Yes it is. But I do not agree on the word "waste". If it ensures no modification of the data, are resources really "wasted"? If were not used all that computing resources, than a malicious user could change all transactions of a blockchain.
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This ByteStampMD5: 4842622483d42bcf580905a16f948c80 Prev MD5 HashCash: b79af66b8c10726691425c6b5b67d989 MD5 HashCash: e743425c12d92794c12e127625578e4d
When you upload a file to ByteSt@mp, it goes through three phases:
1) if just uploaded, it is in queue to be recorded in the BlockChain (or waiting your payment)
2) then it becomes recorded in BlockChain at some Transaction ID, but it is not yet confirmed by any miner.
3) at last it becomes confirmed . Only at this point it has a timestamp.
To see the registration progress you have to click the above link several times, waiting a few minutes between one and the other.
Or you can upload the same file again and again.
After the phase 3, you can see that the number of confirmation grows. The more the confirmations, more reliable is the timestamp.
If there are very low confirmations and there are network problems, the timestamp could change of few minutes.
The time it takes depends on the time taken by the miners from around the world to solve the block.
We cannot do anything to speed up the process.
But it is precisely the fact of having to wait a few minutes that gives us a reliable timestamp.