Bitcoin Power Problem - Computerphile

Computations involved in mining Bitcoin are astronomical. Professor Phil Moriarty explains how estimating the energy useage is a Fermi problem.

This video was filmed and edited by Sean Riley.

[kevind]

2.6 Gigawatts!? That's more than twice the amount needed to power a time-traveling DeLorean!

[sanferrera]

There's a story about Fermi guesstimating the power of a test nuclear bomb by how much a few papers he put in the ground moved. The army took a few months to calculate the official number, and sure enough, Fermi's 5 minute experiment was actually quite close.

[ShamanNoodles]

"a farm of playstations" lmao that would be sick

[rich]

The best way to approach fermi problems is to first solve 'at least', and I think you did that well enough. Using the absolute best case scenario assuming absolutely no power is being used to cool anything. You can then solve 'at most' using a worst case scenario with extra costs added in. "At most" would be the worst power efficiency which can still be profitable, breaking even. That should give you a range where you can be sure the real number is somewhere in the middle. Average those for a rough estimate people can agree with.

[EpicWink]

The relationship between precision and certainty really needs to be taught to more than hard science. I have to deal with so many engineers who just don't get the big picture with the quantities they're measuring

[SagaTympana]

I REALLY want to know how many piano tuners there are in Nottingham now

[meandyou]

So if I have a problem with my Bitcoin. what is the customer service number ?

[SAL-fsmr]

It is very misleading to say all the energy goes simply to process Bitcoin blockchain transactions. Each new block found increases the security of all past transactions as well. And there is no way to know if one Bitcoin blockchain transaction means only one. For example, opening a Bitcoin lightning channel is one blockchain transaction, but with that channel, you can do Thousands of Bitcoin lightning transactions! In the end though, it comes down to what people want to spend their electricity on. Most people waste electricity on TV, Christmas lights, etc. If I want to spend it on mining Bitcoin, it is my choice to do so. And as far as I can see, spending it on a system to replace central bank control is something this world desperately needs.

[Soraviel]

Amazing stuff blows my mind on how much energy bitcoin consumes.

[ducodarling]

I keep trying to preach this. It's Bitcoin's greatest flaw, and it has nothing to do with computing.

The more the populace comes to rely on Bitcoin, the more crucial it will be to defend the block chain against attacks. Eventually, a government entity will claim that responsibility, and centralize the bulk of computing. At that point, we'll be right back to fiat currency.

Basically, the guy with the most guns will always win. Authority is not something that can be so easily subverted.

[Savan]

Can you do a follow up video on Proof of Capacity vs Proof of Work coins and the power savings associated? I've seen estimates of 30 to 400 times more efficient than ASIC Miners

[charlescox]

People in the area, households that have a piano, how often it needs to be tuned ... Is estimating how many piano tuners an area can support, not how many piano tuners are in the area. Granted, in a perfect economical system the law of supply and demand would bring the actual in line with the supportable, but that isn't always true, and it isn't the same question. Maybe a more valid example in the future?

[Yaddlezap]

Keep in mind these are on-chain transactions he's talking about, not second-layer transactions which address scaling costs to levels more than sufficient for being used as a global transactional currency. Also keep in mind that miners seek out places with excess electricity (w/ cheaper costs) which is at least increases efficiency for that grid overall.

[Ducksauce]

How will quantum computing effect bit mining. Or how could it if it was practically affordable to mine with one?

[Autonova]

Bitcoin's energy consumption is a function of its security, not its number of transactions. Its security is already sufficient and will likely come down slightly.

[Strothy]

Anyone got a link for that shirt he is wearing?

[zehnutters]

What is the power consumption off the Youtube ecosystem ?

[RikologyGaming]

Could you touch on ethereum! Your videos have given me a massive insight into how bitcoin is mined and worked but I would love if you could do one of eth smart contracts!!!

[capoczino]

Can we put the energy consumption into perspective please? How much energy does the global banking system require compared to Bitcoin?

[pierreabbat]

What do you mean by "kilowatts per hour"? The rate of change of power consumption?