Daniel Heiss

Mining is the process that is used to generate cryptographic currencies such as Bitcoin. Performing a Bitcoin transaction requires that hash values meeting certain requirements be found using bruteforce methods. After this hash value has been discovered, a new block of transactions is added to the blockchain. The first miner who finds a given hash value is also rewarded with a specified quantity of newly generated Bitcoins. The combined computing power of all miners taking part in the Bitcoin network is now many times greater than that of the world's TOP500 supercomputers.

In »KryptoLab«, prospecting for digital gold takes place live on various forms of hardware. Here the rapid development of the hardware, from a simple workplace computer to a highly specialized ASIC miner from China, can also be traced. At a one-shot miner that was specially developed for the exhibition, visitors can press a button to try their luck at mining a block themselves and perhaps winning 12.5 Bitcoins as their reward. The odds of doing so, however, are far lower than the chances of winning the lottery.

The values generated by the miners in »KryptoLab« are being made available to visitors in a series of workshops as part of the exhibition so that visitors can try out interacting with this abstract medium themselves.