Jack Dorsey wants to you to mine Bitcoin with new imaginary gizmo
Jack Dorsey laid out his vision for Bitcoin mining on Twitter last week — and if he gets his way the hardest part will be finding somewhere to plug in his new rig.
Dorsey says that the system (which currently exists only in his head) would be for individuals and businesses, and built along the same lines as Square’s hardware wallet for Bitcoin.
That is to say, Square would develop it in collaboration with the crypto community.
The Twitter founder hopes that in the future:
- The Bitcoin network would be beefed up through greater decentralization.
- Mining moves toward cleaner and more efficient energy which would help Bitcoin’s scalability.
- Design and manufacture of new tech is spread across more companies to ease supply issues.
Also on Dorsey’s list is making Bitcoin mining “as easy as plugging a rig into a power source.”
Dorsey says Bitcoin mining is too complex and the rewards are too small for it to be truly accessible to everyone.
He also asked his followers to chip in their opinions on the biggest barriers to mining Bitcoin.
Bitcoin mining was once for all
The first Bitcoins were created using home computer CPUs and then by more powerful graphics chips.
However, the launch of highly-specialized Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) in 2013 changed the face of Bitcoin mining completely. As of 2017, 70% of Bitcoin mining was reportedly done with Bitmain ASICs.
ASICs are not only far pricier than the chips miners were previously using, they’re also more scarce.
Often only those with the right connections have easy access to the most powerful ASICs.
So, the idea of totally accessible Bitcoin mining will likely go down well.
However, it’s worth noting Dorsey rounds out his thread by clarifying that any potential project is still in its very early stages.
Dorsey also wants ‘mainstream’ Bitcoin wallets
Dorsey’s efforts to mainstream and democratize Bitcoin mining echo his teasing of the company’s hardware wallet back in June.
Floating the idea via Twitter, Dorsey said (our emphasis).
“Square is considering making a hardware wallet for Bitcoin. If we do it, we would build it entirely in the open, from software to hardware design, and in collaboration with the community.”
Read more: [Square’s COPA asks UK court to rule Craig Wright didn’t create Bitcoin]
The project’s lead Jesse Dorogusker confirmed the project days later, again via Twitter:
“We have decided to build a hardware wallet and service to make Bitcoin custody more mainstream,” said Dorogusker (our emphasis).
“We’ll continue to ask and answer questions in the open. This community’s response to our thread about this project has been awesome – encouraging, generous, collaborative, and inspiring.”
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