Sorry all got some noob questions if you don't mind.
So if companies like Bitmain sell AISC machines en mass to the public, won't that just increase the hash difficulty of specific coins?
Why don't they just operate a private farm and continue to use their profits to make better machines (that they keep to themselves)?
Just trying to work this all out
Thanks in advance!
1 thing you should always assume is that whoever makes the machines, already has been using them for months, before the public knows about them. Both for profit and testing purposes. Once a certain amount of time passes, they release the "not super new" technology to the masses, in small quantities, and make even more profit than what they already mined.
a 2nd thing is, the point of these currencies is to be de-centralized. AKA if 1 guy has all or most of the coins, everyone else will disappear like a fart in the wind, and those coins will be worth next to nothing. Its not like physical cash.
The only way profits can be made is by circulating the ecoins among users, holding onto vast amounts actually reduces their value as it can scare people off. Having rich people dictate what the entire currency does, is basically what we already have in the real world. If that happens with ecoins, whats the point of ecoins? I'd rather just have cash in hand, safer than e-wallets, or in the bank, where you're covered for losses if any "hacking" were to happen.
So they do use the machines, they just dont advertise it, and its primarily because their public business image is as hardware manufacturer, not mining farms. They need to maintain that image, in order to keep selling hardware. There's little value in advertising yourself as a farm, unless your business model involves selling contracts.