Nostr Web Client

Top priorities for Bitcoin, if we want it to survive and thrive in the next 100 years:

1. Decentralise mining on the pleb side: home mining via tools like BitAxe, DATUM (Ocean).

2. Decentralisation of client implementations (Knots is a good start, but not the final goal).

3. Upscaling privacy both on protocol side and the user side (what nostr:nprofile1qqs0eac2gh86s9l24qfmnw52xawhz0f3d862yleaetpafygjmanaxlspzvs8wumn8ghj7ur4wfcxcetsv9njuetnqy28wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hssvr0qu is saying here).

The risk of not doing significant progress in the above areas in the next 5 years or less should be obvious. We’re already in the “then they fight you stage”, and contrary to popular belief, wining is not guaranteed. If we don’t want to become a meme, we must abandon silly mantras like “everything is good for bitcoin” or “bitcoin fixes itself”, and every single one of us should start doing his part. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

P.S. Core have been co-opted. Run their shit implementation at your own peril.

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leadbyexample 4mo ago 💬 3

whenever I read about decentralizing mining with current non miningfull nodes I scoff inside.

And here's why in numbers:

Assuming around 23,400 reachable full (non‑mining) Bitcoin nodes, if each ran typical server-grade or GPU/CPU-based mining hardware delivering ~50 MH/s (0.00000000005 EH/s per node), their combined hashrate would be roughly 0.0012 EH/s—practically zero compared to the real Bitcoin network's ~1,008.6 EH/s

CoinWarz

. In contrast, if each of these nodes instead deployed an open‑source Bitaxe Gamma unit—which delivers around 1.0 to 1.2 terahashes per second (TH/s) per device

bitaxeshop.com

DTV Electronics

—the total would reach about 28 to 28.1 EH/s, still only ~2.8% of the current network hashrate.

Conclusion: Even if every full node ran a Bitaxe Gamma, the total would be a modest fraction (~2–3%) of today’s network power—not enough to meaningfully impact or decentralize the overall hashrate.

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Discussion

Tauri 4mo ago

Thanks for the napkin math. Here’s another angle. The total number of nodes is around 100k (listening and non). If everyone deployed a BitAxe and we use your numbers, we’re not talking 2–3% of the hash power but 8–12%. That’s not insignificant. Most pleb miners also run more than one BitAxe. On top of that, the number of non-mining nodes has been trending up. If many of them start building their own templates, that would mark a serious shift toward mining decentralisation compared to today, where only a handful of nodes do it (excluding Ocean/Datum).

Gary Woodfine 4mo ago 💬 1

I accept and acknowledge this viewpoint. However, would the counter to this be that if a large number of vendors, retailers, etc all started running full nodes with several miners (bitaxes and similar) along with a high volume of private individuals, this picture drastically changes.

What if your average French village Boulangerie started running nodes and miners and starts conducting transactions. It doesn’t need the support of a large Texas based thunder farm

From my experience the average bitaxe miner generally runs more than one, heck I have 5 just on my office desk.

I appreciate this scenario requires a lot of people and stakeholders to get involved and take accountability, but that is after all what hyper bitcoinization requires

leadbyexample 4mo ago 💬 2

Have you done some math about the bitaxe profitability? I did not because I went checking and they cost more than a faily older but way faster asic on the refurbished market. The idea is rommantically beautiful but it also needs to be economically sustainable at least in the medium-to-long term, and I just don't see it with Bitaxe's

Gary Woodfine 4mo ago

Power consumption is key

Gary Woodfine 4mo ago 💬 2

The harsh reality is a single bitaxe will stand as much chance as a single S21 at mining a block every 10 minutes.

Going for an S21 does require a little more investment and running costs.

Bitaxe costs as much as running an LED bulb 24/7 , S21 is significantly more.

Comes to profitability it’s horses for courses you play the lottery or rely on how good your pool is at distributions

With Bitaxe you’re kinda restricted to a few pools, Ocean and couple of others but the distributions are just few sats a month, nothing really to write home about

Gary Woodfine 4mo ago

Probably should add that solo mining profitability went the way of the Dodo back in 2014 or so . Solo mining today, is just purely about the thrill of hitting the lottery.

It’s possible and it has been done on several occasions but it is highly unlikely

leadbyexample 4mo ago 💬 1

Thank you, I was not expecting anything different... that is why I don't feel too interested in getting myself a miner, purely altruistic behaviour goes against my philosophy 😉

Gary Woodfine 4mo ago

I get that . You’ll get no judgement from me on that account. It is what it is

GermanHodl 4mo ago

If they would instead use miners to heat their homes it would reach 25% (if 1 Mio people did that). This is also some napkin math I did some time ago.