A Prime Number Could Be the Answer to Bitcoin’s Power Problem
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Methods used by computers programmed to run a 350-year-old equation may also offer answers to bitcoin’s out-sized demand for electricity.
The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search found and confirmed the biggest known prime number, a 23-million-digit-long figure discovered with the math of 16th century French monk Marin Mersenne, according to a statement earlier this month. That effort, along with other collaborative computing methods, are advancing the science of cryptography, which is essential to creating and tracking bitcoins.