I've never really thought of investing to them simply because I have no total control over how its done. I would rather do solo mining to any altcoin than could mining. but why are could mining companies still existing?
because there are poeple that like to mine with whatever is available, so they use cloud if they cannot at home, i would do the same if the roi wasn't so high
I will not talk about all the ponzi shemes and scammers because it is not easy to rate the scam level.
So let suppose the cloudmining systems are honnest.
(so far I was ever scammed...but i want believe that honnest ones do exist)
With cloudmining it is the same story than with every thing you can invest.
The owners propose and you analyse if it is interesting to invest.
Some investors prefer warranty about the principal back after x days.
other ones prefer dividends for ever
other ones prefer fix profit even it they are low
other ones prefer variable profit with possibilities high dividends.
After all my scams stories i have prefered to lose my cash by buying a miner.
It's not the best solution but it is funny to see day after day the few "sure" satoshi...(I will not scam myself)(lol)
For the fun i propose for free to invest cash or time in my cloudmining site.
Profit comes from mining and from site incomes.
So I believe that it will be worth to invest (time or cash) in my cloudmining.
I just believe...I can be wrong.
Now to answer at the question:
Cloud mining, can it still pay out?
it depends ont what you mean about "pay out"
if it is about dividends,then no problem.if incomes then dividends.
if it is about the "principal" it depends on one thing:
if your shares (bough or earned for free) are sold...then you get your principal back.
if you buy a miner you as well do not get back you principal if you do not resell it...