1. are all (or at least a large majority of) BFLS shares backed by Singles?
2. are all (or at least a large majority of) BFLS.RIG shares backed by MiniRigs?
A bit of both in a fairly even distribution.
3. can you share some details of your current plan in converting the existing BFLS and RIG hardware to SC ASIC? Specifically (but not limited to):
3a. is it your intention to convert ALL existing FPGA hardware?
Yes, I intend to convert it all into minirigs at some point.
3b. have the upgrade orders been placed with BFL yet?
Yes they have.
3c. are any of these orders likely to be part of the 'first batch' shipment from BFL?
Some of them are, not all of them. The number that will be in the "first batch" is kind of up in the air at the moment, given the current disposition of our first batch. Since we have a limited number of available chips for the first batch, I will not, in good conscience, be taking a large swath of them.
3d. what is the (best guess) expected rollout schedule once ASIC shipments start and conversion begins?
I don't currently have one, and will be doing this based on what's available and trying to serve the customers of BFL fairly.
And regarding BFLS and RIG share conversion:
4. will share conversion happen along the lines I've outlined here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=89902.msg1455088#msg14550884a. will BFLS and RIG shares be combined at this point, or still kept separate? Currently the hashrates of a BFLS and RIG share are essentially identical (1.5% advantage to RIG) but after conversion an 'SC BFLS' will have 10% more hashrate than an 'SC RIG' share. This may be an opportunity to combine the two into one pot using a 1:1.1 ratio as discussed earlier.
The reason I ask is that I've been using the blockchain to track BFLS(.RIG) dividend payments in detail since the end of December. This has been straightforward because the hardware is all FPGAs and both BFLS and RIG shares hash at approximately the same rate.
But that will no longer be case once ASICs start replacing them, so I'd like to get a sense of the hardware breakdown to be able to calculate the expected dividend payments. There will be a transition period until all FPGAs are replaced; I'm not too worried about tracking that. I'm more interested in what the final hardware will be and how it will map to 'SC BFLS' and 'SC RIG' shares. Or if the two share types will be combined going forward.
A lot of questions in here, and not the type to be answered easily or quickly; I apologize for that. But I'll thank you in advance for any clarification you can provide.
Shares will remain exactly as they are now. Any new shares purchased going forward (if any) will be RIG shares.