Given that the difficulty adjusts only every 2 weeks, that means that the time to find a block will vary enormously during the day as the demand/supply imbalance varies. That'll make BTC even more annoying than it is already (it's currently peak electricity demand where most of the miners are sitting, so I'll have to wait 3 hours for my 6 confirms?).
At any rate, you're basically saying that with renewable energy it's ok to waste energy, and I think we are not quite there yet.
>Given that the difficulty adjusts only every 2 weeks, that means that the time to find a block will vary enormously during the day as the demand/supply imbalance varies.
Isn't this a non-issue because mining is global? Peak time in europe doesn't mean it's peak time in north america or east asia.
Interesting question. If miners are approximately evenly distributed across timezones, it could be indeed the case, say, that those where demand is currently at its peak (following the sunlight) switch off their mining as electricity is expensive, and then switch back on as the sun leaves and electricity demand (and prices) fall.
I had assumed that mining is concentrated more. Empirical question.
Given that the difficulty adjusts only every 2 weeks, that means that the time to find a block will vary enormously during the day as the demand/supply imbalance varies. That'll make BTC even more annoying than it is already (it's currently peak electricity demand where most of the miners are sitting, so I'll have to wait 3 hours for my 6 confirms?).
At any rate, you're basically saying that with renewable energy it's ok to waste energy, and I think we are not quite there yet.