Everyone is after a bit of cryptocurrency these days, but is the Commodore 64 really the answer to mining Bitcoin? No.
But while earning is a better option than mining, some crypto enthusiasts are looking at retro systems to see what possibilities are available. The Nintendo Gameboy has already been used as a crypto miner but more recently is has been the Commodore 64’s turn thanks to YouTuber 8-Bit Show And Tell.
Written in C (with a hash rate of 0.3 per second) the C64 is of course hopeless at mining Bitcoin. But it can be speeded up slightly – writing the software in machine code could increase it by 10 times, while a SuperCPU accelerator cartridge could enhance the mining by 20 times.
Neither is likely to mine a Bitcoin within the lifetime of planet Earth, however. Nevertheless, 8-Bit Show And Tell have made a great video.
Can we strike it rich using “Bitcoin Miner 64” by YTM/Elysium on the Commodore 64? We’ll even pull out the SuperCPU 20MHz 65816 processor upgrade to see if it helps. Additionally we’ll set up a serial link from the C64 to a Windows 10 laptop to transfer a block to solve.
It’s a fun way to take advantage of a dormant C64, but don’t expect to make any money. You’ll make more selling the 8-bit legend!
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