> unless you want to crack sha-256 hashed passwords maybe?

It makes you wonder if we'll ever hear of anyone turning their bitcoin cluster to this purpose. Perhaps someone unauthorized.

Edit: Downthread, nwh explained why this isn't possible:

> No, they can't crack passwords. They increment a nonce at the end of a supplied string and only return if the nonce results in a low hash. They're not a generic "fast SHA" device like you're thinking.