Damus
Lyn Alden profile picture
Lyn Alden
@LynAlden
Imo, people are too concerned about mining centralization. The physical ownership and operation of mining rigs is pretty decentralized (even the big miners are a small % of the network).

I would like to see a bit more mining outside of North America, and I’m also supportive of efforts like Stratum V2 to provide further decentralization assurances for transactions. So there are opportunities for improvement but the incentives generally make sense.

On the other hand, what I don’t see talked about enough is supply chain centralization. The production of the chips themselves has a lot more centralization to it. This is true for most advanced semiconductors in general (and thus is a geopolitical issue) but is of particular concern for a decentralized protocol.
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Peter Alexander · 133w
And don’t expect TSMC in Arizona to come online anytime soon. Expect a repeat of the fiasco that was Foxconn in Wisconsin. I honestly see the US government being played for fools by non-Chinese nation states.
Dug · 133w
More loan miners need to move to non kyc pools. The fees may be higher but this is the price of freedom bitcoin. Imo
MonKota · 133w
Spot on and nice take Lyn. Boiled down to the chip/supply chain…..I’m hoping many places around the world can scale like ES with their volcano mining operations. Need a couple more countries with the raw materials to start manufacturing chips…would take some collaboration.
Rico · 133w
I really like to but mining a 25.000€ bitcoin in Germany cost >50.000€ (plus hardware, rent, staff, insurance,....) North America looks like the best place to set up mining operations, it is a technologically advanced region, good infrastructure, has affordable and stable electricity, is a funct...
MAstr · 133w
Hey, thank you Lyn for your thoughts. I'm indeed concerned about this topic too. Would love to know what you think about the Bitcoin concentration by the major Fiat houses like Grayscale and Blackrock? They already hold a siginificant amount of Bitcoin even before they open the Fiat gates to Bitcoi...
Mysth · 133w
Not worried about either. Last time I checked, ASICS chips were fillers for chip makers. There are already plenty of ASICS plugged and unplugged, and I don’t see how any actor could: A) pay enough the chip makers to get in the front of the line of production/deliveries, as they are competing with ...
Ben Arc · 133w
Opposite. Not enough people care about decentralising mining. The very fact taproot could get in off a few closed door agreements with miners IS an issue.
GameBoyBTC · 133w
It is true that some aspects of mining may be overstated. For now, perhaps to say that the network is in danger because a high percentage of miners are in North America and perhaps the government can coerce the miners. I don't see that as likely right now. But it never hurts for miners to find other...
Micah541 · 133w
https://youtu.be/nSc0GoVRqtE “Competition is for losers” As soon as it becomes feasible miners will start to engage in anti competitive behavior.
Reed · 133w
Bitcoin mining is in its very very early days. Bitcoin mining will grow out where energy is being wasted, stranded or has high potential that isn't being used. Because these things are physically located all over the world, it will be difficult to centralize in the long run. I'm the short term ...
crany 👽🧡🗿 · 133w
Any thoughts on mining pool centralization?
Dissident Sound · 133w
reminds me of a story where a mining rig was used to heat a swimming pool. actually brilliant.
Hoshi · 133w
I guess you could separate the important parts (selecting and checking transactions and receiving and sending blocks) from the number crunching. The first could be done on inefficient chips. Many countries should have the means to make them and only a small number is needed. The efficient chips coul...
Eduardo Prospero · 133w
My latest article is exactly about those centralizing factors and how the bitcoin network is dealing with them --> https://hackernoon.com/bitcoins-weak-spot-mining-centralization-and-how-were-working-on-it
angel · 133w
It is my dream to see Bitcoin mining bootstrapped in Brazil. That needs to be done top-down. Colonies are not known for being able to autonomously break the glass ceilings they are put in.
job · 133w
could you please translate it in english ?
anubisSonOfRa · 133w
Agreed! I also wish more would consider other miners than the ones from Bitmain and MicroBT. I mean Canaan have been around for quite some time, yet many people are reluctant to using them. Canaan just released a new miner A1466I 170T with an efficiency of under 20 J/T.