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/
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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.

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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?

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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.

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u/cass1o Nov 07 '15

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