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These Russians were jailed for attempting to mine bitcoin at a nuclear facility. Would they really have gotten coins mining with a supercomputer? https://www.cryptoinfowatch.com/russian-nuclear-engineer-jailed-for-mining-bitcoin-at-work/

In the article you qouted there was no mention of the supercomputer be able to mine some bitcoins. But here on this site https://www.hpcwire.com/2019/10/02/bitcoin-mining-on-russian-nuclear-supercomputer/ you can actually read that they have mined some currency before they are caugth. The thing is that the amount of coins they have successfully mined have not been disclosed.

I am sure they would have stopped if they weren't getting any cryptocoins or if the whole coin mining wasn't profitable in the first place. They are going to get some serious jail time because this was a huge security infringement and would have been able to compromise the security of the entire nuclear facility and it would have been disastrous.

Are you sure they used the supercomputers at a nuclear facility to mine crypto-currencies? I thought they used the free nuclear power there to power some rigs and then were able to make pretty decent profits of a free power source.

It depends what you are classifying as a supercomputer, because frankly speaking, they don't really exist yet, with the most effective mining machines being powerful GPU intensive PC's, or specific mining cards, or even a regular asic miner.

They aren't really a huge step up compared to the other machines out there.

Replying to the original question, it's possible that supercomputer could mine bitcoin, but it's not profitable, and not significantly faster that current mining rigs. Current hash rates would not be that much affected. The chips used in supercomputers are designed for other purposes and ASICs are much better at hash cryptography, much lesser electrical power and cooling needed. The lower the cost, the higher the profit.

They did all get any jail time, two got away with only fines, and I'm sure that the main culprit will get pretty soon out of jail, they are too valuable to be sent to jail, Russia is desperate enough to keep scientists from fleeing they will overlook such an incident. Also, it seems they were mining actually, as ethereum ethminer is mentioned in the court documents and they did so in June-Sep 2017, during the first eth boom.



Really?
Do you think that a couple of GPUs would outpower a supercomputer? lol...
Summit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_(supercomputer)) has 27,648 Nvidia Tesla V100 GPUs  ;D

Common sense is the only one you need, I mean if we can mine bitcoin using normal computers, so what more having a super one :)

just being straight forward to end this nonsense.

Old news, as early as 2017 if I'm not mistaken, reports surfacing that some Russian scientist are already mining bitcoin with their super computers (Illegally). So it's pretty obvious that the answer is yes. However, he has been caught and put to jail as well. So it is worth it trying to harness their super computer to mine bitcoin? I don't think so.

Mining on a nuclear computer is very dangerous, it could have exploded because of a temperature leak where the computer running the temperature system is used to mine. The people who work there should know about technical errors can lead to nuclear reactions. I have read that computers that are used in nuclear power plants are supercomputers and computing, so it's easy to mine, the problem is that the article violates the permission to use the facility.

There were news of NSA employee mining bitcoin from NSA supercomputer a few years ago. They might have had a good profit.
Super computer are not an efficient mining hardware but they surely perform better than a PC with GPU.
With so much of ASIC mines, I don't think supercomputer would have a very impressive output in today's time.
I just hope google would try mining bitcoin with it's quantum computer and care to share the hash they get.

If you could mine with powerful computer and free energy like that from nuclear power, why not. Anyone mining Bitcoin with good computers and free electricity will certainly make profit. Afterall electricity is a major factor miners consider before starting mining business.
I guess you'll have to keep the computer running quietly for days to make meaningful progress.

This is interesting. So it is really possible to be mining cryptocurrency using supercomputer. The only problem was that their profitable enterprises was eventually caught. The arrest was made around February 2018 so the mining activities took place months before February. They must have really very good computers in there to be able to mine some Bitcoin, even if done for experimental purposes. This is telling us that Russia has the technology that can be used for mining digital assets and they (or the government) can take advantage of this if they wanted to.

It is possible though I don't think it is feasible and really efficient knowing that mining machines are completely different from these supercomputer that they are assembling for the labs and are mainly used for scientific purposes. I usually won't put my hopes up when it comes to such knowing that the way they handle certain algorithms are completely different, for mining machines are created solely for efficiently solving these complex algorithms whereas supercomputers are for general use that involves a lot of fields.

Was it worth it being jailed for doing such? Of course not.

Of course it's much less efficient but it's there and when it's not doing anything "scientific" there will be people ready to exploit it and mine some BTC. It could be very efficient with some smaller altcoins. A mining power of a supercomputer would completely shift the balance and make you find all the blocks instead of mining pools. You could solo mine and still get everything.

Think of the power! Think of the possibilities. A humble junior analyst during the day, an altcoin kingpin at night :D

do they mine with super-sophisticated computers,? or only in prison for using office facilities.? The news does not explain how many bitcoins have succeeded in mining, I want to know about super computers, computers must have high specifications because they belong to large companies.

You can mine with a pencil and paper. Doesn't mean you'll get much of a result.

I would guess that even a middling ASIC would destroy the fanciest super computer.

