You are too late to the ASIC game. There are at least three companies that have ASICs developed already, and you are a fool if you think those three companies aren't working on improved versions (well, maybe not BFL, lol).

That's A LOT of competition and developing an ASIC takes a lot of money and a long time.

These companies are selling their machines WAY over their cost because that is what the market will bear right now. ASICs in large quantities are cheap. Expect them to get cheap and competition to get tougher. And most importantly, difficulty will skyrocket.

In the not too distant future (within a year), we will be able to buy ASIC machines with about 100 GH/sec power that run at about 100 watts and cost a few hundred dollars. The difficulty will be such that the ROI for such a machine will be 1-2 years, so mining will be mostly for fun and small profits, not the cash cow it is now.

Problems with Amazon coins

- You can't transfer them to another person
- You can't redeem them for dollars or other currencies
- You can only use them to buy apps for your Kindle. You can't even use them to buy books for your Kindle! And forget about anything on amazon.com
- They are 100% controlled by Amazon who can devalue or destroy them at will (look at frequent flyer miles).

Basically just a gift card, but worse since they are not transferable.

They are just a way to get people to buy more kindle apps. I'm guessing Amazon thinks people aren't buying enough.

This group buy is dead, unfortunately, I wanted to buy in myself.

I've switched over to Steamboat's group buy (on the 2nd batch now) which is also US based.

You can find it here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=192916.0;all


If that one doesn't work, I'm going to start my own group buy.

Hey, it's your money. We'll see in a month or so who is right. Just don't say we didn't warn you.

Batch 2 miners are still going for $30k+ on ebay. One was sold this morning for $32k.

Personally I wouldn't buy a pre-order for more than $15k. If they ship in the next couple of weeks, I think you will definitely be able to make $15k with one in the next 2-3 months. After a month or two after that, I expect a sharp decline. Right now I expect a total return of maybe 20-35k for one assuming they ship relatively soon.

If shipping happens at the same time as batch 3 and the bulk chip orders or after butterfly labs, expect much less.

I 100% agree with the original poster.

But people seem to want to buy GPUs anyways, so good luck.


I think there is kind of a gold rush mentality presently.

Like the people who are spending $30k+ on pre-order Avalon ASICs. Or block eruptor USBs.

They will never make their money back. Yet they still buy.

lol.

exactly.

You can't trade them to another person.
You can't redeem them for dollars or any other currency.
You can only use them to buy kindle apps. Not even kindle books.

Doesn't sound like a currency to me.

Nope, you can not transfer them to another account or person.

And you can not redeem them back for US dollars.

And you can only use them to buy apps for your kindle. You can't even use them to buy books for your kindle! And forget about anything on amazon.com.

You can't even use them to buy books on the kindle! Only apps and in-app purchases!

Oh, and since you can't trade or give them to another person, their price will never change since there can be no market.

Amazon is just trying to capitalize on the recent popularity in the news of virtual currencies like Bitcoin.

"Amazon coin" couldn't be more different than Bitcoin. It is really just like a gift card. It is not a currency at all.

Here is what is bad about it:

- You can only use them to buy apps for your Kindle. You can't use them to download music or movies, buy books, or anything physical at amazon.com. They are basically the same as the credits you buy on your Wii or Xbox when you want to purchase games. Or Foodler credits you can use for meals.
- You can't transfer them to other people.
- You can't trade them back for dollars or any other real currency.
- They are completely, 100% controlled by Amazon and probably will always be pegged to the dollar.

The only uniquie thing about them is they are using the word "coin" instead of "credits" or "points" which are more commonly used by merchants who want to trap consumers into buying only their own items and servinces with their money. They are as big a scam as gift cards.

Finney attacks are getting harder and harder as the hash rate goes.

Pretty much no one solo mines anymore and even for those who do, they actually mine a block so infrequently.

And when you do find one, you have an average of less than 10 minutes to go spend that money and then submit it to the block chain.

And if you are late, you will lose your ~$3000 mining reward. Who would risk $3000 just for the change they could double spend some small amount of money??

ASICMiner

Buy shares now while they are still cheap.

Disclosure: I own ASICMiner shares.

Thanks Smiley, I'm going to try and get in that one for now. I hope it starts picking up.

Maybe because it's a Monday.

I hope it gets going. I'm in for 256 chips, just have to wait till I get home to my bitcoin wallet.

If any out there are interested in participate in a group buy in the US, post here with the rough amount of chips you are thinking about buying.

If enough people seem to be interested, I'll write up the official group buy rules (will be similar to the others).

I will keep the price as low as possible and I will use escrow so you know your money is safe.

I have enough bitcoins to cover the full purchase price, so I can order and keep your money in escrow until the chips ship.

FYI, I am located in the US in the Boston, MA area.

If this doesn't work out, I'm looking for a group buy with room left for 256 or so chips.

Is there an Avalon ASIC group buy for the US?

If not, is there still demand for Avalon ASICs for a new group buy?

I see a couple of group buys based in Europes and Asia but none in the US.

I'm thinking of joining one of them but they seem to have a long way to go until they fill up (if they ever do).

Where can I find a group buy that is still open, or should I start one myself?

 I think he was banned for sending me threatening messages. I reported him.

Thank you for explaining it clearly. I didn't realize that Cedivad was saying the symbol was changed on the order status page for ALL orders.

Thanks, I didn't understand what you were saying in your first post. I didn't realize what had changed on the status page between batches. This is the kind of information I was looking for. Thanks again.

I know it's a scam. I didn't send him a dime, not even to escrow. I just need evidence that it is a scam. People here just saying "scam" doesn't really help me. I want to know why people believe it is a scam.

I left him negative feedback on bitmit and now he says he has a "personal feud" with me unless I remove it in 60 minutes. Too bad for him he is in Croatia.