In brief
Mining Bitcoin on the Game Boy!
Starring the @Raspberry_Pi Pico as a Game Boy Link Cable adapterhttps://t.co/fxNGoFRWVx pic.twitter.com/Xwx9I64TyD
— stacksmashing (@ghidraninja) March 27, 2021
$73,060.00
5.86%$2,659.74
6.52%$608.12
2.80%$181.49
3.58%$0.999962
-0.12%$0.530327
3.15%$2,659.11
6.44%$0.175281
15.26%$0.16591
1.21%$5.12
3.03%$0.354109
5.41%$0.00001927
10.97%$3,153.41
6.65%$27.05
5.65%$72,964.00
5.83%$2,658.86
6.35%$385.89
7.34%$11.64
7.16%$4.24
4.81%$6.13
1.64%$2.04
23.27%$0.994812
-1.92%$73.73
5.41%$4.46
6.98%$10.00
12.28%$2,795.30
6.30%$7.95
5.78%$0.00000977
11.56%$540.23
6.69%$8.13
5.83%$1.35
11.79%$162.94
1.34%$19.41
4.74%$0.096689
3.62%$0.113595
-3.79%$1.86
10.15%$19.08
2.17%$1.002
0.05%$2.67
17.33%$0.336914
6.31%$0.999712
-0.23%$39.82
2.98%$1.42
9.92%$152.22
2.31%$3.71
5.12%$0.547175
7.41%$1.72
10.96%$0.07682
4.93%$6.12
8.81%$0.608317
6.11%$0.722643
7.68%$5.15
8.67%$20.33
9.23%$0.050052
5.03%$0.02268713
5.61%$4.57
5.45%$1.79
21.79%$1.18
1.24%$2,655.83
6.34%$0.00002243
10.21%$0.160999
7.08%$0.396356
11.07%$0.00015049
14.94%$1.072
4.14%$2,982.26
6.15%$0.394804
12.66%$2,780.85
6.65%$2.13
9.62%$1.23
7.36%$1.38
2.95%$7.05
5.67%$5.39
10.87%$8.97
3.77%$17.14
10.66%$9.24
1.98%$73,089.00
6.24%$0.389155
15.08%$0.739316
12.39%$52.55
3.96%$0.123623
7.65%$0.102039
10.86%$0.01913126
10.67%$1,145.78
4.16%$1.10
9.91%$222.72
3.45%$0.01915658
8.51%$2,728.17
6.49%$62.59
3.79%$0.01022596
9.63%$2.69
0.62%$0.943957
8.58%$0.336882
6.28%$0.0000009
4.28%$1.30
7.12%$0.02143567
7.74%$0.928787
10.70%$3.22
-2.99%$0.544275
7.27%$2,649.83
6.36%$5.11
15.65%$73,043.00
5.75%$1.089
7.46%$0.00000201
19.57%$0.396882
8.15%$5.03
7.14%$36.54
11.43%$9.52
5.13%$73,124.00
6.39%$0.999335
-0.34%$0.00725345
7.13%$0.12638
1.67%$0.00170806
14.30%$10.19
7.87%$0.01410411
4.07%$0.00003608
2.99%$0.467883
4.60%$25.72
10.07%$73,108.00
6.35%$0.15503
10.71%$0.696268
12.58%$0.254007
11.39%$189.69
3.44%$2,773.35
1.01%$0.676049
6.60%$72,857.00
6.18%$1.05
6.14%$0.804987
16.85%$0.00960534
10.62%$1.019
5.07%$0.997153
-0.07%$0.549171
8.40%$0.00924216
12.69%$2,738.31
6.73%$0.259756
5.38%$1.36
12.46%$0.01357971
6.23%$2,659.62
6.34%$0.999938
-0.01%$2.41
8.86%$1.21
1.64%$0.999683
-0.17%$38.64
1.48%$0.311682
8.07%$17.52
9.32%$0.063743
5.72%$215.77
0.92%$1.57
6.69%$0.00000026
11.73%$2.94
7.23%$2,769.76
0.37%$0.00009376
4.20%$0.055446
3.19%$2,658.94
6.60%$2,880.00
6.51%$0.077688
1.27%$0.454944
16.55%$1.71
17.74%$1.85
4.95%$0.137832
11.20%$2,658.40
6.45%$0.00496185
10.65%$0.997387
-0.01%$1.50
11.07%$8.51
8.85%$1.05
6.25%$0.070407
12.13%$0.235839
9.37%$1.055
4.49%$2,653.96
6.59%$0.00000044
0.96%$0.00
11.21%$24.13
5.91%$0.057129
6.41%$0.028182
1.63%$0.118164
8.01%$0.140823
10.44%$3.66
10.60%$73,044.00
6.01%$0.40316
0.30%$0.993934
0.95%$11.36
6.84%$1.068
0.23%$0.04237847
12.43%$2,659.21
6.47%$0.078389
17.24%$45.11
6.71%$1.064
