>>>>Hmm. Didn't expect to find you arguing the capitalist line :-}
>>>
>>>Was I?
>>>
>>>>The true cost of producing a bitcoin is, to all intents and purposes, zero. Why cause people to waste a valuable resource when they could just give it away ?
>>>
>>>How do you conclude the cost is essentially zero?
>>
>>Isn't it basic AES-256 encryption with a private key stored in the wallet. Where's the cost in generating that ?
>
>
>There's a few video tutorials about it. It relates to technology introduced in the 90s to reduce spam email. It was designed to force a mathematical burden on the task of sending an email. It would've taken a second or two to perform the computation necessary to sign the email.
>
>The algorithm is searching for hash keys which have a certain number of leading binary 0 bits. As a result, it is a brute force method to locate the next key, which is mathematically built atop prior keys.
>
>The mathematical burden was intentionally introduced to simulate real world efforts of strip mining for gold, for example. It costs money to find gold. It costs money to find bitcoins.
>
>It's also capped. There are only so many bitcoins which will ever be produced. It is, therefore, a hedge against inflation.
>
>It's rather ingenious.

True. But, ,AFAICS, beside the point. Yes, you have to go through hoops to get a bitcoin - but there is no reason that the process need be that laborious...