Why's that? [Serious question]
I ask since my view has been shifting to an opposite effect. I've been losing faith with BFL and looking more toward bASIC instead.

The next 7 days are crucial..so hopefully someone releases some good news. It will determine which company gets my fund's order.

^^^^^^^^^^^

Hmm, interesting. When I click on the subforum for "Mining Speculation", I see 40 topics. About 20 of those topics have all the answers to the scenario you've posed....  

And that includes your own second thread..

Noted, and the survey link has been removed from the post. I resubmitted the link through the email that went out to all current Unit Holders.

As the new year approaches, I have a number of topics to discuss with my investors, and of course both good and bad news.

First and foremost
I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday(s) and I hope everyone will enjoy entering into a New Year! The current offering at 1.0 Bitcoin per Note is set to expire tomorrow, December 31st, 2012 at 4:00pm EST. After that, all Notes can be purchased on the normal market. I will give an update on the final number of Notes sold / total Bitcoins raised once the offering ends. I also have a survey (discussed shortly) regarding what ASIC company we should purchase from (and yes, I am willing to “mix and match”).

With the final Bitcoin total, I will publish the current company financials, which includes up-to-date data on pricing, a full analysis of the months to come, as well as your standard income / balance sheet / cash flow statements.  I welcome all input on the information I disclose, and if anyone finds a discrepancy in the data let me know as soon as possible. Given I’m working solo, it’s always nice to have a second set of eyes to point out something I may have missed or to provide more detail in one area or another.


Now for the most important news.

As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, there have been quite a number of delays with essentially every company developing ASIC based mining equipment. The most substantial delays have resided with Butterfly Labs (surprise, surprise), but I know bASIC and Avalon have had their share of setbacks as well.
Seeing as I won’t be able to get the hardware (from any company) on time, it is financially infeasible to maintain the current schedule. Unfortunately, these unforeseen circumstances have forced me to propose an Amendment to the current Secured Promissory Note Agreement.  
The Amendment has been written with the sole intention of modifying and extending the current payment schedule.  Interest payments will be extended, and payments on the principal owed will be pushed back by 3 months. What this means is that an extra 3 months of Interest payments have been added, but instead of starting Buybacks in March 2013, they will start in June 2013 and continue on the previous schedule, fully ending in April 2014 (instead of January 2014).

Here is the current link to the contract: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxnW49twNMNbSVhHamJkZ1VtZmM
I urge everyone to read it.

Here is a breakdown of each Section for an easier read:
Section #:
1.   States that this is the first amendment to the original contract. I briefly describe the purpose and reason for the change, noting Third Party influences (delays) and current financial infeasibility.
2.   Here is where I describe the changes I propose, which focuses on the second and third sections of the original contract.
...a.   Interest at 1% has been extended by three [3] months, going from November 2012 to the end of May 2013. Interest is at 2% from June 2013 to the end of December 2013. Interest is increased to 4% from January 2014 through March 2014. Interest is increased one last time to 6% for the final months of April and May (though everything should be purchased back in April).
...b.   Principal payments no longer begin in March 2013. Instead, they have been pushed back to June 2013, where they start at the normal 1.10BTC per Note until the end of December 2013. January 2014 starts the purchase at 1.15BTC per Note, and April 2014 marks the final purchase of 1.20BTC per Note.
...c.   An error in the third section has been corrected to note that the Principal rate (previously said “Interest”, which voided that part of the section) will never go below the minimum, which is 1.005x the Par Value (1.0BTC).
3.   The Amendment is valid as of January 7th, 2013, which marks seven [7] days after I give notice (as per the original contract).
4.   In the event of a conflict between the original document and the Amendment, the Amendment governs.
5.   The other unchanged parts of the original contract are still valid.
6.   The original document and the included Amendment now constitute the Final Agreement.
7.   This Amendment may be modified after agreeing with both parties.
8.   In the event of illegality, unenforceability, invalidity, etc, the remainder of the contract and its Amendments are still valid.
9.   Electronic communication (or other forms of communication) is valid statements of agreement, recognized in the same effect as a signature.
10.   You confirm you have the power to agree and bind to the contracts outlined.
11.   [Self Explanatory]

This notice is being sent out to every investor with my Fund. If you feel uncomfortable with the changes or have any input, please tell me!

For those of you who do not wish to accept these changes, please let me know. I will purchase your Notes back at the rate of 1.005 per Note (as per Section Five [5] of the Secured Promissory Note Agreement).  If I have not heard from you before January 7th, 2013, I will presume you are onboard with the changes. NOTE: Still take the survey that was sent out to all investors!

For those of you who understand the changes proposed and the reasons behind them, I thank you. It has been hard enough to hear the news of more delays, let alone draft contract Amendments and modify financial statements accordingly.



With the total funding left over after any early Buybacks, Korb and Co. Investments will be purchasing mining equipment. Since we don’t have nearly enough for the purchase of a Butterfly Labs “Mini-Rig”, we have the option to purchase smaller devices from a variety of companies instead. Here’s where the survey comes in. I want to get a feel for what my Investors think.

