[Closed] Bitfury miner group buy + hosting (with ESCROW)

[jlsminingcorp]

Now 12 / 12.11 shares remaining for next component (at current BTC rate shown in the OP)

GB now with YACback offer: 50 YAC per paid share in the next component will be given to the purchasers of those shares

YAC will be paid once the component is ordered and paid for. Only available for the next component (H-board #1).

[Stinky_Pete]

Stinky_Pete,1,0.5,1EysFQHn5s8MbFTBGvgHigDdQJV23emtJP

Shares this month: 1

[jlsminingcorp]

Now 11 / 12.14 shares remaining for next component (at current BTC rate shown in the OP)

GB now with YACback offer: 50 YAC per paid share in the next component will be given to the purchasers of those shares

YAC will be paid once the component is ordered and paid for. Only available for the next component (H-board #1).

[jlsminingcorp]

Now 10 / 12.14 shares remaining for next component (at current BTC rate shown in the OP)

GB now with YACback offer: 50 YAC per paid share in the next component will be given to the purchasers of those shares

YAC will be paid once the component is ordered and paid for. Only available for the next component (H-board #1).

[jlsminingcorp]

Hi All, Some of you may already have noticed that bitfurystrikesback.com have just made a significant increase to the price of H-boards for October delivery (from 350 to 450 Euros). Since this has a significant impact on the cost of our GB (miner cost has risen from 7750 to 9610 Euro), I’ve paused the collection for the moment and I need your input into how to proceed from here. I can see a number of ways to move forward (some suggestions below), but you may also have some ideas. Could you please let me know your thoughts ASAP, so that we can come to a consensus on how to proceed?

1) We continue with the original plan (i.e. keep collecting for H-boards to add to the starter kit) and accept the effect of the price increase on the total price of the miner.
2) We stop collecting for additional H-boards and run the starter kit as a stand-alone machine.
3) We request a refund from bitfurystrikesback.com and walk away. (Note: if a refund were issued in Euro then the Euro:BTC exchange rate and bank charges may affect how much we actually get back, so we would need to look for the most cost effective way to deal with this)
4) We see if we can convert our starter kit order into an order for bitfury chips. We then get these assembled into mining devices and use the assembled miners to mine for the group. Cscape and intron are both working on pcbs for chips, burnin has stated in his thread that he will probably design a bitfury miner once he’s finished with his Avalon devices and I’ve exchanged pms with two others who are quite likely to offer assembly services if a board design is available. The advantage of assembling miners from chips is that we are more likely to be able to achieve high hashrates from the chips (maybe up to 2.5 GH/s or more, rather than the 1.5GH/s from H-boards) and so the GH/s/BTC could be good.* However, there is some additional risk here, because pcb designs and assemblers are not confirmed yet. I should say that we have a personal chip order already and were planning to do this anyway, as part of our mining strategy, but the additional risk may not be for everybody. Also, bitfurystrikesback.com have just pulled chip orders from their site, so this may not even be possible.

*For example, a 20 bitfury chip bitburner from burnin could achieve ~50GH/s. The old price for 20 chips (before they were removed from the site) was 496 Euro (inc. VAT) and a very rough estimate for assembly might be around 150 Euro (inc. VAT), so a rough estimate might be 650-750 Euro for 50GH/s.

If the group wants to take option 3 then we should do this very soon (due to EU distance selling regulations). If the group wants to take option 4 then I will draft some terms and conditions for this and contact punin to see if it would be possible. Options 1 and 2 don't really require any urgent action.

[Stinky_Pete]

Thinking out loud...
For me, one of the attractions of this scheme is that I can make small payments over an extended period, rather than having to put up a large sum immediately. I also suspect that adding more hardware over time will hold my interest (and thus the 'fun' factor) for longer. I hope that some scheme along those lines can continue. My major concern is how fast the difficulty is increasing, and hence any payback is shrinking.

I had been intending to continue investing in this group buy at least until 'the end of August' to see how the first machines were received by the community. I also hope that by then more will be known about how KnC are keeping to their timetable, and that some more details about the newest ASICs would be available.

I also want to see if there are howls of complaint about this price increase, and how Punin will react. I hope there are other potential buyers out there who will make a noise.

So for me the decision is between option 3) vs. all the others (with more information to be gathered). I'll think about it a bit more, since that decision has to be made soon.

[bananton]

Thinking out loud...
For me, one of the attractions of this scheme is that I can make small payments over an extended period, rather than having to put up a large sum immediately. I also suspect that adding more hardware over time will hold my interest (and thus the 'fun' factor) for longer. I hope that some scheme along those lines can continue. My major concern is how fast the difficulty is increasing, and hence any payback is shrinking.

I had been intending to continue investing in this group buy at least until 'the end of August' to see how the first machines were received by the community. I also hope that by then more will be known about how KnC are keeping to their timetable, and that some more details about the newest ASICs would be available.

I also want to see if there are howls of complaint about this price increase, and how Punin will react. I hope there are other potential buyers out there who will make a noise.

So for me the decision is between option 3) vs. all the others (with more information to be gathered). I'll think about it a bit more, since that decision has to be made soon.

I agree with Pete..