It's like an Olympic swimmer trying to win the 100 metres. The runners are born to do it, the swimmer ain't and nothing's going to change that. Despite them both performing at the highest levels, they're different disciplines.

They should've stopped halfway if they didn't get any upon using supercomputers. There's a chance that they really used it for mining but may be slower and the process must've been catastrophic for there's a huge difference between mining using supercomputers and mining using mining machine and GPU's. ALso, the news wasn't elaborated enough if those who are arrested have mined some bitcoins or not and if they've successfully done mining with the supercomputers.

if you assemble a super computer that scientists use like that, it will only cost a lot of money and take too long to be able to return the capital you spent to assemble such super devices, rather than assembling expensive and using private money, it's better to buy bitcoin directly at exchange place.

What kind of supercomputer are we talking about here? If it is just a super powerful CPU then I doubt they could have mined a significant amount of coins. ASICs are powerful mining hardware built specifically for mining (big hash rate) so no any other super computer built for other scopes should be able to mine even a close amount of btc.

Regarding quantum computers IMO they are years or decades away of being production ready so I wouldn't worry about that.

You can mine cryptocurrency using a pen and paper if you want, it just won't be as efficient. A supercomputer can easily do the computations required for proof of work and such.

Why wouldn't it be, if the Russian government were supplying the computers and paying for the electricity? Of course, going to jail ultimately isn't worth it.

taking into account that almost supercomputers uses some special versions of linux, and quite a lot of coins have source open
I think it is possible to recompile wallet and miner as well and run it  ::)
those Russians.. I wonder why they did not hack American super computers and mine coins there  ;D ;D

These days there is dedicated equipments for mining, we've got ASIC's particularly developed to make mining more efficient. When it comes to supercomputers, the key factor for which its been designed and developed needs to be understood. With supercomputers it is possible to mine, but that won't be giving better output than the specific ASIC does.

According to some sources, supercomputers can be a big problem for Bitcoin. But if supercomputers can be used to mine Bitcoin in the future, it will be wonderful for Bitcoin Network. However, the main aim of super computers is to make too complex calculations in a very short time compared to classical computers.

The supercomputers are not designed to mined bitcoins. thus, the result is not going to be any good. They should have bought Bitmain S9 miners instead of using the supercomputer. Using a supercomputer for mining bitcoin is a very big waste of time, energy and resources.

Yes completely agree.

Supercomputers are designed especially for performing various tasks as per requirement. And these supercomputers have that much capability and potential. But considering supercomputer for mining is a bit hard and completcated task for a supercomputer.

Even still anyone can use the supercomputer for mining, but it will be not profitable in coming future as day by day contributing power and difficulties are increasing.

And It's my own opinion that supercomputers are not made for mining, so it will cost more to maintain and gives lower ROI.

A super computer is referred to as something which is exceptional at certain tasks and therefore I would say that dedicated Bitcoin miners ASIIC are very close to being a super computer. They are able to mine quicker than traditional devices and therefore would fall under the category of a super computer. A super computer does not necessarily mean huge specifications and quick at everything.

It would make more sense to just use the free power and run an ASIC miner from inside the nuclear facility, and not touch the actual supercomputer as that can be logged.

Adding an extra thousand watts, ... maybe might be noticeable and has a better chance of not being noticed at all, but using 100% of the cpu power of a supercomputer is sure to attract all sorts of attention.

Anything you bring in or out of a nuclear facility is also logged. Do you suppose employees come and go as they please and bring some big hardware from home? Where would that run? In the common rooms and storages there's no high voltage outlets and substations are closely monitored to spot any signs of malfunction like smoke or fire. You'd need half of the facility on it with you and the risk would be high because in case of fire or injury inspectors could come in and take the recordings and find out about your little side job. People who mine at work, in secret, get caught sooner or later.

It is possible to mine even with your laptop , it doesn't mean that it is efficient or wise
in this case , supercomputer used to mine bitcoins is like using nuclear weapons to clear rat infestation
will you clear it? probably yes
is it worth it? probably not

the problem is people are asking questions like that think in different categories
supercomputers provide something way greater than money , they provide knowledge and knowledge is power
whoever controls information controls the world

Honestly I am not a miner but all in this era their nothing impossible, the technology is continue to upgrade if not wrong even a normal computer or smartphone or laptop can use for mining but the queation is how much profit get that set up and we need also to consedired the electricty consumption.

profit depends on your electril bills and your hardware's devices if they have a good specs expect to mine better  . usually normal spec devices can only run mining at a slower to normal rates but those supercomputers its possible to mine more effectively by using them  .  there were only jailed because they use a public computer that is not from them  and of course that will be consider illegal   . its also from a nuclear ? nuclears are dangerous if something messed up  .

Any attempt to mine Bitcoin with any other thing apart from ASCI is just absolute waste of time. Such could have been welcome may be in the past five years.

And technically Supercomputers have their different algorithms that they use in its computations. If we are going to use these technologies, even quantum computer will don't have the advantage in mining bitcoin as the algorithm for mining bitcoin is different. Supercomputers will just do the same calculations that a classical computer will do in order to mine cryptocurrency.

