TurMine Accel. Project - Need Multiple Investors/Financiers to Begin Next Week

[shoopwooper]

Hello!

I came across this thread while looking for coin loans, which is why my account is less than a day old (can provide proof of ID).  At any rate, my team is in need of quite a robust loan -- 65 BTC -- in order to begin work on a specialized group-source collaborative Mining program project at my university.  We're a team of 12 computer science students who have been active in bitcoin mining and trading from the early days.  Our goal is to "cannibalize" the framework of one of the larger mining programs and redesign the internals to streamline and enhance the end-user experience, which we hope will generate a greater interest in mining.  

We've calculated our predicted expenses and it comes to about $850 for the hardware alone; we're going out-of-pocket for everything else.  If the project goes as expected, we plan on introducing the software around late March of this year and monetizing it to 1. reimburse our potential financiers and 2. to fund the operation (with bux fixes, support, updates) and projects further down the road.

Now to the nuts and bolts.  We know $850 is a $&!#-ton of money, but that's low-end for the project.  We need a loan of 65-70 BTC to finance our project, so we can begin working right away.  We can work out the terms over private message, and we'll look at both loan and investment offers to keep things moving. Even a donation would be incredibly appreciated!  Transparency in communication is vital in this process, so please feel free to ask us anything about our plans in the space below.  We appreaciate you taking the time!

Cheers,

Jake G.
The TurMine Accelerated Mining Project


TurMine Project Wallet Address:
1FsQyzHUGPgbtJ9sxGwS6759jZ9uiASVKw

[wallet.dat]

I may be interested in this. Can you PM me with your .edu email address that's tied to a social media account or two? Thanks!

[🏰 TradeFortress 🏰]

If you have being mining and trading BTC from the early dates, what are your accounts?

[shoopwooper]

If you have being mining and trading BTC from the early dates, what are your accounts?

Account name on Mt.Gox is 'sblman78'. I started trading with Bitcoin to get some experience with trading on the real stock exchanges and forex, which is what I've been doing since. After I left Bitcoin trading, I got into mining and coding.  As a result, I haven't used Gox in a while, but my first trade was on 8/17/2011. Because Mt.Gox hosts this forum, I may have an account from way back that would corroborate my involvement in Bitcoin. I'll do some digging and see if I can find it. 

If i'm missing anything, call me out on it!

[SgtSpike]

Can I ask what hardware you deem necessary (for $850) to reprogram mining pool code?

[shoopwooper]

Can I ask what hardware you deem necessary (for $850) to reprogram mining pool code?

We were planning on purchasing 2 base-level laptops (Acer, Toshiba, or comparable) to use as dedicated machines for the project.  They'll be used for reprogramming, testing, quality assurance, and then end-user testing when the project reaches its final stages.  Because our team could potentially (hopefully!) profit off this project, we're barred from using the lab computers.

At the end of the project, we'll probably sell them back.  We have a suitable mining rig for implementation, and then any expenses following the project timeframe will be paid for by taking low-percentage cuts from blocks generated by users of the TurMine program.

[SgtSpike]

Can I ask what hardware you deem necessary (for $850) to reprogram mining pool code?

We were planning on purchasing 2 base-level laptops (Acer, Toshiba, or comparable) to use as dedicated machines for the project.  They'll be used for reprogramming, testing, quality assurance, and then end-user testing when the project reaches its final stages.  Because our team could potentially (hopefully!) profit off this project, we're barred from using the lab computers.

At the end of the project, we'll probably sell them back.  We have a suitable mining rig for implementation, and then any expenses following the project timeframe will be paid for by taking low-percentage cuts from blocks generated by users of the TurMine program.

Makes sense, thanks!

[shoopwooper]

UPDATE:

The TurMine Accelerated Mining Project is now on Facebook! If you get a second, go and check it out and give us a 'like'
We'll keep posting daily updates on the current project status all the way into product launch. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Turmine-Acclerated-Mining/520460727976155?fref=ts

We're still in desperate need of a loan/investors, so if you or anyone you know can help us out, we would be EXTREMELY appreciative.  We're willing to provide proof of ID, social networking sites, we can even do a Skype conference to go over numbers if need be.

