[BitCentury] Metabank 120Gh 65nm Pre-Order Proxy [CLOSED]

[GodfatherBond]

Thumbs up for you even any kind of contract as in this business it seems that typical sales goes:
-send me btc
-wait... wait... wait... silence

I hope to get my wire fast enough through so I can order one!

[senseless]

Good day,

Pre-orders for metabank batch 1 devices are now COMPLETE. As such we will no longer be accepting additional orders at this time.

I would like to thank everyone for their faith in us as we carry this forward. The total number of devices sold tallied 57 for a total hash rate of 6.84Th/s. We were able to confirm today that all orders have been secured. If you have orders placed with us (with the exception of one who has already been notified), your order has been secured with metabank and you will receive your device.

We will have exciting news in the coming weeks. We will convey additional information as it becomes available.  

If anyone has any questions or concerns please feel free to ask here or contact us directly.

Regards,
Tom sensel

[Foofighter]

Hi,

thanks for the great service!

I just red that metabank are already planning another Batch, are the rumors right -will you provide Info at the given time and also do this service for future Batches?

regards

[senseless]

Hi,

thanks for the great service!

I just red that metabank are already planning another Batch, are the rumors right -will you provide Info at the given time and also do this service for future Batches?

regards

I can't really make any comments at this time as to batch 2. There are to many unknown variables at this time. The chips might not even work the first time (batch 2 chips may actually become batch 1 chips if a re-design is necessary). The next 2-3 weeks will determine the course of things to come when the chips themselves are proven or not.

[digitalmagus]

Hi guys,
Contract Update#2:We've received the final version from our lawyers first thing this morning, but we need some time to review it, and I'm pretty sure at minimum a few amendments will be required. We are meeting with them later today to discuss changes. We'll provide updates as they become available.
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Luis

[digitalmagus]

Contract Update#3: We met with our lawyers today, some changes were discussed. They will work on them tomorrow and we will try to provide a final version for release the day after,  so this would be Wednesday; assuming of course, nothing else needs to be altered after they are done with it, but I can say it is almost in a final state at this point as it is.
Cheers,
Luis

[Foofighter]

Hello,

I heard rumors that metabank has unpaid orders from Batch 1 and they are selling these unpaid orders shortly. Could you talk to them if thats true and inform us if we could get another device from Batch 1?

Best regards
Foofighter

[senseless]

Hello,

I heard rumors that metabank has unpaid orders from Batch 1 and they are selling these unpaid orders shortly. Could you talk to them if thats true and inform us if we could get another device from Batch 1?

Best regards
Foofighter

The unpaid orders in question have a week to pay and that week is not up yet. If orders open up again we do plan to continue offering this proxy service for as long as batch 1 units are available.

-Tom

[ryanb]

my funds are ready i got my deposit yesterday and if someone do not pay i will take their spot

Let me know guys

[yxt]

If there is a free spot pls PN me 

[Foofighter]

Hi,

just wondering,
have you planed how long you will test each device at your office? Will this be a matter of hours or more like a full day or so?

regards

[digitalmagus]

Hi,
just wondering,
have you planed how long you will test each device at your office? Will this be a matter of hours or more like a full day or so?
regards

Hi Foofighter,
We have not finalized exactly what we will do yet, and likely won't until we give it a try and find what works best. Our goal is to optimize the logistics such that your device is out the door to you as soon as possible but still undergoes some decent amount of power on testing. We discussed something along the lines of picking up the systems from Metabank, dealing with paperwork during the day,  testing the systems overnight, and packing them back up and ship them out the next morning. Then rinse and repeat. There are many more things to consider in this logistics operation (how fast can we get systems from Metabank? Will it be all at once or small batches? How reliable are the first units after testing? (This may impact how much testing subsequent undergo). How are the units  packed from metabank?  Are they delivering plain circuit boards in an anti-static bag, or do the systems come with full CNC milled aluminum boxes (Avalon style)? What is the quality of the boxes/packing material from metabank? Is it good enough for international shipping or will we need to source additional/better packing material? How many units can we reasonably process in 1 day?  etc), so I am hesitant to commit to anything specific, but as soon as we figure out exactly what works best we can certainly communicate it.

Luis

[digitalmagus]

Hello everyone,
Service Agreement (Contract) Update#4: Well, it's finally ready! We appreciate everyone's patience with this, it was important we did sufficient due diligence. I'd also like to thank the individuals that provided constructive feedback and contributed to its improvement. Feel free to comment further on it if you wish or ask any questions. Over the next few days, our customers should be getting  an email from us, with a copy of your Service Agreement(s) and some basic instructions. Also, I will leave up the early draft I posted a few days back so people can easily compare the changes, but FYI after a week or so I will delete it.

Service Agreement URL: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bz7CvNpsvWycTmlDcHBzVUs0Qk0/edit?usp=sharing

Cheers,
Luis

[Foofighter]

Hey,

just checked the new contract.

