This is the first vernacular block chain of 1248 Original Creativity
author | Fangfang
produced | vernacular Block Chaining (ID: hellobtc)
We often see news about Bitcoin mining machines in media reports in the industry, and recently many media have reported on 8nm mining machines. But did you know that Bitcoin mining machines have actually undergone several generations of upgrades, and it was possible to mine with ordinary home computers at the earliest .
Today, we will briefly sort out the evolution of mining machines.
The earliest Bitcoin mining machine was an ordinary home computer, which used the computer's CPU to mine. On January 3, 2019, the first batch of Bitcoins (50 coins) was dug out by Satoshi Nakamoto through an ordinary computer. In the article " Can ordinary home computers make money by mining? ", we also mentioned that in the American drama "The Big Bang Theory", Sheldon used Howard's old laptop seven years ago. Digged some bitcoins.
The blockchain industry has its own festival- Pizza Festival , to commemorate a programmer named "Laszlo Hanyecz" who successfully exchanged 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas on May 22, 2010 , becoming the first A person who buys goods through Bitcoin. This programmer digs bitcoins through ordinary computers. Later, according to interviews, he also sold a lot of bitcoins to buy a new computer, and he became the first person to mine with GPU .
The second-generation Bitcoin mining machine changed from CPU mining to GPU mining. GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit, is the processor of the graphics card. On September 18, 2010, the first graphics card mining software was released. Due to the high overlap between the computing power of the GPU and the calculation of mining, the GPU in a graphics card is equivalent to dozens of CPUs, and the mining efficiency is greatly improved. Many people have turned to GPU mining, and mining equipment assembled from one or more high-end graphics cards was born.
▲ Graphics card mining (GPU mining)
How to DIY a graphics card miner? You can check the previous tweet of the vernacular blockchain " Can't the mining machine get it?" DIY graphics card miners lie down and earn ." It should be noted that Ethereum 2.0 will switch to PoS, so the graphics card will not be suitable for Ethereum mining in the article in the future, but other cryptocurrencies that support graphics card mining can still be used as a reference.
With the rapid growth of Bitcoin prices, more and more people have joined the mining industry. Bitcoin's entire network computing power continues to hit new highs. The third generation of Bitcoin mining machines-professional mining machines, came into being.
▲ ASIC mining machine
In December 2012, the first ASIC mining machine manufacturer—Butterfly Mining Machine was born; in early 2013, Pumpkin Zhang developed the first FPGA mining machine—Pumpkin Machine, which opened a new era of FPGA mining. Unfortunately, FPGA mining machines did not last long before they were eliminated from the market. Instead, ASIC mining machines developed rapidly. In recent years, ASIC mining machines have undergone iterative upgrades from 110nm, 55nm, 28nm, and 16nm.
▲ The evolution of Bitcoin mining machines, source: Whale Research Institute
In addition to the replacement of mining machines, the form of Bitcoin mining has also changed. At first, everyone used their own computer to mine. Later, with the increase in the computing power of the entire network, the profit of the "single fight" mining method was too low, so professional mining pools appeared , and the miners took their own computing power. Join the mining pool for joint mining. With the birth of more and more mining pools, the competition among mining pools has become extremely fierce, and the income has gradually decreased. Many mining pools have been forced to close due to the arrival of the bear market, and mining machines have been sold on a cat. Mining has become a very specialized and large-scale industry.
In order to meet the needs of ordinary people to participate in mining, cloud mining came into being. Cloud mining refers to mining by invoking remote cloud computing power. Users only need to rent the required computing power from the relevant company. Previously, the vernacular blockchain reported on Bitfawn cloud mining services, please see the article "The market is getting warmer, the cloud mining with simple operation, low investment, and intuitive profit is popular ". In addition to Bit Deer, OXBTC is also a well-known cloud mining service provider.
At this stage, do you think ordinary people are still suitable for participating in mining? why?Welcome to leave a message in the message area.
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Previous post : Popular Science | What is Bitcoin Mining?
"Disclaimer: This article is the author's independent point of view, and does not represent the vernacular blockchain position. This content is only for the popular science learning and exchanges of encryption enthusiasts, and does not constitute investment opinions or suggestions. Please take a rational view, establish a correct concept, and increase risk awareness. The copyright of the article and the final interpretation right belong to the vernacular blockchain. 』
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