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Hello! Here are the instructions to my Math Assignment: Stars indicate the difficulty of the questions. You must fully explain all answers, unless explicitly directed
Hello! Here are the instructions to my Math Assignment: Stars indicate the difficulty of the questions. You must fully explain all answers, unless explicitly directed otherwise (proper mathematical communication is graded).
Bitcoins are created in a process that goes something like this: people (\"miners\") find solutions (\"blocks\") to a computationally intensive mathematical problem. The miners who find the latest block may turn that block into brand-new bitcoins, that didn't exist before. This is the \"reward\" for finding a block. Over time, the amount of bitcoins created from each block decreases. Specifically, the reward for finding a block halves every 210,000 blocks. At first, each block could be used to create 50 bitcoins. After 210,000 blocks had been found, the next 210,000 blocks could only be used to create 25 bitcoins each, and so on. In reality, there is a smallest recordable unit of a bitcoin. So when blocks mint tiny fractions of bitcoins, rather than being recorded with perfect accuracy, there is some rounding involved. For this question, unless instructed otherwise, we will pretend that this rounding does not happen. (Dealing with rounding/truncation would make this question very long. As you'll see, the error we introduce by ignoring them is quite small.) (a) Assume that bitcoins can be halved indefinitely, and recorded with perfect accuracy. How many bitcoins could possibly come into existence from mining blocks? We'll call this number B. 1 (b) % %3 Under the assumptions from part (a), how many blocks will it take to mint B bitcoins? How may blocks will it take to mint %B bitcoins? (c) Hrrvr Suppose after 210,000 - 33 blocks have been mined, the value of the next block would be too small to record. New bitcoins will no longer be minted from blocks. Under these assumptions, what is the error in your answer from (a)? That is, what is the difference in the total potential supply of bitcoins under the assumption that they can be minted forever, versus the assumption that they can only be minted from the first 210, 000 - 33 blocks? You may use a calculator at the last step to give the answer. Leave at least 2 significant figuresStep by Step Solution
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