Any electronic device capable of performing calculations shall have a specified performance. In the case of cryptocurrencies digging, this efficiency is determined by the hash per second parameter, which, as the name suggests, means the number of hashes substituted for the last block in an attempt to encrypt it.
Hardware is uneven. An average computer, phone, tablet is adapted to make many calculations per second, but these calculations are made independently of each other and often require different algorithms, or simply rely on other types of calculations, both less and more complex. Let’s take the example of an ordinary home computer, its task is not only to serve as a calculator, but also to process sounds, images, or many other processes in the same second independently of each other. At the moment of digging on such a device, only a small part of it would work on the proper process, consuming it too much, leaving the rest of the device useless. The work of such a device would therefore be simply inefficient. Additionally, you need to know that not every process is based on the same kind of calculations. The fact that some component of our computer can calculate a certain type of equations, such as a processor, does not mean that the graphics card will work equally well in the same role and vice versa.
Types of mining equipment.
Every increase in the value of the Bitcoin coin attracts crowds of people who would like to earn money from it. However, since its supply is very limited, everyone interested in digging Bitcoin tries to optimize their capacity as much as possible. Mining is usually optimized in two ways, the first is the world’s most common search for cheap energy sources, the second is the development of better and better equipment with higher computing power. Let’s take a look at the picture below and see how the performance of digging equipment has evolved over the years.
2014 was a breakthrough year for Bitcoin miners. Just as before, the construction of better equipment was not yet extremely expensive, so in the case of Asic systems we are already dealing with a really big capital. Designing and launching production lines manufacturing special components for Bitcoin “excavators” such as ASICs costs from several dozen to even several hundred million dollars. After investing so much money, the first equipment leaving the factories will still reach the market after about a year to even 2 years due to a number of additional tests and optimizations that have to pass successfully.
From the moment the first excavators were created to the moment the first Asic systems were launched on the market, there was a huge technological leap. The new generation of equipment was often several dozen or even hundreds of times more efficient than its predecessor, which was a huge blow to the late investors, whose equipment became useless overnight. However, when the first ASICs entered the market, mankind encountered a certain technological barrier. I used the word humanity instead of the word community focused on digging on purpose. The barrier encountered by today’s miners does not only affect the bitcoin excavators themselves, but also all the electronics used in the world today. For there is no better method of calculation than specialized systems, and the only way to improve their performance is to constantly reduce the size of the chips they use.
Developing smaller and smaller chips is even more complicated and costly than launching new production lines, as in addition to the know-how itself, additional years of very expensive research are needed. Whether they are successful or not depends not only on the experience of specific technology companies, but also and above all on the currently available technologies and raw materials that do not always want to cooperate with electronics. However, if someone is tempted to use smaller chips in the new generation of excavators based on Asic systems, as was the case at the beginning of 2018, he or she will no longer achieve such a significant advantage over other market players as he or she did years ago. Smaller chips, which will be used in the new generation of devices, allow to achieve only several dozen or so percent advantage over its forerunner. This is because, contrary to appearances, in such a situation there is no new method of calculating equations, but only compression of the whole device. The final plate inside the excavator will consume the same amount of energy as before, with the difference that the new device will contain a larger number of chips on the same surface, so that the excavator will have proportionally, so much more computing power, if the chip size has been reduced.
