As the price for Bitcoin and ETH has skyrocketed interest in how they are created has soared. Cryptocurrency remains a mystery to the vast majority of the public and the terms employed to describe the creation of it makes this worse.
For a coin/token to come in to existence and be recorded on the Blockchain it must be ‘mined’. This involves your computer completing a ‘proof of work’ calculation to win the right to record the next ‘Block’ on the Blockchain. This happens every 10 minutes approximately.
It’s as simple as that
For winning this right you are rewarded with a specific number of coins. This started out at 50 coins and is reduced by half approximately every 4 years. The current reward is 12.5 bitcoins.
There are two ways to own Bitcoin or ETH, you either pay an incredibly high price for one or you mine them at a, potentially, far lower cost.
Cryptomining started out with a few thousand distributed idealists trying to create a revolution. As the price grew, operations were moved to cheaper areas of the world and mining power became a centralised and focused commodity.
Energy consumption required to mine each block has increased significantly as has the impact on the environment.
Mining now occurs in areas of the world where social and environmental standards are low and electricity is produced using predominantly fossil fuels. This is terrible for the environment.
Even worse, the concentration of mining power is in the hands of a few large corporations which distorts the democratic decision-making process in these networks: changes in protocols and hard forks are in danger of being influenced by the economic interests of a few. This detrimentally effects the evolution of these coins and in many ways is the antithesis of what they were intended for.
Personally, I care deeply about the morality and ethics of companies I adopt because they reflect who I am. The day’s of Capitalist multi-nationals exploiting tax loopholes while outsourcing labour internationally, driving down wages locally and exploiting derisory living conditions and abominable standards of living abroad are coming to an end. Millennials, and increasingly every other generation as well, care about what the companies they support stand for.
There are a million different options out there — how do you find a reputable company who you can trust to deliver what they promise? How can you find a company that is capable of the technological feats they boast when their are no reviews of the products they are offering?
Cryptomining is such a recent innovation that there is no mechanism to ensure trust. Do you want to participate in a subscription based model or do you want to invest in something upfront which pays you back over time providing you an opportunity to participate at a fixed cost? These are all questions you must answer before deciding the route that’s right for you.
I was looking for a company where I could invest at a flat fee— without the need for a continued commitment to fund operations. I know upfront what my cost is, invest how much I can afford and profit over a significant period of time.
I am able to cap my risk while allowing my potential reward to be far higher than is currently possible. To participate in mining you need to buy the technology that allows you to undertake the complex calculation to solve the ‘proof of work’ problem and join a mining collective to have any realistic chance of getting a share of the reward.
For my investment I will own part of a world class infrastructure — pay none of the maintenance or running costs — and get a share of any profits accrued.
Additionally, the more efficient they become at operating — the more the environment benefits. The energy they use comes from the excess capacity of renewable energy generators . This significantly decreases the cost of electricity required to run their Mobile mining units (MMU’s) which are placed directly at source.
After the ICO closes, Envion will immediately begin building a significant fleet of MMU’s which will be transported to location and form a distributed mining network which is utilised according to the available excess capacity. Mining operations will begin as soon as the first MMU has been created and shipped to location.
As a portion of profits are going to be continuously reinvested more Mobile Mining Units will be purchased allowing more mining to occur at the same time. This self-expanding infrastructure leads to more capacity in the system to earn for investors — meaning I get more money in my pocket for no further investment.
Almost everything you purchase has a Processing unit. This is the motor required to mine Cryptocurrency. The fuel is the electricity it consumes during usage.
This could be during periods which it isn’t being used — for appliances, televisions, stereo systems etc. this is around 80% of the day — or a % of processing could be forfeited in return for micro-payments.
Take that a step further and imagine a world where MMU’s are widely adopted and distributed locally to exploit the excess capacity of every solar cell or wind turbine.