When most people refer to quantum computers in the cyrptocurrency industry they are referring to quantum computers which are good at factoring as that is the way you can break the EDSCA. There are many different quantum computers that target specific things and not all quantum computers or supercomputers are a threat to Bitcoin. I don't think quantum computers are a threat to Bitcoin anyway as there should be changes made before they come anywhere near to the required qbit power needed to crack public keys.

At this point, I think mining in a smartphone or laptop can't mine bitcoin. Even a small hash rate, you can't even earn a little bit amount of bitcoin through it. It's very ambitious to think that smartphones or laptops can mine now 'cause even a low GPU can't even be a good mining rig.

Yes, the technology is continuously upgrading but we're on the point that it will take a lot of time to have that concept.

Mining Bitcoin today is very hard as Bitcoin is getting close to its limit. Using supercomputer doesn't give him much profit. Maybe quantum computers will do. But is doesn't exist yet. He need more powerful computer to solve the blocks. That's why kindness switched to ASIC miner. It's faster and efficient way to mine Bitcoin.

it is a silly thing done by workers in nuclear companies in Russia, now it is not strange if we hear of mining bitcoin with super computers. Some people today are using computers to mine bitcoin, maybe they have not been able to buy sophisticated mining equipment that quite expensive I think if we mine bitcoin with a computer it will take a very long time because the computer doesn't have fast power.

Supercomputer is a powerful computer, I don't why you said it's not enough to give profits to someone who'll use it, my friend use a $3000 mining rig, take note, it's not yet a supercomputer but it gives him passive income everyday, and for the Quantum Computer you were saying, you'll regret recommending it once it's finally existing, you may ask google why for more information about it. :)

Beyond question it is possible to use a supercomputer for any calculations as well as for mining. I am not surprised that the russian scientist has become mining crypto coins instead of researching in the field of the nuclear physics. This is not the guilt of him because an incredibly low level of salaries causes him seeks any possibilities to earn a little more for living.
By the way, sometimes I regret that I did not buy BTC when it was lower 200$. I might have a chance to buy but alas. Now I just can dream how my life would be changed if I were smarter and more lucky and bought BTC. May be I even would become a nuclear physic., why not?!

LOL.

There is indeed a cost v benefit element to all this. Yes a supercomputer could be used to mine bitcoin - but the cost of the supercomputer likely exceeds the benefits of mining the coins. So supercomputers will be put to other more important uses.

Mining is possible, but it is very illegal and can go in a very bad direction which would cause bad reactions if the burglaries were followed by a prison sentence because something was not allowed.
I believe that he did not pay off for mining is a need not only for a supercomputer, but for something better than being very expensive, of course, and if he finds cryptocurrency, it can drive him into a lack of profits and financial discomfort...

We don’t know but if that Russian really made and earn money thru the supercomputer then its possible but you must own it so you wont ended up in jail. Supercomputers are made for a more advance and faster transactions, and if mining would be installed on their system maybe they can earn a lot of bitcoin from that but still it will depend on the situation, we can’t be fully sure not unless someone is doing this already.

It's technically not even the cost aspect that makes a 'super computer' not a good Bitcoin miner, it's more the task area it's supposed to be super good at. It might be a super computer in one area but a complete sucker in some other areas. This is also why students thinking to utilize their super computers within the university network to mine Bitcoin won't come far at all.

Mining is such a waste of time. It's much easier and rewarding for people to just buy Bitcoin and sit on it. No stress about difficulty increases which eat through your income, no stress about broken gear, no stress about sudden changes in power rates, etc. Too many factors that point out how people should mess around with mining.

If you want to support the network, run a full node or provide liquidity to Lightning with a small chunk of your freshly bought coins.

You are right, they would use free nuclear power to mine bitcoins and that's why they were caught + they were doing this in a very wrong place so.
But now let's turn on question: Mine bitcoin with supercomputer? If it's possible to mine eth with asic, then why not? (know silly comparison). A lot of things are possible but it's also another task how beneficial they are. Sometimes you can do something but don't do because pros doesn't outweigh cons.
We know Google Quantum Computer exists, so what about to ask that question to google staff?

You can mining bitcoin with supercomputer but reward receive is not coherence with your computer working, mining give less reward today and keep have lower price after we are receiving coin from mining. Many China mining project have close their mining operating because have pay higher fees than with how much earning receiving.

When you read a news articles that talks about someone maliciously mining Bitcoin, like misusing their organization's hardware or using malware, in 99.999% cases it was actually altcoin mining. Mainstream journalists don't do fact-checking these days and see no problems with writing about something they don't understand, so they call everything "bitcoin mining".

Bitcoin is only worth mining on hardware that was created for mining Bitcoin, using anything else is a waste of electricity. These supercomputers will earn a few cents in a month, roughly speaking. But with altcoins that are meant to be mined on CPU or GPU, it's possible and profitable to use supercomputers or general-purpose computers.