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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I spoke to a friend of mine some time back who has done some mining, and what I remember about what he said was:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Originally, the problems were pretty easy, but they get harder as each problem is solved. Now the problems are very hard, so that at this point, you almost have to buy an asic-based ‘solution’, because otherwise the cost of electricity will wipe out your bitcoin ‘payment’.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>(Interesting that some of the guys who make and sell those ASIC solutions will accept bitcoin in payment)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The sad thing is that the problems you are solving have no ‘socially redeeming value’ – you are not solving any real-world problems. I think you aren’t even computing pi to a quadrillion decimal places ;-)</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>