The developer Maciej Vitkoviak has published a code that allows you to mine bitcoins on the Commodore 64 – one of the first serial computers. The code is available on the GitHub platform for anyone.
Recall that the adaptation of completely inappropriate mining platforms has become a kind of challenge for many fans of blockchain assets. Previously, a Tesla electric car and even Nintendo’s Game Boy portable game console were adapted for Bitcoin mining. Let’s talk about the current situation in more detail.
The Commodore 64 was a successful 8-bit personal computer focused on gaming and music production. First sold in 1982, it soon conquered the low-cost computer market.
The device has a total of 64 kibbytes – one thousandth of a megabyte – of RAM. For comparison: the amount of RAM in modern computers usually ranges from 4 to 32 gigabytes, that is, the capabilities of this device are very limited.
How to mine cryptocurrency on an old computer?
Mining is performing complex calculations in the hope of finding the right solution in order to add a new block to an existing blockchain, and do it before other miners. Almost any computer is able to participate in the mining process, which boils down to processing hash functions, but there is not much point in this. Still, modern miners use specialized mining hardware called ASICs to provide a sane income given the current complexity of the network.
Modern computers and video cards cannot compete with them. Even if you direct the capacity to mine BTC using special software, the income will be too small. Therefore, it is better to use video cards for mining other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Ravencoin and others. We recommend doing this on the 2Miners mining pool, where, among other things, there are detailed instructions on how to start mining.
Maciej Vitkoviak noted that the hash rate of the Commodore 64 is 0.2 hash per second, Decrypt reports. For comparison, a modern ASIC miner like the Antminer T19 performs work at a speed of 84 terahesh per second, that is, 84 trillion hashes per second. Therefore, with the Commodore 64, you will definitely not be able to earn at least some amount on mining, because it simply cannot compete with modern devices.
We have checked the actual data. At the moment, the hashrate of the Bitcoin network – that is, the sum of all computing power in it – is at an all-time high. Two conclusions can be drawn from this. First, the cryptocurrency network is more secure than ever, as it will require record hardware costs to create the unlikely possibility of creating problems for it. Secondly, the competition for blocks is now more intense than ever, which makes it very difficult to mine BTC.
Under these conditions, the archived Commodore 64 is even more useless for Bitcoin mining than it was a few months ago.
However, the point here is different: thanks to such interesting projects, cryptocurrency lovers show how flexible the Bitcoin network can be. In fact, all that is needed for mining is at least some kind of machine that can perform calculations. In addition, such ideas are reminiscent of the early days of cryptocurrency. Recall that miners did not previously need powerful specialized equipment, because because of the low complexity, bitcoins could be mined even using the processor of an ordinary user computer.
As a result, it is obvious that problems with the «hardware» or something like that will not prevent the global development of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Yes, in the short term, any problems with the supply of ASIC miners will cause excitement in the market, but the crypt will not disappear anyway.
Even with problems with the Internet connection, bitcoins can be transmitted by radio if something happens. Well, if any global organization or government wants to strike a blow at the ecosystem of digital assets, this initiative will be doomed to failure. After all, even the old Commodore 64 is ready to ensure the operability of the cryptocurrency network.
We believe that the developer’s initiative was useful in any case. And although Maciej will definitely not be able to make money on such mining, he once again clearly demonstrated the flexibility of the cryptocurrency network. In addition, it became obvious that sending the blockchain offline will not work: if necessary, any computing devices can maintain the performance of Bitcoin.
