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8 Comments

  1. Steve
    August 9, 2018 @ 5:49 pm

    Thanks Rolf! I’ve been mining zencash since November. First with GPUs and now with ASICs (Inno A9s). I’ve been a huge fan of ASICs primarily due to power efficiency, ease of use, network security, having gamers not be pissed off, ability to mine in harsher weather, less maintenance, etc. I haven’t been a fan of switching to 144,5, but switching to Prog-POW and MTP may be intriguing. You brought up some great points. Glad you guys are giving this a lot of thought and not just jumping ship. What about waiting for the release of Nvidia’s next gen GPUs to consider it? The speed of the new GPUs, may deter/delay financial incentive for ASIC production on a new algo.
    Initially when there was just one known equihash ASIC the fear of centralization was high, but now with several manufacturers producing equihash ASICs I don’t think centralization is as big of a concern. Where can I find more information on the Governance protocol for Zencash?

    Reply

    • blockops
      August 9, 2018 @ 10:51 pm

      Steve, glad you are a ZenCash miner. Those Innosilicon A9’s are crazy efficient! I don’t have any, but a friend of mine does and he loves them. He’s going to order some of their X11 miners also. One of the other considerations is that ZenCash is a global cryptocurrency, and some countries have import restrictions on ASIC miners.

      The best way that I have found to get up to speed on ZenCash governance is by reading the research paper from IOHK and watching the video of the voting prototype here: https://blog.horizen.io/dao-prototype/

      Reply

  2. Joe
    August 10, 2018 @ 12:24 pm

    Appreciate the insight Rolf! I am happy you included the meme “When Fork?”. Abruptly changing the course of a company’s direction in the wake of external events is not a decision that can be taken likely. I don’t think I would be out of scope in saying the majority investing in crypto do not have an understanding of the challenges each company faces with the rapid technological advancements being made weekly, if not daily, in crypto. The high level you have provided gives a good overview of the challenges your team, and other companies in the crypto space, are facing. There is a ton of boxes to check and re-check before driving your company in an alternate direction. However, the “When Fork?” group seem to be focused on their own interests and have done little due diligence researching the security offered by advancing technology, the steps taken to govern centralization with the technological advancement of ASICs, and how to manage partnerships with developers and companies you do business with. Its a balancing act and any choice can completely tip that balance in the favor of your, and cryptocurrency’s longevity as a technology, or against you. Again I appreciate the insight you continue to provide as you, and your team, build the ZenCash company and help advance the technology.

    Reply

  3. johny
    August 15, 2018 @ 4:49 am

    “In the mining world, there are many miners who have GPU miners that are finding it unprofitable to mine either Zcash or ZenCash, because of multiple factors, one of them being the entry of Equihash ASIC miners into the marketplace. If ZenCash were to change to a version of the Equihash algorithm with parameters 144,5 that can not be currently mined by ASIC, there would be many GPU miners that were mining Zcash that would change over to mining ZenCash. They would then use our wallets, evaluate the potential of retaining mining earnings for Secure Nodes, and find out more about ZenCash, which would be good overall for the project.

    By making the change, ZenCash would have a chance, over the next year or so, to become the category leader in Equihash 144, 5. Depending on what the ASIC manufacturer’s decide, they might build an ASIC miner for Equihash 144, 5. At that point ZenCash would have the opportunity to be a category leader in an algorithm mined by ASIC’s. That would be a good position to be in from a project security standpoint.”

    This argument is very very odd. These miners will change to whatever they find most profitable. You have to count with USD/ZEN ratio vs other minable coins USD ratio in this. For me is the most important thing the security of network, and this can be achieved only by ASIC. I am not happy that my GPU rigs will become obsolete, but thats life. Changing parameters to have algo more memory intensive only leads to uncertainty. My friend is also fan of conspiracy theories so just imagine if you change algo and some goverment or another entity construct asic with enought memory in undercover and attack network.

    All things considered, for me is better to look over hashrate distribution between pools and stay with algo with latest technology and most effective mining.
    LET THE MARKET DECIDE THE FATE AND SUCCES OF ZEN, NOT THE MINERS (they are mostly only greedy bitc**s 🙂

    Reply

  4. congguang
    August 16, 2018 @ 8:22 am

    Decentralized, rejecting ASIC and creating the most fair and secure cryptocurrency in the world. If you use asic, then this fairness will be broken and become a product of centralization. What is the significance of decentralization? Resolutely resist ASIC.

    Reply

  5. CongGuang
    August 16, 2018 @ 8:38 am

    ASIC deconstructs de-centralization and becomes a product of concentration. There is no difference between ASIC and centralized server. A rich person can do it without fairness, without dispersion, without nodes in cities around the world. Resolutely reject ASIC, support GPU mining, reject ASIC, and never compromise.

    Reply

    • Johny Page
      August 17, 2018 @ 7:02 am

      ASIC resistance isnt decentralization……or you think that GPU huge operations facilities are kind of decentralization? LOL

      Reply

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