USB Erupter Mining now pointless?

[BleepyEvans]

Im new to bitcoin and I understand I am long past the point at which I should be worrying about mining.

But Im just curious, is the following true? Looking at the figures on the link below, you would never make any money from the USB Erupters, even if there were no pool fees, and electricity was free.
http://mining.thegenesisblock.com/a/b0a8dbb535

The only thing I'm a little skeptical about on that page is the Difficulty Increase / Month that 'The Genesis Block' inputs by default (77%).
I've heard of figures around 20-25% but nothing anywhere near 77%. I assume their app has pull that figure from somewhere but is it realistic?

Please can someone shed some light on this?

Thank you

[MRKLYE]

They are fine for novelty purposes.. But as it sits now they make like.. 20 cents a day at most.. And soon to be less. :/

[vaio127]

The page simply looks at the last few difficulty increases to calculate the projected increase over a certain amount of time.

If you look at the month of August, it started out at 37.4M, rose to 50.8M on the 13th, and finished at 65.8M, which is a 75.9% increase.

It should also be important to note that more and more high end ASICs are being shipped all the time, so the difficulty is likely going to continue trending upward at such a rate for at least the next few months.

[BleepyEvans]

But what I don't understand is that if there is no chance of recovering costs, then why are people still buying them?

[balanghai]

People buy them because they retain the price as brand new. They mine it for a while and while doing so, they post it for sale. So aside from the unit being repaid, the profit lies in the mined coins on top of it all. 

[BleepyEvans]

Ah fair enough. Thanks for your replies.
I only wish I knew about this earlier!!! 

[balanghai]

Do you have any mining rig running at the moment?

[BleepyEvans]

Well I've had a Pi for a while, and got given a USB Erupter by my mate (mentioned below) to try mining out, but apart from that nope.

Im only looking at this as a hobby, and it would be cool to have something that would pay for a bit of my rent without really having to do much work

There is a possibility I can get mates rates on a BF Jalapeno (4.5GH/s) and could probably get it up and running within a few days of purchase.

What are your thoughts, worth trying at the right price? Or is there really no point unless I'm getting into the 100 GH/s territory?

Thanks

[vaio127]

If you just want to do it as a hobby, than a Jalapeno would be a decent start for the right price.  If you want to actually make any money from mining however, you're going to need substantially more hashing power.

[vnvizow]

Well I've had a Pi for a while, and got given a USB Erupter by my mate (mentioned below) to try mining out, but apart from that nope.

Im only looking at this as a hobby, and it would be cool to have something that would pay for a bit of my rent without really having to do much work

There is a possibility I can get mates rates on a BF Jalapeno (4.5GH/s) and could probably get it up and running within a few days.

What are your thoughts, worth trying at the right price? Or is there really no point unless I'm getting into the 100 GH/s territory?

Thanks

Yes it's quite pointless right now to mine unless you're in the 100gh/s territory. Here's a tip my friend, you can mine in some new pools that don't have much people in them(example:p00l.co). with one block erupted usb you can mine way more that what you could mine in a full pool (example: slush) but will take longer times and there's no guarantee that you will make more but I'm making 0.002BTC per block with my 180mh/s graphics card.

[wtfvanity]

If you just want to do it as a hobby, than a Jalapeno would be a decent start for the right price.  If you want to actually make any money from mining however, you're going to need substantially more hashing power.

When you get your Jalapeno in a year, it won't be worth it once it's delivered.

[BleepyEvans]

When you get your Jalapeno in a year, it won't be worth it once it's delivered.

As mentioned previously, I can get this within days of purchase.

-

Yes it's quite pointless right now to mine unless you're in the 100gh/s territory. Here's a tip my friend, you can mine in some new pools that don't have much people in them(example:p00l.co). with one block erupted usb you can mine way more that what you could mine in a full pool (example: slush) but will take longer times and there's no guarantee that you will make more but I'm making 0.002BTC per block with my 180mh/s graphics card.

Thats doesnt seem like too bad an idea. Guess there not much to lose really.

-

I personally have no problem with spending a bit of cash to get the right gear, but I have a feeling the other half will
Would you recommend getting the Jalapeno or sticking with a Pi and just expand with more USB's?

[vnvizow]

I personally have no problem with spending a bit of cash to get the right gear, but I have a feeling the other half will
Would you recommend getting the Jalapeno or sticking with a Pi and just expand with more USB's?

Well it depends if you see that bit of cash as extra money or essential to your mining. If you see the cash as essential then don't buy the jalapeño, because you won't be able to earn the money back in some time. Although the price of the bitcoin could potentially rise over 200 by the end of this year but nothing is guaranteed. The amount of bitcoins you can mine if you have a jalapeño in a new server should be around ~1.5BTC per block. Not counting in the the difficulty rises, the rise of the bitcoin price, and the pool fee you should get ~2.5 bitcoins a month. But keep in mind that this is only my opinion and we are ruling out the factors that can unbalance this equation. Also, you can try http://p2pool.org/. Happy Hashing

[BleepyEvans]

Money is just sitting there doing nothing, its just sitting in my account looking pretty
What do you think is a reasonable price for a jalapeño?

Thank you for everyones advice.

[vnvizow]

Money is just sitting there doing nothing, its just sitting in my account looking pretty
What do you think is a reasonable price for a jalapeño?

Thank you for everyones advice.

Depends on the condition, if it's in-hand, whether if it's only tested or second-hand. I suppose you're getting one in-hand so a only tested one ~$400-$700, a second-hand (good condition(only used for 1-3 months)) ~$350-$600, and a bad second hand( used for more than 5 months) ~$250-$450......Note: the above is just my opinion......btw people with in-hand bfl products might be a little crazy on the price, I've see a 5gh/s jalapeño for $2500(just saying)......

[wtfvanity]

When you get your Jalapeno in a year, it won't be worth it once it's delivered.

As mentioned previously, I can get this within days of purchase.

Sure, but not from BFL. Your friend is selling it for the regular retail price? Then that's a no brainer.

[darrenb]

i would say any Jalapeño under £600, could be worth it.. (I sold one last week for £1050) didn't know it would sell so high..

I bought two last week, one for £800 and the other for £640 inc post.

They together will earn me £70 a week and more if i upgrade the 2nd unit

I have the Dragon JTAG which takes these boxes to just over 7GH/s each.

I am offering this upgrade free to anyone with a Jalapeño. (Cheltenham : while you wait or can send)


I'm sure there is always a risk with bitcoin, but i started 3 months ago when 1 x coin was worth less than £60, Its now £90 and I'm sure the hardware can mine other coins like litecoin.

Maybe even at some point we will have other uses too like they used to have with SETI and global warming hashing..

Try one before its all over, can always try to sell if you think its not working..

Good Luck

Darrenb

[SXC_Freak]

well on bitmit you can get 50 for 8 btc so like 16.8 gigahash and on 2.5 * 50 = 125 watt power draw.

[BleepyEvans]

well on bitmit you can get 50 for 8 btc so like 16.8 gigahash and on 2.5 * 50 = 125 watt power draw.

That does seem like a more reasonable option to be honest. I dont pay for electricity anyway as its included in my rent which i'd have to pay with or without a miner.

I just think the jalapeno just looks more complete than a shed load of usbs sticking out of a couple of usb hubs, ahah.

I might have to do a group buy a some point.

[balanghai]

It's already a good start. You might as well look into having more block erupters when the cost is like $20 each and at hand. You can play with them and just add them up. Good thing you don't pay for your electricity. And it might as well be great to mine altcoins with any great GPU.