Thanks!!!

- The TurMine Team

[JordanL]

I may be interested, but I am on my way out for the weekend. Can we arrange a time to talk on Monday?

[shoopwooper]

I may be interested, but I am on my way out for the weekend. Can we arrange a time to talk on Monday?

For sure! PM'd

[danieldaniel]

What's the minimum investment?  Or does it have to be all from one person?

[shoopwooper]

What's the minimum investment?  Or does it have to be all from one person?

It definitely doesn't have to be from one person!  We'd like to see many investors/financiers on the books with us, to keep us accountable and to help spread the word about our project and generate interest.  The more connections, the better. 

As far as individual loans go, we'd like to stay above 1 or 2 Bitcoins just to make book keeping easier. If you'd like to talk directly about it, feel free to PM me.

[shoopwooper]

UPDATE:

The response and interest from this board have been great, and we've managed to get a good start on our funding.

We're still looking for lenders and investors!

Our team has a lab meeting tomorrow and then we begin development.  We're pretty close to hitting our goal, so please consider this opportunity to make some extra money and help support a game-changing new product in the Bitcoin community!

- The TurMine Accelerated Mining Team

[Vod]

Can I ask what hardware you deem necessary (for $850) to reprogram mining pool code?

From his FB page, doesn't look like he wants to reprogram a mining pool - he wants to reprogram a mining client.

Mining clients will become extinct when the ASICs come out.

In the Fall of 2012, our team spent countless hours researching and using various mining programs from across the web. We compiled a list of what we like and what we didn't, and with these characteristics in mind, we will build what we think will be the best mining program out there.

Makes me wonder why the OP didn't correct the "mining pool" comment when he replied, and if he knows he is programming soon-to-be-useless software.

[JordanL]

Can I ask what hardware you deem necessary (for $850) to reprogram mining pool code?

From his FB page, doesn't look like he wants to reprogram a mining pool - he wants to reprogram a mining client.

Mining clients will become extinct when the ASICs come out.

In the Fall of 2012, our team spent countless hours researching and using various mining programs from across the web. We compiled a list of what we like and what we didn't, and with these characteristics in mind, we will build what we think will be the best mining program out there.

Makes me wonder why the OP didn't correct the "mining pool" comment when he replied, and if he knows he is programming soon-to-be-useless software.

ASICs don't use mining clients? This is a serious question, I know very little about mining.

[shoopwooper]

Can I ask what hardware you deem necessary (for $850) to reprogram mining pool code?

From his FB page, doesn't look like he wants to reprogram a mining pool - he wants to reprogram a mining client.

Mining clients will become extinct when the ASICs come out.

In the Fall of 2012, our team spent countless hours researching and using various mining programs from across the web. We compiled a list of what we like and what we didn't, and with these characteristics in mind, we will build what we think will be the best mining program out there.

Makes me wonder why the OP didn't correct the "mining pool" comment when he replied, and if he knows he is programming soon-to-be-useless software.

I didn't correct the "pool" comment because I didn't notice it--like you said, it's not a pool but rather a mining client. 

The client also isn't intended for those with ASICs.  It's designed for 1. users with little knowledge of Bitcoin who want to see what mining is about and 2. individuals with higher-end equipment who don't want to jump on the ASICs train right away, or at all.  Also included is the casual miner, who likely would have a gaming computer with nicer graphics cards to put to use.

Our primary goal is to create a program that gets beginners interested and attracts those miners not using ASICs, and delivers that mining experience with enhanced power and ease of use. 

[Vod]

Our primary goal is to create a program that gets beginners interested and attracts those miners not using ASICs, and delivers that mining experience with enhanced power and ease of use. 

I don't think you understand.  When the ASICs come out, no one will be running GPU miners anymore, since they will have a very very small fraction of the mining power they have today.  There will be no difference between your mining program, and a program designed to destroy video cards.   

