Do ASICs make Bitcoin more decentralized?

[Elwar]

Some whiners think that ASICs are centralizing everything because they cannot buy one and make a buttload of coins.

But ASICs are the end of the line for hardware advances up until quantum computing, and even then it is so far away and it would be years before the return on the processing power of a quantum computer could match an ASIC.

As it is, several companies are popping up to provide ASIC chips. And they are looking to mass produce these things. Meaning a future of millions of cheap ASICs to be used primarily for mining bitcoins. N00bs will be able to buy an ASIC on Amazon and have it delivered in a few days to be plugged in and run with very little knowledge of mining. Unlike GPU mining or even CPU mining.

This may not be the case right now, but after a year or so there will be tons of ASICs out there. They may even be embedded in other electronics like TV boxes that pay for TV shows via bitcoins mined from your ASIC chip. All you pay is electricity costs. Or free cell phones with embedded ASIC to pay for your service, just make sure you keep it charged.

The only way to speed things up through hardware is just to have more ASICs. There is no next step for a long time.

[jgarzik]

CPU era: Intel, AMD, similar chipmakers rule.

GPU era: AMD rules

FPGA era: Xilinx rules

ASIC era: TSMC and a few other foundries rule

ASIC era has the advantage that the chips are going to be widespread.

[Plazmotech]

Some whiners think that ASICs are centralizing everything because they cannot buy one and make a buttload of coins.

But ASICs are the end of the line for hardware advances up until quantum computing, and even then it is so far away and it would be years before the return on the processing power of a quantum computer could match an ASIC.

As it is, several companies are popping up to provide ASIC chips. And they are looking to mass produce these things. Meaning a future of millions of cheap ASICs to be used primarily for mining bitcoins. N00bs will be able to buy an ASIC on Amazon and have it delivered in a few days to be plugged in and run with very little knowledge of mining. Unlike GPU mining or even CPU mining.

This may not be the case right now, but after a year or so there will be tons of ASICs out there. They may even be embedded in other electronics like TV boxes that pay for TV shows via bitcoins mined from your ASIC chip. All you pay is electricity costs. Or free cell phones with embedded ASIC to pay for your service, just make sure you keep it charged.

The only way to speed things up through hardware is just to have more ASICs. There is no next step for a long time.

Quantum Computers are not replacement for Classic Computers. Quantum Bits (qubits) operate on quantum states. Classical bits are represented as 0's and 1's, where qubits are represented as probabilities on a plane.

In otherwords, classical bits are represented as 0 or 1.

Quantum bits are represented as a|0> + b|1>.

The only difference in speed this makes is quantum computers are faster at doing quantum calculations (they can take shortcuts because of the fact that gates can manipulate qubits in an algebraic manner), but will not speed the process of doing hashes (something not necessarily algebraic)

[ArticMine]

One huge difference when it comes to centralization between CPU (worst) and GPU (next to worst) and ASIC is the role of oerating system software. In the case of CPU and to a large extent with GPU there is the large dominance of Microsoft Windows. This led for example to botnets of infected Microsoft Windows computers getting a significant portion of the network hashrate. It also created the situation where Microsoft via a patch to Windows could launch a 51% attack if the majority of the network hashrate was on Microsoft Windows computers.

With ASIC on the other hand there is no longer a single vendor of propriety software controlling a significant portion of the hashrate. So yes ASICs make Bitcoin more decentralized because of operating system software.

[movellan]

I'm seeing wider distribution of the USB ASIC Erupter than any other. Lots of new users are getting into mining for the first time. Not that it's going to do them much good with both Avalon and BFL now delivering and ASIC chips becoming available in quantity. Hashing power and therefore difficulty will probably increase substantially in the next 6 months or so as these unit come online. A lot of these newbie miners will get into pools as the USB unit allows them to use their current computer to mine as well as the rest of the stuff they normally do with little increase in power consumption.

[HorseRider]

In the beginning stage it is more centralized than before, but I think later it will.

[Elwar]

In the beginning stage it is more centralized than before, but I think later it will.

This rewards innovators...watching Bitcoin I have seen more and more reason why patents are not as necessary as one would think. You get in early with an idea and you are rewarded heavily for quite a while. But then competition moves in and everyone benefits.