With the recent price surge of Bitcoin, I’ve been getting a few messages from people asking about the viability of building a GPU-based rig to mine bitcoins directly. Don’t do that! GPU mining is only suitable for scrypt-based cryptocurrency (Litecoin, etc). If you’re interested in mining Bitcoin, then you absolutely must use ASIC hardware if […]
Archive for 2013
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Undervolting in Linux via modified video BIOS
October 10th, 2013 
CryptoBadger For a long time, I’ve held off on writing a guide about modifying your video BIOS for the purpose of lowering voltage. Undervolting has the potential to reduce power draw by about 50 watts per GPU, so it’s easy to understand the appeal—you’ll see a significant savings on your electricity bill if you’re running a […]
bitcointalk.org forums hacked, user accounts for sale
October 3rd, 2013 CryptoBadger The popular cryptocurrency forum bitcointalk.org (the site is currently down) was breached by hackers yesterday. Apparently the hackers were able to gain access to the site database and obtain the complete list of ~150,000 user accounts, along with each user’s hashed password. The hackers are now offering the list up for sale to any interested […]
mcxNOW paying out interest on cryptocurrency deposits
September 11th, 2013 CryptoBadger Yesterday, mcxNOW—a cryptocurrency exchange supporting Bitcoin, Litecoin, and several other altcoins—started paying its users interest on their digital deposits. The interest rate is variable and dictated by the trading fees collected by the exchange. It’s an interesting move, and if it’s successful in significantly growing mcxNOW’s user base, you can bet that other exchanges will […]
Bitcoin kiosks coming to five Canadian cities
September 8th, 2013 CryptoBadger Soon, Canadians will be able to exchange cash for Bitcoins at automated kiosks similar to ATMs. Bitcoiniacs, a Vancouver-based brick-and-mortar bitcoin broker, has ordered five of the kiosks and intends to roll them out across Canada in the coming months. The first machine is expected to land in Vancouver this October. From the article: The […]
1000 watt gold-rated modular power supply for $125 after rebate at Amazon
August 17th, 2013 CryptoBadger Amazon currently has an excellent deal on a Cooler Master 1000 watt gold-certified fully modular power supply. It’s $125 after a $30 mail-in rebate, which makes it about $75 cheaper than its normal price (new units on eBay typically sell for nearly $200). This PSU is reportedly a re-badged Seasonic and should have no problem […]
Android Bitcoin & Litecoin wallets potentially vulnerable to theft due to coding flaw
August 11th, 2013 CryptoBadger Due to a serious flaw in the Java secure random number generator used by many Bitcoin applications on the Android operating system, any wallets generated by Android apps are potentially vulnerable to theft. While the advisory on bitcoin.org only mentions Bitcoin, the flawed code is also used in many Android Litecoin wallets, and probably also […]
Sapphire 7970 GPU $299 after rebate at Amazon
August 10th, 2013 CryptoBadger Amazon is currently selling Sapphire 7970 video cards for about the same price as a 7950—$299 after a $20 rebate. While I generally don’t recommend Radeon 7970 GPUs as my top choice for mining due to their higher power consumption and up-front cost compared to the 7950, if you have abnormally cheap electricity or plan to […]
CyberPower 900W Intelligent UPS deal at Amazon
August 5th, 2013 CryptoBadger If any of you are looking for a quality UPS & surge protector for your mining rigs, Amazon currently has a deal on a 900 watt CyberPower unit. 900 watts is plenty for a three GPU rig and will give you enough time to cleanly shut down your rig in the event of an outage […]
Bitcoin legality questioned in Thailand
July 29th, 2013 CryptoBadger Today the Thai-based Bitcoin Co. Ltd., an online bitcoin currency exchange, was forced to shutter operations after receiving notice from the Bank of Thailand that Bitcoin might be illegal due to the lack of any laws that explicitly allow it. From their website: At the conclusion of the meeting senior members of the Foreign Exchange Administration and […]
