Entanglement: A Modern Frankenstein | Creation

2.2: Other Than Jealousy

Austin, Texas | May | Tristan

(continued)

Tristan was shaking his head. He knew Lexa never planned to mine cryptocurrency using quantum as a business, but the idea had worked out.

Tristan wasn't an expert in cryptocurrency, but he knew more than most. He knew that instead of being backed by a government, like the US to the US dollar or China to the yuan, cryptocurrency is backed by a vast network of ledgers on the internet. Cryptocurrency could be exchanged into dollars or yuan, though the form of currency was more volatile and less accepted. These ledgers track the history of every unit of that currency. Every transaction is added to that ledger. Copies of the ledger are spread across the world. What makes these ledgers secure is that every ledger has to match up with every other ledger. If someone wanted to hack into the system, they would have to simultaneously hack every ledger. Cheating the system would require so much coordination and processing power that it would cost more than then billions that would be gained.

Unlike a bank, a ledger doesn't care about owner names—from what Tristan understood. It just has keys. Those keys are nothing more than long and unique passwords. As far as the ledger is concerned, the owner is the one with the key. That anonymity along with the security were aspects people enjoyed about cryptocurrency.

The reason it takes so much processing power is that calculating and comparing the ledgers takes processing power. The system was designed to be work-intensive. Lexa's system was one of tens of thousands of other machines across the world processing these ledgers. The work required to make and maintain these systems creates additional value in the system and also is the key to its security. Crypto miners like Lexa are rewarded for building and maintaining the ledgers by earning new cryptocurrency for their contribution.

Quantum computing should not have been the ideal platform for crypto mining at this point. Even Lexa believed quantum computers were too new, too unknown, and, most of all, too expensive to be profitable, but her first machines had proven so successful that she had attracted a client who was now paying her to create cryptocurrency on her machines.

"Listen to yourself," Tristan chided. "They pay in crypto because that's what you do. You mine their crypto. That's their business! They don't want to be software business owners. They want to make money."

Lexa rolled her eyes. "Obviously I get that. It's just moving too fast. I want a moment to set this up right. I want a proper location. I do! I want a real name, not the stupid name that is on everyone's paychecks here." The developer didn't look up or slow in his work, but gave a soft chuckle.

"I want a stable algorithm," Lexa stated. "I want my system to work so I can get them the twenty instances using the quantum processor they wanted yesterday. If I had that, then I'd be comfortable with their money. If I was comfortable with the money, I'd get an office. It just shouldn't be this hard."

Tristan started to put a hand on her shoulder, but the look in her eyes redirected his hand. He attempted to use a consoling voice, "But it is. If it—"

"G'damn! If it wasn't so hard, everyone would be doing it and there wouldn't be any money in it," she said in a mocking, robotic tone of voice. "I'm not stupid, Tristan. My company's name is, but not me."

"I didn't say—"

"Just go make your next million and let me get this algorithm working. With all these 'rockstars' even a stupid idiot who hasn't been successful yet should be able to spin up and connect twenty stupid instances."