"Condo" for your Avalon chips: Price Drastically Reduced!

[flyonwall]

Here's the deal: you give me your Avalon chips, and I will house them in a "condo". You need to buy condo units first, and I will then build the condo systems. Each "floor" in the condo can house 80 chips (exactly same as Avalon design), in 8 units of 10 chips each. You don't need to know anything about electronics or computer hardware. It should not matter where the condos will be physically located. Income from your condos will be sent directly to your Bitcoin address, minus fees for electricity and maintenance. Sit back, relax, and just watch as your condo income grows. If you earn enough, buy more condo units to earn even more.

Price per Condo Unit Drastically Reduced! BTC1.34 Now BTC0.9!
If You Decide Not to Cancel Your Avalon Order, This is Another Option for You, at a Much Lower Price

You already took a calculated risk buying the chips, and now you are taking another, unnecessary risk by building a system yourself. Are you after the "fun" of building it, or are you after the Bitcoins you would earn when you ordered the chips? You want those chips to be mining for you as soon as practicable. Our hashing units and control units will be exact copies of those in the working Avalon systems. The Avalon design is the one that's out there, already mining for a large number of happy customers.

The only significant difference between the Avalon system and the box where your condo will be located is that we will be running an independent instance of cgminer for your condo units. In other words, there can be as many as 32 instances of cgminer running to manage each owner's condo. This means that, in this system, the Avalon Control Unit is connected to a more capable PC than the WR703N used in original Avalon systems.

My name is Carlos Tapang, and I have been a Bitcoin and gold bug for sometime. I wrote a blog about What is Money? in 2011 which included discussion of Bitcoins. Back then I did not believe that Bitcoins would attain the growth and price that it has so far attained. You can say I am now a firm believer. I was trained in Physics but am a software engineer by profession. I have worked in both small and big companies like Intel and Microsoft. You can search for my name on Google. (I've checked, and I'm 99% certain you'll find only good things about me.)

I will be doing business as a corporation. The name of that corporation is Centerus Inc. Centerus Inc is a Washington state corporation. You can verify its legal existence by typing "Centerus"   here.

Pricing

Each condo unit can house a "family" of 10 chips, and there will be 8 units in a floor. Units are powered and cooled from a common source. A 10-chip unit has hashing power of about 2.82 GH/s. Each condo unit is priced at

2.54 BTC, 1.34 BTC  Now only 0.9 BTC for each condo unit At this price, you get a working hashing unit, powered and cooled in a box

Place your order here now.

I am sorry, but at this price level I just cannot use JohnK's escrow service. Once your payment is received, it will be grouped with others to place a system order with a U.S. assembler, and your box will be built (where your condo unit will reside).

PM or send me email at carlostapang_AT_gmail.com if you have any questions just for me. The allocation scheme is very simple: first come, first served. Those who buy first will get assigned to the first condo systems completed and brought online.

Recurring Expenses

1. Electricity - approx 3 cents per kWh (Chelan county, WA)
2. Internet access - shared with other owners
3. Space fee - 0.012 BTC per unit (10 chips) per month
4. Management fee - 5% of your earning (no bigger than what you would pay a mining pool)

Among all the countries of the world, I don't think there's any country that can beat 3 cents per kWh. (Maybe there's a place in Australia that is cheaper, let me know.) If you find this price hard to believe, here is the link to the Douglas County PUD (next to Chelan County).

Now for the fine print:

The condos will be physically located in Chelan County, Washington, USA.

This is designed for people who bought the chips but don't have the time or the skills to build their own systems. If you can build it yourself, that's perfect. Here are the advantages of the condo as opposed to taking physical possession of your mining rig:

1. If you are outside of that country where your cheaper system can be built, you will have to factor in the costs of shipment, and most specially import tariff. There is also risk involved during transit. In the case of the condo deal, what gets shipped to you are Bitcoins.

2. What are you really after when you bought these chips? Are you after the fun of having the machine in your house, something to show to your friends? Or are you after the potential earnings?

3. As for the maintenance fees and electricity fees, these will be minimal. The systems will be manned 24/7 remotely from the Philippines. If you put your mining equipment in your own home, you yourself will have to make sure that your systems are all up and running every day.

4. We will strive for maximum uptime.

What I am offering here is simply less hassle, less headache. You give me your chips, and part with some of your Bitcoins, and I will take care of the rest.

FAQ
Question: Can I buy Avalon chips from you, to put in the Condo?
Answer: No. I have cancelled my chip order. I have already built the prototype, and it is mining right now.

Question: Can I use my BFL chip credits for the condo units?
Answer: No, but if you have a BFL system, you can ship it to me for hosting. The advantages for doing this are 1) lower electricity costs, 2) we will manage and maintain your system for you, and 3) you retain full control of your system (albeit remotely).

[shep80]

Each "floor" in the condo can house 80 chips (exactly same as Avalon design), in 8 units of 10 chips each. You don't need to know how the condos will be constructed. You don't even need to know where the condos will be physically located.

I don't quite follow the model.

If you purchase a condo in a real estate transaction, you own it. You know what it is, where it is, and how the mechanical systems of it work.

From you post, I gather that you get sent the raw chips plus a fee. You then do stuff with them and BTC revenue comes back minus fees.

I think there is a strong interest in what to do with all these Avalon chips that have been ordered, and your solution may be a reasonable one if you are able to provide more clarity on what the hardware folks are paying for actually looks like, where it will be located, and how it will be handled in the event that your business is no longer a going concern. Since it's being paid for the owner of the unit actually owns it, right?

