[closed] Bitcoind Pooled Mining Association

[ColdHardMetal]

Yet another Bylaw update: http://bitcoind.org/mediawiki/index.php/Bylaws

Changed to reflect being an Association of Members rather than a club of shareholders. I also added an "Information Officer" position but could use some suggestions as to what that person should be responsible for.

[Vinnie]

I'm working on some financial cash flow projections and I need some help. I'm not sure how to figure out how much power the mining rig will use each day. I probably could, but I know someone else already knows how, so if they could post the calculation here I can build it into the spreadsheet and save a little time.

Thanks.

I'll help you with this. I'm taking a quick break from work at the moment, but this evening I'll organize a capital budget template, budgeted income statement template and budgeted balance sheet template. Do you have a google account or windows live account? If so we can use Google Documents or Office Live to share spreadsheets.

[Anonymous]

When can we start purchasing shares?

[Vinnie]

When can we start purchasing shares?

On my end we need at least a capital budget for the first operating year (at least) as well as a budgeted balance sheet and income statement. These hinge on consensus on what accurate estimates are. Then there's equipment, software, etc. to setup. So who knows how long it will take?

[bit-numismatist]

I'll invest in the project at least 2000 BTC or maybe more depending on interest level it can provide.

[Martian]

I'd be interested in investing something along the lines of 50 BTC in this if it gets off the ground. At the moment my bitcoins are just languishing in my wallet. And it's a lot less capital to invest than I would building my own mining rig.

[Anonymous]

The ball is rolling now so we should have some news for everyone as soon as its official.

[FreeMoney]

If everything looks efficient and legit I'm in for 200BTC, possibly as much as 1000. I can also 'buy in' via PP if USD are needed.

[superbitcoin]

If everything looks efficient and legit ...

I'm in for probably 5000BTC 

[Cdecker]

I'd be in for something between 200-1000 BTC

[tcatm]

@vladimir: Can we run custom miner software on your hardware + rent a small server to run bitcoind that is close in terms of latency (< 1ms) to the miners?

[Nefario]

Mining bitcoins will not always be profitable, and may not be worthwhile after a 6 month time period if difficulty increases too much. At that point we will have a number of machines which we can use for other purposes and with which we can make further income. And once we are finished we can sell the equipment, not at the price we paid but for something.

Outsourcing everything would make sense if we were an existing company trying to cut costs in something that is a cost center and generates no revenue. But this will be the core business of our club for some time. Doing it ourselves alows us to develope expertise which we will need. If we use your service Vladimir along with it being more expensive we will be left with nothing but a few bitcoins, and no expertise or equipment to use for something else, and our club must then disband.

If we do it ourselves then we will be in a position to do more things once we have finished mining, these would be more opportunities to make more bitcoin and at the same time have more sefvices or even products available in the bitcoin economy.

[Anonymous]

The hardware operator isnt a sixteen year old living in the basement.  In fact hes one of the most respected and intelligent members of the forum.

The bitcoind project is about people having a piece of the capital not part of an expensive prepaid contract which leaves them with no physical hardware after the contract is finished. Your contracts are purely for bitcoin mining which is not exactly what we are planning for.

[ribuck]

Mining bitcoins will not always be profitable, and may not be worthwhile after a 6 month time period if difficulty increases too much.

Or, mining might be worthwhile if the price of bitcoins has risen enough. Or, it might be worthwhile if transaction fees are charged. Or, the difficulty rise might pause when the Northern Hemisphere summer arrives.

There are plenty of unknowns, so I think this should be considered an adventure rather than a charted course.

[gene]

The hardware operator isnt a sixteen year old living in the basement.  In fact hes one of the most respected and intelligent members of the forum.

The bitcoind project is about people having a piece of the capital not part of an expensive prepaid contract which leaves them with no physical hardware after the contract is finished. Your contracts are purely for bitcoin mining which is not exactly what we are planning for.

I did not mean an offence, just tried to bring to your attention that when you deal with anonymous members on a forum you really cannot know that it is not really a 16 year old. I certainly did not refer to any specific person on this forum. and "16 year old" is just a figure of speech, I know a few 16 year olds who are much dependable than some adults and vice versa. My point is that the risks must be assessed when running club like yours.

I didn't notice your post in this thread until now, and I asked the following question in another thread. Since you are soliciting your services, it is more appropriate to ask here:

How can you can claim "20+ years of experience with Linux and FreeBSD," since Torvalds didn't even begin to work on Linux until 1991 and FreeBSD wasn't released until late 1993.

[gene]

I've just answered it in that thread.

Yes. And because of you, I will waste my weekend looking at ancient fidonet echolists.

[gene]

I've just answered it in that thread.

Yes. And because of you, I will waste my weekend looking at ancient fidonet echolists.

1. You do not have to.
2. And your point is?

Relax. I meant that you brought back memories of the pre-internet days, and that your post made me want to go back and look for some old stuff.

[Anonymous]

We arent claiming anything outrageous or downplaying the risks. That is the reason we are getting full financial reports and risk assessments done before we even begin to solicit members. They should be aware of all the information we have. Bitcoin mining is full of assumptions and guesstimates so having other options is a must.

[ribuck]

That is the reason we are getting full financial reports and risk assessments done before we even begin to solicit members.

Sure, you are playing it cautious. But I see a risk of analysis paralysis setting in: trying to tie up all the loose ends while the difficulty rises and the window of opportunity starts to close...

Anyway I think a collaborative venture is a great thing to do. But it's going to have to be nimble to be successful.

[ColdHardMetal]

Anyway I think a collaborative venture is a great thing to do. But it's going to have to be nimble to be successful.

This is what makes it interesting imo. One of the main reasons I intend to be involved. Just the nature of what we are trying to achieve in terms of the organizational aspects is pretty neat.