Wil Bitcoin Mining be worth it after the halving to 12.5?

[liveflipcoin]

I was doing some calculations and found that after the halving to 12.5, mining will become unprofitable if running two Antminer S7's with a combined GH/s of 9460GH, with 2460 Watts total (2 AntminerS7's and 2 PSU's 1600)and electricity cost of on average $0.17 cents/kwh running for 30 days. Am I doing something wrong here in my calculations? Did I add up the watt total correctly (2 S7's + 2 PSU 1600= 2460watts?) Would I have to hope and pray that the value of BTC go over $1000 to even make any type of profit? thanks

[avikz]

Solo mining was unprofitable since a long time now. Only the mining farms are making profit.

However, the mining farms need to move to green energy now. Like wind turbines or solar panels. The conventional electricity cost will make them unprofitable so they need to have some free energy to remain profitable.

[zeaderza]

Bitcoin mining will worth because bitcoin price will be higher and miners will cover the cost of electricity and price of hardware .

[helloeverybody]

I think the probelm you have here is as the poster above me has pointed out, Solo bitcoin mining is no longer a viable option. The only reason to solo mine at the kind of prices your paying for electricity is for fun, Youd be better just spending that electricity money on bitcoins and leaving the mining to chinese farms. Perhaps get a few gpus and mine alts.

[liveflipcoin]

I don't plan on doing any solo mining, I will be joining mining pools. Should I go ahead and buy the 2 S7's with my calculations above?

[helloeverybody]

I don't plan on doing any solo mining, I will be joining mining pools. Should I go ahead and buy the 2 S7's with my calculations above?

Its completely up to you if you decide to do it for fun but i punched your figures into a mining calculator and you will be mining at a loss even at todays prices. If it was me then id say no dont bother. If you buy them your a lot safer imo. Besides theres more money to be made in mining alts than there is bitcoin, Just spend the money on gpu rig.

Time Frame    BTC Coins    USD    Power Cost (in USD)    Pool Fees (in USD)    Profit (in USD)
Hourly    0.00050554    $0.39    $0.42    $0.00                            (-$0.03)
Daily    0.01213285    $9.41    $10.04    $0.00                                    (-$0.62)
Weekly    0.08492996    $65.89    $70.26    $0.00                            (-$4.37)
Monthly    0.36398554    $282.37    $301.10    $0.00                            (-$18.74)
Annually    4.42849076    $3,435.47    $3,663.43    $0.00                            (-$227.96)

That doesnt include hardware costs which you will lose out on

so easy answer is no dont do it.

[liveflipcoin]

I did more calculations with today's prices (~$770= 1 BTC) and basically after the halving to 12.5 all mining operations are going to be losing? Does this mean everyone MUST buy the latest version of Antminers every time it comes out (S9) to stay ahead of the game or end up losing due to the increase in difficulty over time? Seems like the only people making money is Bitmain.

[European Central Bank]

I did more calculations with today's prices (~$770= 1 BTC) and basically after the halving to 12.5 all mining operations are going to be losing?

What were your calculations based on? Don't underestimate how cheap power is in certain parts of the world. There might also be miners with serious backing who are thinking very long term and may not care too much about today's price. bitcoin production's ramping down, not up and we all know how many there'll ever be.

[helloeverybody]

I did more calculations with today's prices (~$770= 1 BTC) and basically after the halving to 12.5 all mining operations are going to be losing? Does this mean everyone MUST buy the latest version of Antminers every time it comes out (S9) to stay ahead of the game or end up losing due to the increase in difficulty over time? Seems like the only people making money is Bitmain.

Well theres a few options or things that can happen. You can either buy those miners and hope price goes up or you can buy those miners and move somewhere where electricity is a lot cheaper. the only miners that are going to be making money are the farms.

the only other thing you can hope happens is lots of people stop mining due to not making anything then after a while the difficulty drops and you can then make a profit with your s7s.

None of these options are really suitable for you though.

[liveflipcoin]

But one can argue that when the halving happens then the value of Bitcoins must go up due to less being made daily, so does this make an argument that mining is indeed profitable in the long run?

[helloeverybody]

But one can argue that when the halving happens then the value of Bitcoins must go up due to less being made daily, so does this make an argument that mining is indeed profitable in the long run?

Id argue against that in that if you just buy bitcoin now instead of buying the hardware and the actual cost of mining then you will probably end up with more bitcoin at todays prices which buy the time the price goes up you will still be better off.  These are my views however, its your choice what you actually decide to do.