So what happens now with the mining earnings produced during the testing phase of the devices?

regards

[digitalmagus]

Hey,
just checked the new contract.
So what happens now with the mining earnings produced during the testing phase of the devices?
regards

Hi Foofighter,
Good question. What you might notice in the contract is that some clauses got removed and others simplified. We were advised not to over commit, and especially not to be too specific where possible to allow for maximum operational flexibility.  In regards to the mining, our intentions are the same as before, but we were advised not to include the details in the contract. Imagine a situation where one of our staff was making copy/paste or typos in the destination BTC address and all the mining proceeds from your machine went to somebody else? Imagine we didn't discover this until later after many customers were affected. Our lawyers thus advised to remove these clauses to limit our liability as well. On a similar note, I think is important we also state publicly that from the 57 machines we've purchased from Metabank thus far, 10 of those were purchased for Bitcentury from our own funds, and yes, with those we intend to mine to get more familiar with the machines, but also for profit generation, to cover company costs or raise funding for future ventures, etc. At the end of the day, we aim to grow our business and expand into other areas, time/opportunity permitting. Building trust and being transparent with our customers I feel is critical to achieving that goal, especially in this line of business given the current environment.
Cheers,
Luis

[oaxaca]

We are charging 32BTC to cover shipping, handling, and our onsite incidentals (employees, office space, etc)

I would imagine that with that kind of profit margin, you'd hire only the best and the brightest.

Imagine a situation where one of our staff was making copy/paste or typos in the destination BTC address and all the mining proceeds from your machine went to somebody else? Imagine we didn't discover this until later after many customers were affected.

Well, so much for that theory.

[digitalmagus]

I would imagine that with that kind of profit margin, you'd hire only the best and the brightest.
Well, so much for that theory.

Hi oaxaca,
Even the brightest make mistakes. Feel free to offer a better value service. Competition is a good thing.
Cheers,
-Luis

[Luke-Jr]

Service Agreement URL: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bz7CvNpsvWycTmlDcHBzVUs0Qk0/edit?usp=sharing

• Defining Bitcoin is pretty hard, and linking to a wiki is useless for this XD
• I'd suggest defining Product more specificially, to indemnify yourselves against the risk of Bitcoin hash algorithm changing; eg, SHA256d searches where the final 32 bits are zero
• "BTC signing" and "BTC wallet" are wrong terms - signatures/wallets are unrelated to the BTC unit of currency, and as Bitcoin wallets are not public information, it is unreasonable to expect proof one owns it (nor is there any standard/specification for doing this)
  Looks like, from the context, you want "ECDSA signed message" and "…from the Customer's pre-specified ECDSA key"

• or software alterations that go beyond changing configuration parameters of the original provided software, may render the Product warranty of Metabank void

  Not sure about Bahamas or Russia, but this clause is invalid under US law.
• I'd suggest removing the vendor requirements from 5.1. I don't think anyone cares if the chips are from Bitfury or not, if they perform better…
• The contract names Canada as jurisdiction, but it started off as a company in Bahamas... Doesn't the jurisdiction need to be the location of one of the parties?
• Clause 5.4 must allow opt-out to do business in the USA, I believe (and I intend to opt-out of it).
• Finally, IANAL and the above is not legal advice.

[Fury!]

If there is a chance to get one of these units, PM me pls.

thanks !

[digitalmagus]

Hi guys,
On the subject of waitlists for Metabank Bitfury Orders:
Thanks for your continued interest. We are not aware that Metabank has officially come out and stated that they may have additional units for sale should some of their potential customers from batch 1 not pay within a week. We believe this information is being propagated by at least 1 individual on bitcointalk.org with possibly questionable motives, but in short, we cannot confirm the validity of what is being claimed either way.  That said, it is not outside the realm of possibility. Do let us know if you find a reliable source of this information.

This situation is one possibility, but there are others which may eventually result in Metabank selling more units - or not! Odds are, *IF* the BitFury ASIC passes tests successfully first time, and *IF* Metabank is just holding off on those test results before selling more devices (likely at a higher price than before), then we might as well be ready, but really, do consider they many never sell units again, or at least not in the short term.

What Bitcentury will do then, is organize a product tracking waitlist of sorts,  wherein people that are interested in eventually buying units can email us (See email below, please don't PM me on here), and I will add you to the list.  There is no money/bitcoins involved in this, and so this is not a pre-order, but rather a waitlist for a possible pre-order. As such, we offer ZERO guarantees of any kind.

We will simply try our best to be ready to buy more units *IF* and when they sell them again.  If they do sell them, we will announce our selling price at the time and then you can judge whether or not you still want to commit to the purchase.  You will be given 24 hours notice once we have confirmation and emailed you that we can purchase more units, and nothing would be official until you actually send us the bitcoins to secure your queue order (later to be followed by a signed service agreement).  Failure to send us the bitcoins within 24 hours of notification will result in you losing your place in the queue to the next order/customers.
  
Please be sensible with your requests. Anyone asking for more than 10 units, we may require some proof you actually have the bitcoins/funds to pay for such an eventual order.
Those that have already contacted us and we have replied to you in one form or another (if unsure, please email us as per below), you will be automatically added to this list, and we will contact you over the weekend with your place in the queue & how many units.  

So, if you are interested in being on a waitlist please email: EDIT: The waitlist is now closed, so email was removed

With the following info:

EMAIL Subject: Waitlist request: Name, # units, June XX, 2013

1. Your BTC Source Wallet Address:  
2. First/Last Name:
3. Address:
4. City:
5. State/Province:
6. ZIP:
7. Country:
8. Phone:
9. # of Units:  
10. Your Email Address:

Thanks,
Luis