This could have potential but I think you need to be pretty transparent about how (and where) you would actually make this work.

[flyonwall]

Thanks for the question.

Here's more info. The board design will be pretty much the same as Avalon's. I have a PCB designer in Manila who is already looking at what kind of PCB card we will need, given the clock rate. He says he should have the Gerber files ready a week after the reference design from Avalon becomes available. The prototype will be done by a PCB shop in Cebu, and the first systems will also be built in Cebu. If more systems than the PCB shop in Cebu can handle are needed, I will have them built in China.

The chip condos are going to be located in Cebu, Philippines. Why Cebu? Because I plan to be back there before July. Fully climate-controlled computer rooms are still cheap to lease in Cebu. Electricity cost is about the same as in the U.S. though. However, labor is still pretty cheap. Cebu is one of the most secure islands in the region.

[flyonwall]

Obviously if the number of condo systems would warrant it, the whole condo complex can have its own mining pool. A swimming pool in a condo?

[flyonwall]

Since it's being paid for the owner of the unit actually owns it, right?

Of course, the condo unit owner has full ownership of the condo. However, he/she can't take it away from the rest of the condo. It can be resold, yes, definitely.

provide more clarity on what the hardware folks are paying for actually looks like, where it will be located, and how it will be handled in the event that your business is no longer a going concern

What else do you like to know about the hardware?

If Centerus (and Centerus Cebu) goes out of business, the condos will be liquidated, and each condo owner will get his share of the liquidated value. The condos are not property of Centerus. Centerus will maintain the condos on behalf of the owners, just like a real condo.

[Inspector 2211]

Wow, after Dabs you are now the second RP-based guy.
But Dabs has not received a single order yet.

Does Cebu City suffer from rolling blackouts?
If not, how many power outages per month, on the average, and how long do they typically last, on the average?
Just curious.
Will your Avalon condo have a backup generator?

[bcpokey]

Not sure if I missed it, have you determined the maintenance fee, and disclosed the power cost in your area?

You say a "condo unit" costs ~11.47 BTC estimated, so the equivalent cost to build an Avalon sized condo would be 274BTC? Am I correct or reading that wrong?

[flyonwall]

There are several "IT Centers" in Cebu City. Each building has its own backup power generator. Internet access is very good.

[flyonwall]

You say a "condo unit" costs ~11.47 BTC estimated, so the equivalent cost to build an Avalon sized condo would be 274BTC? Am I correct or reading that wrong?

There can be maximum 32 units in a condo system (condo building), powered from the same ATX power supply. So a whole system costs 32 * 11.44 BTC minus the chips. Please note that I said "similar" price formula as Avalon's but not exactly the same. Buying a slice of a system will always cost more than buying a whole system, but I am not giving discounts for ordering several units.

[SebastianJu]

You don't need to know how the condos will be constructed. You don't even need to know where the condos will be physically located.

You realize that this sounds like "send me your asics, i will do something with them and dont tell you where iam and the chips will be". Thats somehow the opposite of building trust to your offer. You should come clear and proofable who you are, where you want to host it and so on. Otherwise it will be hard to find the needed trust.

[EngMan]

So the question is...why should I send chips to you and not someone else? Especially if you have no real design info.

[flyonwall]

This will have exactly the same design as the Avalon system, even down to the parts used. Can you enlighten me as to what other design risks there would be?

[flyonwall]

SebastianJu, I don't know how to answer your question. The design will be pretty much a copy of the Avalon system board, down to the parts used, and the condos will be located in Cebu, Philippines. You are welcome to visit Cebu this July.

[flyonwall]

I am not too worried about the hardware because this is a proven design. There are always glitches of course, but that is what prototyping and testing is all about.

I am more worried about the condo management software that this will require. I am more on the software side, so this is my area of expertise. In this kind of system, I am thinking the unit owners will not have a choice as to which mining pool the systems will connect to. The reason is obvious: each unit is not really independent. We can simulate independence by software, but that would be a lot of work. So initially at least, everybody in the condo will be mining off of the same mining pool. The condo management system will have a communication and receivables module that sits between the condo and the mining pool. Each payment from the mining pool will have to be subdivided among the condo owners.

[Quix]

Your plan sounds like:

1. Make Claims

2. Collect Money

3. Profit

Is that your business plan?

The fact that you're not even willing to disclose the location makes this seem very shady.

[flyonwall]

I can't stay in business for too long if my clients do not themselves profit from this venture. My first priority would be to make this worthwhile for you. When you buy and become profitable, that's the only way I can build a viable business.

The location will be in Cebu City, Philippines.

[shibaji]

Quick question:

Carlos Tapang has big web presence which I can Google and find - as you have said. Which also means you did the same. What proves flyonwall is same person as Carlos Tapang ?

[flyonwall]

Hmm. How about my writing style?

There's one definite way we can prove I am who I say I am (flyonwall == Carlos C Tapang). I posted the following weeks ago:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=156960.0

I posted the OP for this on my blog also:

http://ctapang.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/would-bitcoin-suffer-a-similar-fate-as-that-of-unix/

[flyonwall]

I have just extended the deadline for 32 units to May 10th, which is also about the time that the reference design from Avalon becomes available.

[shibaji]

Hmm. How about my writing style?

There's one definite way we can prove I am who I say I am (flyonwall == Carlos C Tapang). I posted the following weeks ago:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=156960.0

I posted the OP for this on my blog also:

http://ctapang.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/would-bitcoin-suffer-a-similar-fate-as-that-of-unix/

Fair enough. Thanks.