Topic: Have all the Bitcoins been found?

[DaleReid]

I recall that when Bitcoin started, it was a earned discovery process, find some unique number, have it verified and bingo you won a bitcoin.

Many of the early solves weren't that hard, from what I understand, with even small computers running for weeks finally finding one, somehow.

Since huge amounts of power and heat energy are being  used to find even the few remaining, I wonder if and when the last one is found will those computers be turned to doing something else?

Were there estimates of how many there could possibly be and a running tally of how many are now verified?  Or is the quest for the last few going to continue to suck electricity needlessly?

Just curious.  And no, I have none nor think I could find one if all the smart guys can't nail them down.

[davidmc36]

https://www.gemini.com/cryptopedia/how-many-bitcoins-are-left

So. Just like any good pyramid scheme...the early adopters are the ones who benefit the most?

[DaleReid]

And, after scanning the article, it seems like both goalpost are being moved and that the rules are fine tuned every two weeks.

The astounding facts are that the last bitcoins are going to be worth less (or already worthless depending on your view) than the original ones, and his really burned me,
it will be 2041 before they are all found.  Imagine another 15 years of burning so much electricity and irritating the neighbors of where these things are installed.

[jpochmara]

Here is an interesting read on cryptocurrency:

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2022/05/why-this-computer-scientist-says-all-cryptocurrency-should-die-in-a-fire

[DaleReid]

An entertaining and excellent explanation of quatloos.  Along with my apes getting fudged, but then again, I think I understood it prefectly.

The part that was illuminating was how few transactions per second can actually be processed.  I don't think this would hold up during busy holiday shopping, where I'm sure MasterCard, VISA and all the other cards are flying through hundreds of thousands of transactions per second.  And while their little chips may be warm, there is no way they are wasting anywhere near the amount of electrical energy that  Bitcoin is.

Thanks for the link.  While it is a few months old, the info still seems to be accurate from what I've learned.

Dale

[hofpwx]

And quantum computing will make crypto moot eventually.