Golden Age of Mining

[GoWest]

It's possible that if Bitcoins go through a bubble once the mining gets too hard, they might just flush the economy after a decade or so, and start over with new Bitcoins, kicking a silver age into gear. Then again I barely got through Econ, so I don't know if that is a viable options, or if vintage BitCoins would become collectible, or something.

EDIT: Of course, once we hit critical mass with mining, then a bunch of selling will go on, and things will happen. Either the First Bitcoin Depression, or a Golden Trading Age. Who knows.

Whatever you're smoking, I'd like to have some, please.

[1715036397]

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[moocow1452]

Whatever you're smoking, I'd like to have some, please.

No that's wrong...

YOU'RE WRONG! YOU ARE WRONG!! [/heh...]

But, there's nothing set in stone that says that Bitcoin will be around some 50 years from now, and they might be collectible by then. Someone will undoubtedly will try and spin it off the second the market takes a tumble, as they already have with IX, and we're back at square one. 

[cbeast]

Those that made thousands of bitcoins early and cashed out already were part of the first Golden Age. Anyone that is able to hang on to a single bitcoin when it is someday worth bazillions will have been said to have been in the second Golden Age.

[btcgolong]

Right now.. you can easily mine over 9000 (literally) satoshi per minute on a single half-decent GPU!
People will surely look back at this as a golden age of mining.

Yeah, I'd say it'll still be a golden age at least until we hit the second cut in generation value to 12.5 BT/Block. By that point, the difficulty will probably be so high, it would no longer be profitable at all to mine.
Then again, that's the point of the difficulty. We'll reach equilibrium at some point...

Then it will become the "Quest for free electricity", but of course we know the electricity isn't really free, lol.

[Ten98]

Those that made thousands of bitcoins early and cashed out already were part of the first Golden Age. Anyone that is able to hang on to a single bitcoin when it is someday worth bazillions will have been said to have been in the second Golden Age.

Those that made thousands of bitcoins early and cahsed out already should go on suicide watch imo

[Ten98]

Remember, when you talk about mining profitability you have to assume current exchange rates, not exchange rates in the future.

Really, I'm not sure that I have to assume anything to be quite honest.

I see what you're saying. Short-sighted miners who sold as soon as they mined really got a bum deal, and we're doing better today then they were, but that's not really the point.

If I do assume current exchange rates, and look back at people making 200BTC/day on 4 computers just using 65W core 2 duos before the GPU miners were available, then (provided they waited until now to sell their coins) they were making $1800 a day for an insignificant amount of electricity cost.

I know there's some people out there that saw the exchange rate creeping up and just kept the coins and still have them today, so you can see where the jealousy creeps in... It's much like the gold rush in America during the 1800s. Some dumb prospectors were selling at £1 and £2 an ounce, which seemed amazing at the time, but then a few years later prices skyrocketed to 10 times that, so those that hoarded their gold became super rich.

Of course, unlike gold, if anyone did try to sell $1M worth of coins all at once the exchange rate would crash, as there simply isn't the demand there right now, but if they did it slowly they could really rack up some serious $$$ and for what? Simply having the good sense / luck / foresight to start mining in 2009 instead of 2011 like me

I think it's an incredible story and I hope someone takes the time to document all this properly, it will make an amazing movie.

[btcgolong]

I mine for future value, so I would much rather have 200 coins a day (worth pennies back then) than the 1 or 2 coins a week I'm mining now. If bitcoin works out, there are going to be a few people retiring as bitcoin millionaires. Plus it would have been a lot more exciting to be a part of this phenomenon 1 year ago, the only negative would be if your bitcoin stash got stolen.

I read a statistic that 90% of the coins are being hoarded, so maybe they are saving their bitcoins for their retirement.

[TangentX]

I see myself investing serious capital through 2012. Just wish I had started earlier.

[Vladimir]

I think it's an incredible story and I hope someone takes the time to document all this properly, it will make an amazing movie.

LOL, Yep, one day they will shoot a movie about it. I am ready to play myself.

[gnoll110]

If Bitcoin fails, then the Golden Age of Mining was in the past. Obvious I know.

If it's a long term success, the Golden Age of Mining is still to come. Why?

The encryption computations needed will continue to grow. While the direct coins generated will step down, the fees should replace them or more, as usage increases.

Just my 0.02 BTC worth.

[Gabi]

Well golden age was when difficulty was 1, or maybe when gpu mining appeared.

[malagant1979]

Everyone should hoard their BTC hoping that they will be worth more in the future - that is the best way to make sure they won't be ;O)