[tobacco123]

In fact a lots of miners are/were mining at the loss and believe that one day the success of bitcoin will help to recover the cost and eventually turn out to be profitable by holding the mined coins in long term.

So which "bitcoin price" are you using in your formulation? The current one or the future one?

[MingLee]

Mining after the halving will basically be the same as it is now, you just sell your Bitcoin for literally twice as much to counteract the affect of the halving.

You'll still have the same hashing power that'll award relatively the same as it does now, in USD, but your numerical gain of Bitcoin will be halved.

It really doesn't matter when you start.

[Kprawn]

This is just some general thinking on my side, if Bitcoin were profitable before the Halving at $200 a year ago, it should still be profitable at about $400 after the Halving ...right? I know some miners still made

generous profits at $200 before the Halving, so my guess is $300 should be still profitable for many of them.  ... I climbed out of the mining scene a long time ago as a solo miner, so I cannot say from

personal experience, if it's still going to be profitable... so I am just guessing here, based on what other people has said on the subject. 

[liveflipcoin]

Mining after the halving will basically be the same as it is now, you just sell your Bitcoin for literally twice as much to counteract the affect of the halving.

You'll still have the same hashing power that'll award relatively the same as it does now, in USD, but your numerical gain of Bitcoin will be halved.

It really doesn't matter when you start.

So are you saying that I will be mining the same about of bitcoin (0.02) daily after the halving?

[Cuidler]

I was doing some calculations and found that after the halving to 12.5, mining will become unprofitable if running two Antminer S7's with a combined GH/s of 9460GH, with 2460 Watts total (2 AntminerS7's and 2 PSU's 1600)and electricity cost of on average $0.17 cents/kwh

I don't plan on doing any solo mining, I will be joining mining pools. Should I go ahead and buy the 2 S7's with my calculations above?

You should not. The problem is your electricity cost is too high. Mining farms pays much less, around 2 to 5 cents, thus you cant be competetive. Also S9 is better deal considering it should be most power effecient gear for very long. But with 17 cents, mining is not for you especially long term (you might be profitable temporarily mining alts or Bitcoin when price rise a lot, but after competetion catch up with added hashrate you cant compete longterm with your electricity cost).

[liveflipcoin]

Wow just called PG&E 

With the current tier plan I am currently on it would cost me about $786.40 to run two S7's 24hrs a day for 1 month.

2800 watts (2 Antminer S7's)

Tier 1 is actually 0.18 cents
Tier 2&3 is 0.22 cents
Tier 4 is 0.34 cents

Does this mean NO ONE in California mines at home?

[0day]

I think after halving it will not be bad to continue mining as the price of bitcoin would be increasedto a higher value so the miners can sell their coins at a price the same as a few months ago.

[OROBTC]

Solo mining was unprofitable since a long time now. Only the mining farms are making profit.

However, the mining farms need to move to green energy now. Like wind turbines or solar panels. The conventional electricity cost will make them unprofitable so they need to have some free energy to remain profitable.

Bullshit.  Your so called "free" energy (wind turbines or solar panels) is currently more costly - that is why Bitcoin miners use conventional energy.  A case could be made that large scale hydroelectric plants supply most of the energy used for Bitcoin mining.  Building large dams is also not "free".

Correct.  "Alternative Energy" is currently more expensive than energy via fossil fuels (natural gas is very cheap).  There is a lot of research underway re solar power, but I believe it will not be competitive for years.  Wind turbines look to be a loser, at least in the USA.


*   *   *


While I cannot answer OP's question with any authority, my *guess* is that the most efficient miners will do OK.

The days of solo mining, even with the cheapest electricity in the USA, are likely just about over.

It looks like China will win most new BTC production.

[Syke]

I was doing some calculations and found that after the halving to 12.5, mining will become unprofitable if running two Antminer S7's with a combined GH/s of 9460GH, with 2460 Watts total (2 AntminerS7's and 2 PSU's 1600)and electricity cost of on average $0.17 cents/kwh running for 30 days. Am I doing something wrong here in my calculations? Did I add up the watt total correctly (2 S7's + 2 PSU 1600= 2460watts?) Would I have to hope and pray that the value of BTC go over $1000 to even make any type of profit? thanks

Run your numbers with the new hardware (AntminerS9, 14 TH/s, 1500 watts) and reasonable electricity ($.05/kwh).