[jlsminingcorp]

Hi Guys, thanks for your input. I would also like to continue this group buy if at all possible. I like the modular approach where we can build things up too. I had an interesting pm earlier that I need to follow up on in more detail, but there might be an alternative possibility for us to continue in a more economical way. I'll post as soon as I have anything substantive to suggest to the group.

[mistermint]

So for me the decision is between option 3) vs. all the others (with more information to be gathered)

Likewise.

Bet Punins inbox is burning like wildfire right now.

[Stinky_Pete]

There's some interest on the US list in taking below par H-boards and fiddling with them.

It starts at the bottom of page 49 on this list https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=251966.960

Thanks for the updates, Dave!  We're all anxiously awaiting/anticipating the start of August shipping...   Just think, if you deliver by August 30th, you'll be the first ASIC manufacturer with available, substantial hashrate, product to have delivered early, ever.

Another first: ...not to have premined customer hardware before shipping.


Though we *will* test them and pull out bad boards.  Even with a 98% yield on the chips, it still means 30% of all boards have a chance of a bad chip   Individual bad chips won't be much of a problem, but if a board has a big group of bad ones or one that doesn't pass SPI down the chain, it will be replaced by a good card before shipping.  Our hand-built full rig prototype has only 10 chips not showing up to the party, but there are several others hashing at subpar rates (and the thing is still producing over 400G).

To determine this we will test them for at least long enough to see where the high error rates and/or zero hashing chips are.  This is clearly visible within a few hours.  As we get more familiar with the boards we can tighten up our test time.  This will be a major bottleneck IMHO.

I know some of you will say, "Please don't test mine" and/or "Please send your test hashes to these pool creds", but I just can't support doing that, sorry!

1st dibs on buying "bad"  boards

I'd be happy to have sub-standard boards in our machine, providing they are significantly cheaper than a full board, and if they don't take up space which we could fill with a good board.

Meaning - if we can't afford a full set of 16 good boards, then fill the gaps with cheaper boards.

[mistermint]

Yes, I know this is not contributing that much, but again I agree. I have no problems sacrificing a few Mh/s for cheaper kit.

It gets us running faster by filling the unit to capacity quicker, albeit with a lower ceiling for its maximum hashrate.

Nothing stopping us chipping in for another base unit and filling that up too, if the money spins in our direction.

[jlsminingcorp]

Yes, I know this is not contributing that much, but again I agree. I have no problems sacrificing a few Mh/s for cheaper kit.

It gets us running faster by filling the unit to capacity quicker, albeit with a lower ceiling for its maximum hashrate.

Nothing stopping us chipping in for another base unit and filling that up too, if the money spins in our direction.

Hi, that's fine for me too. The only difficulty is that there's no way to predict the supply of these boards, so it's hard to make plans on the basis of these.

I've had a vote from one of the potential group buy members in the 1st H-board "I would vote for option 1 first or option 3 second but not 2 or 4." Still working on other options.

***
Can I just check that I've understood you all correctly?

* There seems to be support to continue with the group buy if we can find a way to keep adding hardware at a reasonable price.
* I get the sense from you that with the price increase (to 450 Euro) that you don't feel that the H-boards are a reasonable price any more.
* If there's no option to get H-boards cheaper than this then we should look to get a refund on the starter kit?
* There is no support for an order of chips followed by assembly, hosting etc.

If any of this is misinterpreted please let me know ASAP.

[Stinky_Pete]

Any news?

[jlsminingcorp]

Any news?

Hi Stinky_Pete, sorry for the delay. I'm just waiting on an email at the moment that might affect the way that we proceed with the next components. I'll let you guys know as soon as I hear back. I would hope to have all the info in the next couple of days.

[bananton]

We are running out of time...
I think we must make a decision in the short term.

Regards.

[jlsminingcorp]

We are running out of time...
I think we must make a decision in the short term.

Regards.

Hi bananton, agreed, did you see my pm from earlier today?

[bananton]

We are running out of time...
I think we must make a decision in the short term.

Regards.

Hi bananton, agreed, did you see my pm from earlier today?

Reading it right now..

[jlsminingcorp]

Hi All,

As you know from my pms to group members I've been looking into various options (different suppliers etc.) for how to continue our GB in light of the increased H-board prices from bitfurystrikesback.com for the last week or so. As I mentioned in yesterday's pm I think we have three options, which I'd like group members to vote on (I had no additional options put forward from group members in response to my pm). Please could you let me know ASAP which option you would prefer to take? A majority decision (based on the number of shares each member has in the group) will decide the way forward.

1) We continue with the original plan (i.e. keep collecting for H-boards to add to the starter kit). If options for cheaper H-boards become available in the future the group will decide on whether or not to go for these.

2) We request a refund from bitfurystrikesback.com and walk away. (Note: if a refund were issued in Euro then the Euro:BTC exchange rate and bank charges may affect how much we actually get back, so we would need to look for the most cost effective way to deal with this)

3) We request a refund and use the funds to purchase miners from the alternate supplier mentioned in my pm with hosting on the same terms as before. The same note about currency exchange etc. as above apply here.

[jlsminingcorp]

Vote for option 1  - from swirlingbrain via bitmit.net message.

[Stinky_Pete]

Option 1