Citizens asking questions about strange equipment
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Several citizens who live in the lower part of Appling County have been raising questions about buildings/equipment being installed close to their homes. The equipment is sitting just off Holmesville Road and Bowers Road.
A number of citizens are learning and reporting that the equipment is associated with a type of Bitcoin mining operation.
Understanding Bitcoin
According to an article published on Bankrate.com, written
by Brian Baker, Bitcoin is one of the most popular types of cryptocurrencies, which are digital mediums of exchange that exist solely online. Bitcoin runs on a decentralized computer network or distributed ledger that tracks transactions in the cryptocurrency. When computers on the network verify and process transactions, new bitcoins are created, or mined. These networked computers, or miners, process the transaction in exchange
for a payment in Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is powered by blockchain, which is the technology that powers many cryptocurrencies. A blockchain is a decentralized
ledger of all the transactions across a network. Groups of approved transactions together form a block and are joined to create a chain. Think of it as a long public record that functions almost like a long-running receipt. Bitcoin mining is the process of adding a block to the chain.
How Bitcoin mining works
In order to successfully add a block, Bitcoin miners compete to solve extremely complex math problems that require the use of expensive computers and enormous amounts of electricity. To complete the mining process, miners must be first to arrive at the correct or closest answer to the question. The process of guessing the correct number (hash) is known as proof of work. Miners guess the target hash by randomly making as many guesses as quickly as they can, which requires major computing power. The difficulty only increases as more miners join the network.
The computer hardware required is known as application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs, and can cost up to $10,000. ASICs consume huge amounts of electricity, which has drawn criticism from environmental groups and limits the profitability of miners.
If a miner is able to successfully add a block to the blockchain,
they will receive 6.25 bitcoins as a reward. The reward amount is cut in half roughly every four years, or every 210,000 blocks. As of November 2023, Bitcoin traded at around $36,400, making 6.25 bitcoins worth $227,500.
One of the chief complaints associated with these types of facilities,
by neighbors living beside the facilities, is the constant noise associated with what is believed to be cooling fans for the computers. The fans and computers run day and night to earn crypto currencies.
