your point? f- off

Singlebyte

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Quote from: SEC agent on May 23, 2013, 10:33:10 AM

What a waste of energy.

It's a shame this computing power hasn't but put to something useful, like Folding@home or Rosetta@home.

Someone should develop a coin where the hash power goes toward something usefull (ike Folding@home or Rosetta@home) and then give credit in coins.

superduh

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there's a lot of really stupid people commenting on the article. o well, i guess they will be laughing at themselves at how dumb they are pretty soon

SEC agent

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America, land of the free

What a waste of energy.

It's a shame this computing power hasn't but put to something useful, like Folding@home or Rosetta@home.

teknomunk

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The comparison is not completely useless, because it is possible to estimate the hashrate the supercomputers could sustain and compare that to the current bitcoin network. Then it is comparing apples to apples. The comparison done is going the other way, trying to estimate the FLOPS rat of the bitcoin network's hashrate.

I think the comparison is interesting in that it gives us a good idea of how much impact th eexisting supercomputers could affect the bitcoin network if they were reprogrammed to mine bitcoin efficiently. The fact that even with all 500 top super computers turned on bitcoin, they could capture about 10% of the hashrate is rather interesting and somewhat comforting that we are beyond the possibility of a 51% attact by these supercomputers. If somebody was to try a 51% attack, they would have to build the system from scratch and not just repurpose an existing system.

Gabi

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If you want to walk on water, get out of the boat

Quote from: justusranvier on May 23, 2013, 09:13:58 AM

Quote from: Gabi on May 23, 2013, 08:55:17 AM

Fact: bitcoin computing power equals to exactly 0 FLOPS

That's not true.

The hardware using for Bitcoin computing is currently not performing any floating point calculations. The amount of floating point calculations that hardware could perform is a number larger than 0 FLOPS.

Since a supercomputer isn't kicked out of the Top 500 just because it's currently being used for integer calculations instead of floating point calculations it's not accurate to ignore the underlying floating point capabilities of some Bitcoin mining hardware just because it's doing integer math.

Bitcoin mining ASICs can perform exactly 0 FLOPS as far as i know.

This comparison is pointless, you cannot compare a dedicated ASIC to supercomputers, how in the hell is bitcoin more powerful when it can only do mining tasks? Supercomputers can do thousands of thing, they are more powerful than bitcoin ASICs. Sure, not at mining, but at everything else.

Rygon

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Quote from: justusranvier on May 23, 2013, 09:13:58 AM

Quote from: Gabi on May 23, 2013, 08:55:17 AM

Fact: bitcoin computing power equals to exactly 0 FLOPS

That's not true.

The hardware using for Bitcoin computing is currently not performing any floating point calculations. The amount of floating point calculations that hardware could perform is a number larger than 0 FLOPS.

Since a supercomputer isn't kicked out of the Top 500 just because it's currently being used for integer calculations instead of floating point calculations it's not accurate to ignore the underlying floating point capabilities of some Bitcoin mining hardware just because it's doing integer math.

These comparisons between supercomputers and the bitcoin network don't make sense. It's like saying Kobe Bryant is better at sports than 99% of all professional athletes. It doesn't mean anything until you compare a specific sporting activity, because there's a big difference between his ability in basketball and say, tennis.

BlackBison

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Quote from: Theraty on May 23, 2013, 09:27:00 AM

What about four years from now. Will bitcoin be the first currency to artificially think?

'The Bitcoin Funding Bill is passed. The system goes on-line August 4th, 2017. Human decisions are removed from currency control. The bitcoin network begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.'

Grin

Theraty

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What about four years from now. Will bitcoin be the first currency to artificially think?

Foxpup

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Vile Vixen and Miss Bitcointalk 2021-2023

Quote from: Gabi on May 23, 2013, 08:55:17 AM

It is totally nonsense, because you cannot compare a bitcoin ASIC with a supercomputer but sssshht, don't tell them, saying "omg bitcoin is moar powerful than supercomputers" is cool Cheesy

It's not totally nonsense, as it's a perfectly valid comparison if you're talking about the risk of a 51% attack posed by an entity with access to a bunch of supercomputers (spoiler alert: none at all Grin

).

justusranvier

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Quote from: Gabi on May 23, 2013, 08:55:17 AM

Fact: bitcoin computing power equals to exactly 0 FLOPS

That's not true.

The hardware using for Bitcoin computing is currently not performing any floating point calculations. The amount of floating point calculations that hardware could perform is a number larger than 0 FLOPS.

Since a supercomputer isn't kicked out of the Top 500 just because it's currently being used for integer calculations instead of floating point calculations it's not accurate to ignore the underlying floating point capabilities of some Bitcoin mining hardware just because it's doing integer math.

Piper67

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Quote from: Gabi on May 23, 2013, 08:55:17 AM

It is totally nonsense, because you cannot compare a bitcoin ASIC with a supercomputer but sssshht, don't tell them, saying "omg bitcoin is moar powerful than supercomputers" is cool Cheesy

Fact: bitcoin computing power equals to exactly 0 FLOPS

True, it does only one thing, but it does it well Grin

Gabi

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If you want to walk on water, get out of the boat

It is totally nonsense, because you cannot compare a bitcoin ASIC with a supercomputer but sssshht, don't tell them, saying "omg bitcoin is moar powerful than supercomputers" is cool Cheesy

Fact: bitcoin computing power equals to exactly 0 FLOPS

Piper67

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It's Andresen, not Andersen... but on the whole, nice little article, no?

vokain

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over 8 times the combined processing power of the Top 500. Amazing.

🏰 TradeFortress 🏰

vip

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👻

That's stunning for an "economy" that sprang into being just four years ago, when an inventor using the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto"

Better term at least.

Kikkerdril

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Quote

The power of all the computers networked together to maintain the digital currency's system far exceeds the combined processing strength of the top 500 most powerful supercomputers.

Easily. The matchup isn't even close.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/23/technology/enterprise/bitcoin-supercomputers/

Topic: 2013-05-23 CNN: Bitcoin more powerful than fastest supercomputers - page 3. (Read 4010 times)