Blockstream Issues Security Token Tied to Bitcoin Hashrate, Payable in BTC
https://www.coindesk.com/blockstream-security-token-bitcoin-hashrate-payable-bitcoinWhat do you think of these hashrate tokens? The first batch will be sold in minimum lots of ~275k$, so it's only for whales, but they will be traded OTC in 0.1x lots. What looks nice to clueless me is they sell at a discount to actual mining hardware. And, more importantly, the buyer is not subject to issues with delivery, operation, maintenance etc. of actual ASICs.
Are they a thing? Can they become a thing in due time?
I think that Jihan should
go fork his mother. Anyway, he just shit a brick.
For almost
any operation at scale, there are large advantages to centralisation. That fact is uncomfortable to Bitcoiners, but it
is a fact. Big operations are more efficient than small ones—not only bigger, but
more efficient.
Bitmain is a threat to Bitcoin, and they are still far too powerful. Methinks that they are about to get cut down to size.
Blockstream has been running
“enterprise colocated” mining for years. Their co-founder and CEO is the inventor of Hashcash, so I would wager that they have this mining thing pretty well figured out... For hardware, they are
partnered with a Shenzhen-based company who is not Bitmain (I guess still a Chinese company because Americans destroyed their own industrial base decades ago; but Blockstream’s mining facilities are in the U.S. and Canada). They have been on a hardware buying spree, they say that they have over 300 megawatts of capacity to run all this hardware—and they say that they are just beginning to ramp it up.
Blockstream Purchase $25M of Bitcoin Mining Hardware from MicroBT
January 27, 2021
[...]
We’re excited to continue our relationship with MicroBT and this latest batch will provide our hosting clients with an extremely reliable foundation to contribute to the security of the Bitcoin network. Part of the order should also go toward a new, top-secret mining service we’ll be launching soon.
...we’ll continue to grow our operations aggressively throughout the next year.
“Aggressively”. I like it.
What does this scale of operation need? Capital, but of course. The more capital that goes into this, the faster and harder they can fuck Jihan, fuck his mother, fuck Bitmain, and change the whole shape of the Bitcoin mining market.
So—securitised hashrate, traded on Liquid. With investors getting thirsty for anything whatsoever Bitcoinish, this will bring an ocean of capital.
Anyway, that is my analysis of this news. I have no particular expertise in the mining field, nor do I have any information except what is stated in these various news articles and blog posts.
I took the time to write this post in memory of 12 November 2017, when I was glued to the screen watching the tumult in /r/Bitcoin as the Bcashers collectively did their damn best to kill Bitcoin. IIRC, at some point, Slushpool alone was 70% of our remaining hashrate. The Bcashers had to give up because at some point, they needed to mine Bitcoin so that they could pay their electric bills.
By the way, I want to say
thank you to the Bitcoin miners who kept their ASICs grinding Bitcoin hashes when a large % of hashrate claimed that you were mining a dead chain. If you had believed them about “the flippening”, then it would have been a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Big operations take time to build. It seems that Blockstream has been working on this for the past few years—and now, they will push the difficulty to the heavens with new hashrate funded by big-money investors... Oh, I sincerely hope that soon, Jihan’s mother will need to turn tricks for DOGE to feed her idiot bastard son!
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