Have you made more mining coins or buying coins in the long run?

[lunobird]

Just curious for those that been mining for years.

Have you made a killing in earnings by buying coins and selling 1-3 years later
Or have you made more mining coins and selling a year 1-3 years later

Lets say you have 20K to invest, Would you generally make more buying equipment and selling coins in 2-3 years.
Or would you generally make more buying 20k worth of top 10 coins and selling in 2-3 years.

[esconceptsz]

I haven't been mining very long (7-8 months), I've taken both strategies, mining and direct purchasing (and selling some of the mining equipment on eBay @ a premium). It's the direct purchases and sale of some equipment on eBay that's helping me get to breakeven much quicker than mining alone. My sense is that direct purchasing may have been a better strategy.

Mining can be serious fun, but also a serious headache. Serious headache = noise, heat, ventilation, having enough electricity, and a massive time commitment. It is fun, but I look back now and think it would have been so much easier to buy. 

[leowonderful]

I made way more buying coins. What I thought was a small amount of ETH in '15-16 turned into a very handsome lump of crypto, whereas mining turned out less profitable but still gave some decent returns. Mining is more restrictive with sound, electrical costs etc, but generally mining gives stable returns. Buying coins requires a pinch of luck and patience- not all coins make it to the top. That's especially true today with all the shitcoins coming out every day.

[Vann]

Mining has always been a way to hedge your rig, which has value outside of mining, to accumulate coins for the cost of your power. Hedging is a way to minimize risk, not maximize your return. Of course you can make more money IF you accumulate more coins that go up in value than you could otherwise do by mining, but that involves risking more capital and it works both ways.