I myself was VERY excited about those BFL SC things (
http://www.butterflylabs.com/products/), but it sounded too good to be true. I was one step before pre-ordering the Mini Rig 'SC' for just $30k, which could deliver 1TH/s (update -> 1.5 TH/s according to the website now!). You know what? Bullshit.
Is butterfly labs mining with those ASICs at the moment? (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=110290.0)Hell no! Do you see some huge raise in hashing power? No.
Would it be beneficial to mine on their own devices? Hell yes! More than just selling them.
If circumstantial evidence isn't enough, try simple business logic. The price is set at $149 for a 3500MH/s chip. At current prices, they would make $149 after about 10.8 days of mining! So why doesn't Butterfly Labs just run them for 10.8 days instead of selling them? Then they'd have $149 and the chips lol. I mean seriously, read those last 2 sentences again, people. You think they're not mining with them? I can't be the only one that realizes this. From a business perspective, if you had an investment that would pay off 200% in a month and you sell it off instead, you're a crazy person.
You know the true reason why they are not mining with them? They can't. They don't have them.
But they have already proven legit! They fullfiled the orders and delivered FPGAs!Sure they have. Gained your trust. And will take them back. And you will pay even more. You will loose your working FPGAs and also money. Huge money.
Trade in terms: Qualifying trade in for upgrades can be either an older generation Mini Rig or 25 older generation Singles. Once your new rig is ready for delivery (currently scheduled for November), you'll be notified to ship your trade in units to us. Upon receipt we'll release your new Mini Rig SC for shipment to you.
They still could have runned before..They could, but why would they? Establish trust. Then run away.
They could have stolen $1M.
Now they have $30M and the hardware. Many of you fell for it.
Total Orders (By last seen) 7678
Orders Tracked 227
Trade-In Orders 66
Units Sold
Jalapeno SC 225
Single SC 231
Mini Rig SC 21
Extended TH
Jalepeno SC 0.7875
Single SC 9.24
Mini Rig SC 21
Grand Total of 31.0275
I still trust them.Really? What about that the CEO is a fraduster, sentenced to 3 years in prison and is currently released and violating the terms?
September 15, 2010
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SONNY VLEISIDES
...
The defendant is hereby placed on supervised release, effective immediately, for a term of three years under the following terms and conditions:
...
The defendant shall not engage, as whole or partial owner, employee or otherwise, in any business involving loan programs, gambling or gaming activities, telemarketing activities, investment programs or any other business involving the solicitation of funds or cold-calls to customers without the express approval of the Probation Officer prior to engagement in such employment.
As always, I feel terribly sorry for all you guys.