Bitcoin network out-muscles top 500 supercomputers

Bitcoin network out-muscles top 500 supercomputers

Is the bitcoin network the most powerful distributed computing system -- hence, the most powerful computer, period -- on Earth? Maybe, although the designation comes marked with a few asterisks. According to Bitcoin Charts, which tracks activity on the distributed global network of bitcoin mining computers, the network has achieved a hashrate (the rate at which new blocks of bitcoins are mined) of 1039.79 petaflops, or more than 1 exaflops. As The Genesis Block points out, that's more than eight times the performance level of the world's 500 most powerful supercomputers. (A few notes on....


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