Ecological mining using at least one printing device for proof-of-work

Abstract

A computer implemented method for proof-of-work for generating and validating a block of a blockchain using at least one printing device is proposed. The printing device is configured for generating at least one digital image depending on a printer control setting. The method comprises the following steps: i) () providing an initial digital image () comprising a plurality of colored pixels, wherein the initial digital image () is taken from an image database and/or is generated by printing and scanning the initial digital image by using an initial printer control setting; ii) () providing a task digital image () comprising a plurality of colored pixels different from the initial digital image (); iii) () selecting a mining printer control setting (), printing the initial digital image () by using the printing device by blending pigments with the selected mining printer control setting () and scanning the printed image by using at least one scanning device, thereby generating a mining digital image () having a plurality of colored pixels different from the initial digital image (); iv) () comparing the colored pixels of the mining digital image () and the task digital image () by using at least one processing device; wherein the method comprises repeating steps ii) () to iv) () until the colored pixels of the mining digital image () and the task digital image () are found to be identical, wherein in each case in step iii) () a different mining printer control setting () is selected, wherein the mining printer control setting () for which the mining digital image () and the task digital image () are found to be identical is used as the proof-of-work for generating and validating the block of the blockchain.