Quote from: ihopedso on March 26, 2013, 08:03:45 PM

I have been following the stories and it seems like the next thing coming for mining is specialized ASIC mining machines.

These things cost a lot of money, centralizing the power to an elite group who can afford 30K+ machines. And more importantly, this could just be the beginning, leading to machines that cost millions to build in order to mine. Pushing out almost everyone.

Does this in a way undermine the concept of bitcoin as a decentralized currency? In the beginning everyone could take part in the supply of bitcoins, but it will become fewer and fewer.

I didn't think so with GPU mining but this seems to be a whole new level entirely.

What are you thoughts? Feel free to call me crazy and tell me how I'm wrong but preferably in a nice way. Preferably clear and in depth answers that can help everyone understand the situation we are facing better.

ASIC probably de-centralized bitcoin.

Several pools will pop up. More options, More choice.

De-centralized.

Those old pool ops were on cloud nine...........