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Ask HN: Why do all cryptocurrencies have similar mining-based strategies?

3 points by slake ↗ HN
Aren't there other strategies that would introduce new currency? Let's say some philanthropy gives you new currency. Or some contribution to wiki leaks does. Or in the crypto world discovering new solutions to useful difficult problems would reward you.

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jabgrabdthrow
The problem with the solutions you suggested is that there is no easy automatic trustless mechanism for demonstrating proof-of-work. Edit: Of course, if you don't mind some centralization/trust, then your suggestions could theoretically work.

One altcoin called primecoin has a proof-of-work algorithm which finds long runs of prime numbers, which is supposedly useful for some purposes.

The most common alternative to proof-of-work mining is called proof-of-stake, which is used in a few altcoins (most notably Peercoin). It still doesn't provide anything useful, but at least it provides a mechanism for securing the blockchain without wasting a bunch of energy. You can read about it here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Proof_of_Stake