Different from conventional currencies, there is no centralized mechanism for managing the issuance and distribution of cryptocurrencies, such as governments or central banks. Their trade is carried out in a decentralized manner on worldwide networks, whereas distributed ledgers are updated after undergoing a process to verify that there are no illegal transactions from participants in these networks. This verification procedure, along with the receipt of payment in the form of issued currency, is together referred to as “mining.” As the calculation process required for mining increases in proportion to the amount of data in distributed ledgers that grows with the popularization of cryptocurrencies, the resulting rise of power consumption is becoming a problem from the viewpoint of environmental footprint.

“Crypto Miner Car” is part of a project that focuses, in the context of climate change, on the computation process of mining cryptocurrencies, and the consumption of enormous amounts of electric power that this involves, to explore how these things can be integrated into the basic structures of present-day cities and society at large. LarbitsSisters use the Seebeck effect, a phenomenon in which the temperature difference between objects is directly converted into voltage, discovered by Thomas Johann SEEBECK in 1821, to devise a mechanism for collecting exhaust heat by way of a modified cryptocurrency mining GPU unit. Exhibited here is a system for powering cars using such exhaust heat. Looking also into such related issues as sustained energy production and automated driving, the project aims to rebrand the automobile as a status symbol of the modern age, into a symbol for the redistribution of wealth.

Online exhibit production: HAUS