Has anyone noticed a spike in power usage in your space?

[Tony Bacigalupo]

Cryptocurrency mining is a thing we may need to be looking out for now:

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/d3zn9a/ethereum-mining-transaction-electricity-consumption-bitcoin

People are using their computers (or even special dedicated computers) to the mining of cryptocurrencies. This means, essentially, they're turning electricity and computing power into money.

In many cases it's not worth it to do this, because the cost of the electricity to run a computer at full blast 24x7 for weeks on end doesn't generate enough revenue to justify the expense. 

But if someone sets up some of these stations inside a coworking space, then you're footing the bill on their behalf.

So if you've noticed a sudden inexplicable spike in power consumption in your space, investigate to see if there are any crypto miners in your midst!

I haven't heard stories of this happening yet, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't happen eventually if it's not happening already. 

Tony

[Bernie J Mitchell]

Wow! 

Have a remarkable day

Bernie J Mitchell
0777 204 2012

www.berniejmitchell.com

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[Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking]

We actually have a mining machine going at our space. Some members have put it together and made it fun little side project for us. We are only doing this because 1) I have a full gross lease so the electricity costs are built in 2) It's only one machine.

This is something I wouldn't allow if I didn't view it as a fun community hobby for several members and because my electricity costs are covered. When my member first offered to add a mining machine to our space he offered to pay for electricity. His wife just wanted it out of the house. He mentioned the machine in the Slack channel and several members jump onboard and it became a community.

You can view these machines are electricity hogs (don't allow that) or as a community builder. If it's a community builder then it might be worth the extra $30 or so extra it costs a month to operate. If not, space owners might want to add special language preventing it into their guidelines.

[Ray Doeksen]

It really is an interesting thing, though.

Rather than needing a specific rule against a specific thing, a space I'm a member of (member-driven space) has the general community norm that all areas have a volunteer steward of sorts, and that person is expected to manage that chunk of space ... so they'd have to be explicitly told of anything new that would be left, either as a project or a space-shared tool. That kinda covers it ... if someone is willing to deal with it and take responsibility for it, it can happen. If not, not. 

I'd very much like to have someone set up a mining rig .. if they were willing to talk about it and let others learn from the experience. 

In the winter, at least, the heat generated would nearly balance out any electricity cost in our climate.