Bitcoin Forum

Other => Beginners & Help => Topic started by: jackg on December 21, 2018, 08:24:36 PM



Title: Pen and paper mining
Post by: jackg on December 21, 2018, 08:24:36 PM
Before I start, this thread was initially posted on the Fit to Talk forum which can be found here: https://fittotalk.com/english-talk/. If you have poor English, would like to help those who do or just join the community for a positive reason then please send a pm to JetAid following this link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=pm;sa=send;u=2386998



According to this article I found while working on my programming projects, I found that it is possible to mine bitcoin blocks using a pen and paper. The speed is apparently 0.67 hashes per day, it seems an interesting way to mine bitcoin if there's ever an issue with the current network (looks like it could get worse for the scalability of bitcoin than we currently have ;D).
https://fittotalk.com/english-talk/index.php?topic=297.0 is where the thread was initially posted

http://www.righto.com/2014/09/mining-bitcoin-with-pencil-and-paper.html is the article I found for mining, it has a video too if you don't want to read (I haven't watched the video though).


Title: Re: Pen and paper mining
Post by: Flash Cunt on December 21, 2018, 08:30:53 PM
That looks interesting. If I find a block, do I submit it using the regular mail? :)

On a more serious note. I'd like to spend some time working through the article so that I can get a better understanding of the basics of Bitcoin. Thanks for posting the link.


Title: Re: Pen and paper mining
Post by: OgNasty on December 21, 2018, 09:15:40 PM
The speed is apparently 0.67 hashes per day, it seems an interesting way to mine bitcoin if there's ever an issue with the current network (looks like it could get worse for the scalability of bitcoin than we currently have ;D).

I can’t imagine any scenario where this would be a realistic way to mine. In the end it is just math though.


Title: Re: Pen and paper mining
Post by: jackg on December 21, 2018, 09:46:35 PM
The speed is apparently 0.67 hashes per day, it seems an interesting way to mine bitcoin if there's ever an issue with the current network (looks like it could get worse for the scalability of bitcoin than we currently have ;D).

I can’t imagine any scenario where this would be a realistic way to mine. In the end it is just math though.

You're not enthusiastic about the idea? I mean it's a good way to learn about how the system actually works though by aggregating down the process of mining so taht it can be done with just a pen, paper, and a bit of good old cognition...


Title: Re: Pen and paper mining
Post by: bill gator on December 22, 2018, 03:27:49 PM
The Fit to Talk forum has some gems, I'll be the first to give you guys credit over there. I like the idea, but I agree it's not going to be practical means of mining in any foreseeable future. Definitely something I'm going to waste some time doing. There goes hundreds of hours of my time.

You're not enthusiastic about the idea? I mean it's a good way to learn about how the system actually works though by aggregating down the process of mining so taht it can be done with just a pen, paper, and a bit of good old cognition...

Don't be discouraged, some of us have more free time than we know what to do with and will be more enthusiastic than the others.


Title: Re: Pen and paper mining
Post by: LoyceV on December 23, 2018, 01:35:05 PM
I can’t imagine any scenario where this would be a realistic way to mine. In the end it is just math though.
I saw a video about it a while back. Obviously, there's no practical application, apart from creating a new hash, but it nicely puts the Bitcoin hash power into perspective. Compare 44 million tera hashes per second (https://www.blockchain.com/en/charts/hash-rate) to 0.67 hash per day: that's 5*1024 times faster! I had to look up the names (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_for_large_numbers): That's 5 Septillion times faster (in American names).

Checking all existing blocks is what's really going to get you doing it by hand :P


Title: Re: Pen and paper mining
Post by: pooya87 on December 24, 2018, 04:43:53 AM
Ken Shirriff's blog posts are awesome. it is good for those who want to understand what is happening under the hood. it is not meant as a "practical case" but it is meant for more understanding. for example as a new developer who wants to learn more about how bitcoin works posts like this and the other one which is my favorite (bitcoin the hard way (http://www.righto.com/2014/02/bitcoins-hard-way-using-raw-bitcoin.html)) are very helpful. it explains everything so there is no stones unturned.


Title: Re: Pen and paper mining
Post by: Kopyleft on December 24, 2018, 07:10:37 AM
This concept is entirely new to me, and i have not come across any content on mining with paper and pencil till now.
It's great for knowledge purposes and cam be used to learn the more complicated aspects of the Bitcoin network.
Obviously it is not a feasible mining procedure.


Title: Re: Pen and paper mining
Post by: bitmover on December 25, 2018, 06:23:20 PM
I can’t imagine any scenario where this would be a realistic way to mine. In the end it is just math though.
I saw a video about it a while back. Obviously, there's no practical application, apart from creating a new hash, but it nicely puts the Bitcoin hash power into perspective. Compare 44 million tera hashes per second (https://www.blockchain.com/en/charts/hash-rate) to 0.67 hash per day: that's 5*1024 times faster! I had to look up the names (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_for_large_numbers): That's 5 Septillion times faster (in American names).

Checking all existing blocks is what's really going to get you doing it by hand :P

Of course,no practical use. But it is very interesting and the article also has an educational perspective, showing that those are simple calculations, but very boring. And even a small mistake would trash all your work.

Certainly no use but educational.


Title: Re: Pen and paper mining
Post by: Xivibe on December 25, 2018, 07:41:20 PM
Honestly, it amazes me.  8)

Brilliant!