Alts have been grinding down relative to BTC, and cryptoswitcher keeps seeming like a good idea.

Thoughts?

As Og stated, heat is a major consideration. There's also a strong likelihood that first-gen ASICs will barely cover power costs by the end of the year.

The only realistic option to sustain long-term operation is to move to second-gen hardware. Despite the PR disaster BFL is, the fact remains that they have delivered, and early orders do reasonably well. The FPGA history also shows they will probably move smoothly with the second round.

Whether 28nm hardware pays itself off remains to be seen, but again - it's the only viable choice.

A complete separation of paper and physical precious metal prices doesn't seem to be in the cards this time around. The probability has declined to a negligible level, although the distortions remain significant.

Regardless, physical metal is not going to collapse short of apocalypse, and all the trading profits generated in the system are at extreme risk. I'd rather be out a year early than a second too late.

I'm more concerned about the tepid movements in Bitcoin of late. There's a lot of potential for large-scale (for Bitcoin) accumulation occurring off-exchange.

Some things are still fairly predictable. The 100-200mm difficulty mark is fast approaching and will be a line in the sand for first gen ASIC profitability. Price will have to give way to the upside before year end, though not necessarily in a violent manner.

Without compromise of ECC, breaking $1k within a year is the target.

Gold is being fled into now, as is silver. The distinction is where.

If the world were homogenous, the assessment holds. It is not, so physical precious metals will not behave as expected from a western perspective; only the contractual paper representations will.

The west will follow, not lead.

Beyond paper promises, there is no rationale based in reality that suggests such an outcome.

Do DU weapons cause lightning as a secondary effect? There is still the concern over tectonic activity. Not that I'm stating nuclear weapon use as fact, but questions are compounding the issue.

And as justusranvier offers: hypocrisy abounds.

Meanwhile, the gold-silver ratio is approaching 62. A sustained move below that level will strongly suggest a silver-led rally. For that matter, I'm also expecting USD$1,000+ Bitcoin within a year.

I think some of the embryonic technologies many of us have been following in recent years are about to break out as well; things that will make our gripes of today trivial.

We'll see...

There is mounting evidence that advanced nuclear weapons have been, and are currently being used in Syria. Tactical strikes with marginal radiation and minor risk of causing earthquakes, as would be a possibility with typical bunker buster weapons.

At 500 it would likely never break even. Even at 400, there will probably be less than a 10% return.

Agreed.


Solid perspective. With the right structure, I think collaborative participation will be very forthcoming. Looking forward to announcements.

As long as it arrives by around mid-October, it should generate a reasonable return. In addition to KNC, Bitfury hardware would be an ideal addition for diversification.

One remaining concern is geopolitical. What aspects of the operation are secure against legal threats or confiscation?

Strong. Trading between crypto and precious metals is akin to trading the gold-silver ratio, remaining outside of the fiat system. There will be opportunities everywhere, and not just in crypto/PM exchange.

Seconded

Many reasons, some more obvious than others.

COMEX and LBMA inventory depletion;
scandal exposing banks as fraudulently delaying base metal and other commodity delivery, masking actual supply/demand dynamics;
ongoing US failure in the Middle East;
China and Russia bleeding US dry economically;
eastern precious metal exchanges opening to trade primarily physical metal, not paper;
persistent fiscal mismanagement;
chronic unemployment;
HNW exodus from contemporary stores of wealth;
the list goes on...

Wrong address, it wasn't a JPM vault.

Seen at JSMineset.com:

JPM vault fire (video)

Convenient coincidence?

PTs have obviously seen a disbursal among other equities, but that certainly isn't the whole story. As a great deal of funds were already in MPEx, it appears a good amount flowed into MPOE and the other listed gaming stocks.

As stated, last 8 codes available. Make an offer by PM.

No, I just think it's possible that the accumulation of physical silver might allow for more chicanery in the precious metals. Maybe by pushing the herd toward paper gold when the physical supply is dried up, while keeping silver suppressed. Doubtful, but a possibility.

Yes, but silver tends to snap more violently than gold when trends reverse.

What concerns me is JPM accumulation of physical silver, which may be used to continue suppression. Physical gold supply at banks continues to decline, so there could be a revaluation of gold before silver.

Either way, I'm confident that the GSR will strongly favour silver for a period.

It is important to keep in mind that, since the IPO, 73865 satoshi per share has been paid out - a 23% return for the first block of shares. All IPO shares will have at least broken even with this sale.

I can't imagine the sale was particularly easy to push through, so this is an impressive result overall. Considering the tight spot that SD has found itself in recently, the outcome is reasonably equitable.

For those who profited, bravo. To those who lost, know that we all have at some point - learn and move on with that knowledge; you'll be that much better in future dealings. I am glad to have witnessed another chapter in the Bitcoin saga come to a close.