Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies that employ the Proof of Work concept have recently been having a hard time. This comes as a result of the recent surge of crypto mining hardware, particularly ASICs.
Experts say Bitcoin and blockchain founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, envisioned a decentralized cryptocurrency mining system spread over a large pool. Unfortunately, things seem to have taken a different turn. It appears a few major miners seem to be the ones reaping the biggest share.
Major cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturers such as Chinese manufacturer, Bitmain have been dominating the mining scene. Bitmain which manufactures ASIC miners has been setting up cryptocurrency mining facilities in different locations. The problem with this approach is that it is unfair especially for other miners in terms of mining scale and price. The ASIC manufacturer has also received accusations of establishing secret cryptocurrency mining facilities.
Such digital currency mining firms have been centralizing cryptocurrency mining and this has become a source of concern for many cryptocurrency projects. Market experts claim that Bitmain has not shown much consideration towards the impact of its mining strategy.
David Vorick, founder of Siacoin (SC), states that secret ASIC miners account for more than 50% of Monero’s (XMR) hash rate. It took nearly 12 months for that discovery. This means that a large proportion of Monero’s mining gains belonged to a small percentage of the entire mining group.
Vorick claims that there are secret ASICs from the underground mining industry. He also shares that crypto mining farms pay millions to access unique designs for mining specific digital coins. Another belief he has is there’s a secret group of miners behind every block reward valued above $20 million. Vorick says that ASIC mining has become so advanced due to the limited money miners compete for.
ASIC miners have become quite controversial and a rather big nuisance for cryptocurrency projects. However, developers have been trying to hit back by introducing more resistance through algorithms. Unfortunately, Vorick and other developers in the market don’t believe this is an easily won battle.
The Siacoin founder wrote it is hard to beat ASICs. This due partly to custom hardware, constantly being developed, is outperforming general purpose hardware. Unfortunately, this is one of many issues affecting the cryptocurrency market and overwhelming developers.
