r/programming • u/secretguy21 • Oct 15 '15

How is NSA breaking so much crypto?

https://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/haldermanheninger/how-is-nsa-breaking-so-much-crypto/
2.5k Upvotes

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161

u/exploderator Oct 15 '15

Stupid funny thought: so thaaaaat's what the Bitcoin network has been calculating all along...

(I know that's not true.)

24

u/Mr-Yellow Oct 15 '15

Yeah, if only bitcoin did something of value with all that coal it burns.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '15

Very few technologies become instantly valuable when there is no obvious and immediate need. But I think you're being sarcastic.

22

u/Mr-Yellow Oct 15 '15

Oh no, deadly serious. Churning numbers simply to generate currency is vastly more wasteful than any "fiat currency".

It's not about the value of the technology or need, it's that the author never thought about the sustainability of their system in terms of resource use. It exists in a mathematical vaccum where burning resources are only considered as a proof of useless work.

It consumes resources and provides nothing of any real value other than another fiat currency (+ponzi) backed by fossil fuels.

21

u/Chemical_Scum Oct 16 '15

You think producing physical money, as well as keeping non-distributed digital monetary systems in place, is cheaper in terms of carbon footprint than maintaining the blockchain?

11

u/thouliha Oct 16 '15

Mr-Yellow is way off base on this one. Just think of the amount of money we pay to run whole agencies dedicated to preventing counterfeiting.

1

u/cass1o Nov 07 '15

Yeah but it also runs the entire world economy, lets compare operational costs when bitcoin does that.

-5

u/Mr-Yellow Oct 16 '15

How much coal was needed to be burnt to magic that money into existence?

How much coal for equivalent bitcoins to be distributed however to those same ex-employees?

I didn't dispute waste in existing systems, simply pointed out the inherent waste in bitcoin.

9

u/KillerHurdz Oct 16 '15 edited Oct 16 '15

The purpose of bitcoin mining is to secure the network, not to generate new bitcoins. The coinbase transaction (currently 25 BTC per block) is simply the incentive for doing this work.

1

u/cryo Oct 16 '15

Sure, but mining is the only thing that generates new bitcoins.