-0.14%$0.01344847
5.48%$2,655.94
6.29%$7.96
8.33%$0.056597
5.75%$0.500226
3.47%$0.348075
10.32%$0.205148
17.27%$0.677657
9.24%$1.001
-0.01%$1.00
-0.09%$3.27
9.33%$0.721517
3.71%$0.00666269
11.49%$2,847.02
6.43%$183.10
3.73%$1.51
5.16%$0.266246
7.03%$1.60
13.01%$2,766.66
6.16%$0.00063858
8.28%$2,924.27
6.27%$84.11
1.16%$0.174208
14.41%$0.784338
8.45%$0.322574
7.16%$0.317694
17.24%$0.45834
7.85%$2.46
-0.28%$1.51
11.06%$0.258041
8.28%$0.680711
13.13%$0.00385051
3.70%$0.00093968
9.81%$0.346494
8.04%$0.00171852
9.36%$72,570.00
6.05%$0.30061
20.47%$3.60
-2.05%$1,466.69
5.97%$2,819.80
6.84%$2.43
18.33%$2.91
26.46%$0.02942177
1.87%$72,788.00
5.83%$0.338192
9.20%$2.96
1.28%$3.56
0.71%$46.20
18.84%$0.01478928
6.61%$17.88
5.39%$0.728264
10.46%$23.23
3.86%$0.00481986
6.22%$0.094792
0.24%$0.15163
7.25%$6.62
6.53%$4.07
6.09%$0.240204
6.89%$0.01824471
9.34%$0.3623
3.09%$23.80
15.85%Stacksmashing, a pseudonymous IT researcher and YouTube content creator, has adapted a 1989 Game Boy–Nintendo’s first major portable game console–into a Bitcoin miner. Albeit a rather slow one.
Mining Bitcoin on the Game Boy!
Starring the @Raspberry_Pi Pico as a Game Boy Link Cable adapterhttps://t.co/fxNGoFRWVx pic.twitter.com/Xwx9I64TyD
— stacksmashing (@ghidraninja) March 27, 2021
The modified Game Boy can mine Bitcoin at a “pretty impressive” hash rate of roughly 0.8 hashes per second.
“If you compare that to a modern ASIC miner, which comes in at around 100 terahashes per second, you can see that we are almost as fast, only off by a factor of roughly 125 trillion,” said Stacksmashing.
According to the researcher, it should only take “a couple of quadrillion years to mine a Bitcoin” at such a rate.
“It’s without a doubt the slowest miner I’ve ever heard of. But you have heard of it!” Stacksmashing boasted on Twitter.
According to the published video, since the device has no built-in wireless connectivity, Stacksmashing turned to a $4 Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller board and a USB flash card. Armed with these, the modder connected his Game Boy console to a Bitcoin node on his computer.
The next step was to create a custom mining firmware, as well as to modify the code for ntgbtminer, a mining program Stacksmashing used for the experiment.
The challenge wasn't over, though, because of the difference in the voltage requirements for the Raspberry Pi Pico and the Nintendo Game Link Cable–the former runs at 3.3V, while the latter operates at 5V levels. To do the voltage translation, Stacksmashing implemented a simple four-channel, bi-directional logic shifter.
Given the rate at which it mines Bitcoin, probably the most concerning part of this hack is how big the pile of discarded batteries would be after a couple of quadrillion years. One more thing to worry about, on top of Bitcoin's environmental impact.