Why would you and a team waste time programming this?   

[SgtSpike]

Our primary goal is to create a program that gets beginners interested and attracts those miners not using ASICs, and delivers that mining experience with enhanced power and ease of use. 

I don't think you understand.  When the ASICs come out, no one will be running GPU miners anymore, since they will have a very very small fraction of the mining power they have today.  There will be no difference between your mining program, and a program designed to destroy video cards.   

Why would you and a team waste time programming this?   

Someone might run a GPU miner after ASICs arrive for a variety of reasons:
- Experiment with mining, if they haven't done so before, prior to dropping at least $150 on a dedicated miner
- Test out the stability of a GPU as part of a variety of tests
- Assure connectivity to a variety of pools
- Benchmarking purposes (benchmarking various mining clients)
- Mining coins with electricity they do not pay for and/or hardware they don't own
- Akin to playing the lottery with a 25 BTC prize

So, I completely disagree that no one will be running GPU miners anymore.  That's just a false statement.  Heck, I could run my GPU for 5 minutes after ASICs arrive to prove you wrong just like that.  You could say that very few will be running GPU miners anymore, which will most assuredly be true, but saying no one will is just plain wrong.

Now then, as far as monetizing such a client, I don't see it as possible to regain the $850 from casual GPU miners and experimenters only.  ASIC support will have to be included in the software, and if it is truly a step above everything else that is available for free, it should be cake to monetize at that point.  What ASIC miner WOULDN'T pay, say, $10 to gain an extra 2% efficiency?  At least initially, when difficulty is still relatively low?

And I am curious, why would a mining client be obsolete once ASICs arrive?  I didn't understand that statement.  Mining clients will be needed regardless of what hardware is being used to mine.

[shoopwooper]

Our primary goal is to create a program that gets beginners interested and attracts those miners not using ASICs, and delivers that mining experience with enhanced power and ease of use. 

I don't think you understand.  When the ASICs come out, no one will be running GPU miners anymore, since they will have a very very small fraction of the mining power they have today.  There will be no difference between your mining program, and a program designed to destroy video cards.   

Why would you and a team waste time programming this?   

While our over-arching goal is to provide the mining program to the Bitcoin community... we're also trying to get an A here.  We're programming students and this is one of our larger projects, part of which is to procure funding. 

Because of this requirement, we figured we'd get a loan from the Bitcoin community, buy some computers to use and return, and then pay it back with a little on top. I hope by now no one thinks we're trying to rip anyone off.  We just want to get the ball rolling so we can develop the product, pay back our loans, and release the program.

And while it is all for a grade, we're really serious and dedicated to what we've decided to pursue.  Bitcoin and digital currencies in general are often severely underrepresented in computer science curriculums, so we're trying to publicize, educate, and release a great piece of software.  Our target market isn't composed of Bitcoin gurus like yourself; rather, we're aimed at those individuals who, for whatever reason, prefer to use a mining client over an ASIC. 

You're certainly raising valid points, but our goals are simple and clean and we hope other people see that as well.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Now then, as far as monetizing such a client, I don't see it as possible to regain the $850 from casual GPU miners and experimenters only.  ASIC support will have to be included in the software, and if it is truly a step above everything else that is available for free, it should be cake to monetize at that point.  What ASIC miner WOULDN'T pay, say, $10 to gain an extra 2% efficiency?  At least initially, when difficulty is still relatively low?

The miner program doesn't contribute that much of a difference.  With GPU mining it is important to make a distinction between the mining client (minimal impact on performance) and the OpenCL kernel.  The days of 2% gains in the OpenCL kernel are long gone.   The code has been highly optimized and IIRC the most recent major change was something on the order of 0.1% performance increase.  The client itself has never been the performance bottleneck. 

With ASICs (and FPGA) the OpenCL kernel is replaced by the chip itself.  The client is just about management and reporting.   Further I would point out the OP isn't claiming any type of performance increase.