Please take into account the information noted below when answering the survey:
Butterfly Labs – Single SC [$1,299]
•   60GH/s
•   1 Watt per GH/s [CLAIMED], the most power efficient.
•   Product Lifetime Warranty and “trade up” program.
•   Terrible PR and constant lack of information, but they do deliver quality products.
•   Shipping Date: Q1 2013

bASIC – ASIC [$1,069]
•   72GH/s
•   Doesn’t come with a PSU. Efficiency is predicted to be about 1.5 Watts per GH/s.
•   Highest MHs per $$ and performance.
•   No Warranty [Unknown].
•   Shipping Date: Q1 2013

Avalon – ASIC [$1,299]
•   66GH/s
•   Unknown Power Consumption. Speculation as high as 400W per unit (6 Watts per GH/s).
•   No Warranty or known trade-in program [Unknown].
•   Standalone unit (just plug in and go).
•   Shipping Date: Early Q1 2013

My personal feelings reside with Butterfly Labs, specifically because they’ve proven themselves with their FPGA units, they have a trade in program (which is handy for future mining purchases), and are the most power efficient. I am, however, starting to seriously consider bASIC, given they’re the most cost effective solution (allowing me to max out BTC per GH/s), but they might be the last to ship.

EDIT: This survey is the only way I'll know your personal feelings on the matters at hand, including both the Amendment and ASIC purchases. If you fail to answer the survey, I will presume you're onboard with anything that goes over the next few months.


I look forward to hearing from each of you in the coming weeks regarding all of this. Any questions, comments, or constructive criticism is absolutely welcome.

Happy New Year everyone!

Definitely


That's exactly what I used to do as well..but after accounting for exchange fees and energy used, I'd make just as much mining straight Bitcoins.

Wait..people actually mine Litecoin for something other to dump it for Bitcoins?

All you have to do is look at the Litecoin difficulty over a period of a week to figure out what's going on. Difficulty goes up, people stop mining it...difficulty plummets, mining resumes to grab some coins and flip them over to BTC. Rinse and repeat.

Ah, the joys of never using the search function.. 

Stumbled across this article on CNNMoney today (though apparently it was featured on Fortune as well)

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/18/bitcoin-money-laundering/

What they're saying makes quite a bit of sense, and I think it's what many of us have said on here all along; in order to grow, we must stabilize.

Thoughts?

Just like gold is a currency 

Especially once they have a reliable system in place for their current hardware (and shipping)...and eventually when they begin working on their next generation of mining devices.

Oh it's definitely true. I've created a few dozen "orders" alone just to test out various prices, order combos, and sometimes to get screenshots. For a while I debated about scripting up a simple bot that would create thousands of fake orders to help skew the data even more. The only reason I didn't is because it still wouldn't solve anything...newbies would still think that because their number said #104850 there must be that many orders.



I wrote a quick analysis two months ago on where things will probably go, and so far it seems to be on track. I'll redo it in January to see how things look given the latest preorder numbers, reward split, and any other new data.
Overall, I'm thinking 250-300TH/s over the course of 6 months. So far, that's been a pretty reasonable estimate..but it doesn't take into account declining hardware costs, energy costs, or rising USD/BTC rates.

Someone or something within your mind is always in control...whether it's yourself, or the Schizophrenia versions of you, or the version of you that comes out after taking a ton of drugs.


Ha, thanks for the vote of confidence but decoding the barmy thoughts that spew from Dank's mind is a job I think no one can accomplish (with a 100% confidence level)

Ha!

*ba dum, tish*

Seriously surprised no one else got those haha


Anyway, back on topic. Keeping the cost to entry high definitely filters out the scammers and would provide a better sense of security when purchasing a product. From what I've gathered by wandering the site, the vast majority of sellers have probably been in the game long enough to be able to afford an even higher entrance fee. If some kid with a plant in their closet is looking to get into the game, they'd just have to consider the cost of doing business.

He's saying that within your own universe (your mind) you are a god. Makes surprising sense if you think about it...it's a bit philosophical as well.

I wouldn't say it screams 'scammer' ..but it definitely is a fishy place to go.

OP, is there any particular reason you chose to do business with them compared to more a reputable company like Mt. Gox (or even BTC-e)?

Started off going to college for Software Engineering and ended getting a BS in Business Administration. The longterm goal? A Masters in Management Information Systems (MIS), which combines my love for IT and the fun things you can do in business
But this is all years down the road. Being laden with student loan debt has certainly hampered my flow of education. If I was free and clear financially, you can bet I'd be back in school snatching up another degree

As for whether or not a degree has helped me, I'd say overall "yes"...but not because of the degree itself. I work as a Systems Administrator, which has nothing to do with my business degree. If I never got my degree, I know I wouldn't be where I am today. The education and general college experience helped to shape me into a better, more "hire-able", person.

But I love food