All About Ethereum, The New Cryptocurrency King

[Guest]

Everything you ever wanted to know about Ethereum, the new cryptocurrency challenging the Bitcoin hegemony.

All About Ethereum, The New Cryptocurrency King : Read more

 

[Neuspeed]

Support for Ethereum is non-existent. I had an error of "invalid shares", did the normal steps to resolve the issue, except the steps did not work. I posted on forms, sent emails, and get no help at all...

 

[Jsimenhoff]

Support for Ethereum is non-existent. I had an error of "invalid shares", did the normal steps to resolve the issue, except the steps did not work. I posted on forms, sent emails, and get no help at all...

As I talked about in the article, investing in cryptocurrencies right now should be taken with a heaping dose of "buyer beware." Not only are the markets incredibly unpredictable, the reliance on digital code means that there is plenty of room for error, as I'm sure our Tom's Hardware members are well aware of.

I've previously heard of issues similar to what you described. You may want to take your issues to social media. The community for Ethereum is vibrant, full of DIYers and hackers. They may be able to provide you with the help you need.

 

[Joe Black]

All crypto currencies will ultimately share a single 'pool' of demand. So with the rise of eth bc will probably take a hit and when many more crypto currencies come into play both eth and bc will have their returns moderated. Of course the general usefulness also plays a role, but that just plays into demand.

 

[redgarl]

It's a farwest right now. In a decade, it will be interesting to see where maturity bring us.

I might start looking into the Cryptocurrency at some point.

Multi-GPU, that we though was dead, is more than ever alive but for other applications. Neural Network and AI is depending heavily on GPUs. AMD and Nvidia have some good business opportunities here. It's funny how can things change so fast and that a Video card made for rendering graphic can now be the tool used for heavy calculations.

 

[RomeoReject]

How does one even get in to mining? I mean, I have a pair of AMD R9 280Xs that could probably help offset some of my living expenses...

 

[sinaptic]

If there’s going to be a run on video cards whenever one of these new cryptocurrencies metastasizes, then I hope AMD and Nvidia take advantage of the opportunity and get dedicated solutions for this kind of thing on the market sooner rather than later.

If it's like last time, the video card market will be disrupted for months as sellers squeeze every last dime out of this, and availability of some cards just never came back. If you frequently build/upgrade conventional systems for yourself and/or others (as I do) this is a colossal PITA.

 

[Jsimenhoff]

How does one even get in to mining? I mean, I have a pair of AMD R9 280Xs that could probably help offset some of my living expenses...

You certainly could! Especially if you re-purpose graphics cards you already own. You'll need to join a mining pool unfortunately and you won't be making huge amounts of money, but it would be something.

 

[Jsimenhoff]

If there’s going to be a run on video cards whenever one of these new cryptocurrencies metastasizes, then I hope AMD and Nvidia take advantage of the opportunity and get dedicated solutions for this kind of thing on the market sooner rather than later.

Dedicated solutions are coming sooner than you think.

 

[wolfram23]

Would be nice to stop promoting Ethereum. At least Bitcoin can be used to purchase goods, so in some ways it has assets backing it up (tho not like a fort knox full of gold). Etherium is literally ballooning because of advertising like this, and is significantly more volatile than bitcoin without any actual value or assets.

 

[satoshibro]

Nice job promoting a literal scamcoin. This site used to be good back in the late 90s and early 00s. BTW nothing is going to replace Bitcoin.

 

[jpishgar]

Neither of you clearly read the article, which presents the currency with its advantages and disadvantages. Please re-read the section of the article entitled "Volatile Future Ahead", which provides for significant disclaimer on the subject. If you still take issue with the article, assert why, and back it up with salient points rather than flatly naysaying.

Thanks!

-JP

 

[iamacow]

I hate Crytomining for the sole reason that it not helping humanity at all. At least Curecoins and Folding Coins are helping to save lifes and build a better future. All these are doing is wasting the worlds resources just a little faster.

But on a side note I sold a R9 290X for $350 the other day. I had it laying around from a Craigslist buy a few months before. Even sold my GTX 1070 for more than I paid retail last summer. People are really stupid to be buying systems. This one guy on Tweaktown wrote an article about having 40 GPUs making $900 a month. I will take YEARS to pay off that hardware. Ethereum already crash big once and every week the difficulty doubles. I give it about a month before all these people with maxed out credit cards go "oh S&*$$*".

 

[alextheblue]

Would be nice to stop promoting Ethereum. At least Bitcoin can be used to purchase goods, so in some ways it has assets backing it up (tho not like a fort knox full of gold). Etherium is literally ballooning because of advertising like this, and is significantly more volatile than bitcoin without any actual value or assets.

In a world of fiat currencies and monopoly money...
One man alone knows which imaginary cash is legit...
And which ones have no assets, no value, no future.

WOLFRAM 23! Coming soon to a theater near you.

 

[alextheblue]

The good news is that even if Ethereum switches to PoS, there are plenty of other cryptocurrencies you can mine.

I see you cleverly left out the word "profitably". Eth is probably the only GPU-friendly ASIC-unfriendly cryptocurrency which *currently* turns enough of a profit to really bother with. After the inevitable replacement of PoW with PoS for Eth, that may change as miners scramble to find a suitable ASIC-resistant (TRULY ASIC-resistant, like Eth has been) replacement. We'll see. The cycle will repeat. The Reapers are coming.

 

[sigma3d]

I hate Crytomining for the sole reason that it not helping humanity at all. At least Curecoins and Folding Coins are helping to save lifes and build a better future. All these are doing is wasting the worlds resources just a little faster.

But on a side note I sold a R9 290X for $350 the other day. I had it laying around from a Craigslist buy a few months before. Even sold my GTX 1070 for more than I paid retail last summer. People are really stupid to be buying systems. This one guy on Tweaktown wrote an article about having 40 GPUs making $900 a month. I will take YEARS to pay off that hardware. Ethereum already crash big once and every week the difficulty doubles. I give it about a month before all these people with maxed out credit cards go "oh S&*$$*".

Well, actually that guy making $5000 a month with 40 GPUs with current ethereum price. Assuming ether price will be same, the equipment will pay itself around 3-4 months. You can sell these cards afterwards. Its still a huge profit.

 

[cats_Paw]

I would change "new crypto king" to "new bubble/scam".
You do realize that in order for person A to make money on a crypto currency (aka gain currency) someone else has to loose it right?...

 

[scolaner]

I hate Crytomining for the sole reason that it not helping humanity at all. At least Curecoins and Folding Coins are helping to save lifes and build a better future. All these are doing is wasting the worlds resources just a little faster.

But on a side note I sold a R9 290X for $350 the other day. I had it laying around from a Craigslist buy a few months before. Even sold my GTX 1070 for more than I paid retail last summer. People are really stupid to be buying systems. This one guy on Tweaktown wrote an article about having 40 GPUs making $900 a month. I will take YEARS to pay off that hardware. Ethereum already crash big once and every week the difficulty doubles. I give it about a month before all these people with maxed out credit cards go "oh S&*$$*".

Well, actually that guy making $5000 a month with 40 GPUs with current ethereum price. Assuming ether price will be same, the equipment will pay itself around 3-4 months. You can sell these cards afterwards. Its still a huge profit.

You can sell the cards as long as they haven't burned out...3-4 months of mining is pretty brutal wear and tear on a GPU.

 

[TJ Hooker]

You do realize that in order for person A to make money on a crypto currency (aka gain currency) someone else has to loose it right?...

Er, what?
Please explain how a miner trading his hashing power in exchange for cryptocurrency is causing someone else to lose money/cryptocurrency.

 

[Oliver_67]

this link shows electricity of different countries:https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/average-electricity-prices-kwh.html
meaning US like China has very low electricity price compared to rest of the world.
And 30% of the total nodes of the eth network are inside US. You are not competing with China, but US of A.

 

[g-unit1111]

The people who are driving up GPU prices and causing the shortage though, can go, um, I probably shouldn't finish that sentence. :lol:

 

[Jsimenhoff]

this link shows electricity of different countries:https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/average-electricity-prices-kwh.html
meaning US like China has very low electricity price compared to rest of the world.
And 30% of the total nodes of the eth network are inside US. You are not competing with China, but US of A.

To clarify, that part of the article actually references Bitcoin mining in China not Ethereum. You are correct though, Ethereum mining is dominated by western groups.

 

[Jsimenhoff]

The people who are driving up GPU prices and causing the shortage though, can go, um, I probably shouldn't finish that sentence. :lol:

It's certainly a problem. The hardware manufacturers should definitely pay attention and sort out these supply issues ASAP. As we discussed in our recent article on the soaring costs of GTX 1070 retail prices, now is not the time to upgrade:

"As there are so many similarities between these two events, we suspect that it may take quite some time for prices to stabilize. Due to the recent increases in price and supply shortages, we recommend postponing GPU upgrades until prices have returned to normal if possible. Unfortunately, due to the nature of cryptocurrency, it is unpredictable how long it will take for prices to drop."

 

[g-unit1111]

The people who are driving up GPU prices and causing the shortage though, can go, um, I probably shouldn't finish that sentence. :lol:

It's certainly a problem. The hardware manufacturers should definitely pay attention and sort out these supply issues ASAP. As we discussed in our recent article on the soaring costs of GTX 1070 retail prices, now is not the time to upgrade:

"As there are so many similarities between these two events, we suspect that it may take quite some time for prices to stabilize. Due to the recent increases in price and supply shortages, we recommend postponing GPU upgrades until prices have returned to normal if possible. Unfortunately, due to the nature of cryptocurrency, it is unpredictable how long it will take for prices to drop."

I am in the market for a GPU upgrade and I want to get a 1070, particularly the Asus Strix model, but the price and availability are a major turn off. But I did like that Micro Center is letting coin miners know how they feel:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/466268/GeForce_GTX_1070_GAMING_X_8GB_GDDR5_PCIe_Video_Card

 

[TJ Hooker]

this link shows electricity of different countries:https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/average-electricity-prices-kwh.html
meaning US like China has very low electricity price compared to rest of the world.
And 30% of the total nodes of the eth network are inside US. You are not competing with China, but US of A.

Recently moved, just got my first bill (variable rate utility), cost me ~0.03 CAD per kWh
Due to various other admin charges and whatnot, my actual metered energy costs only accounted for ~$1.25 of my $20 bill...