Hi all,
I recently came across this project and having conducted some research decided to start this thread to share my observations.
The project is about an upcoming mining farm in Kazakhstan. The opportunity is truly unique and I set out the key benefits which in my opinion will lead to a very bright future for this project (and its investors).
The address of the website is:
https://ico.icerockmining.io/Account/Register?stcRef=7110c6d6-08fd-43e1-beb9-62074f9a14d7 In my opinion the following benefits make investment in the Ice Rock Mining ICO incredibly attractive:
Costs savingsThe farm is based in an ex-Soviet bunker owned by the company and is locate din Kazakhstan. This means the following key benefits:
1) No need for a cooling equipment- cooling equipment is compulsory for mining operations on commercial scale. It is both expensive to maintain and run as it runs on electricity (just like the mining equipment). The lack of mining equipment or any break-downs can affect the mining process or even halt it completely, which will of course affect the profits. Ice Rock Mining have taken a very different approach- their whitepaper indicates that the temperature in the bunker is constantly around 12 degrees which is ideal for providing a natural cooling ecosystem for the antminers. Hence, the fact that the company does not need to invest in a cooling equipment is a key benefit as any savings can be invested in purchasing more mining equipment which in turn will boost the profitability.
2) No need for real estate investment- given that the company already owns the premises where the miners will be installed, there will be no need for further investments (and delays) in purchasing, renting or building housing structures. Again, any such savings can be channeled into increasing the mining power.
3) Lowest electricity costs- the whitepaper states that the cost of the electricity to be consumed by the miner is $0.03 per kilowatt, which represents some of the lowest price per electricity in teh world. The price is certainly much lower than most, if not all, European countries. The electricity is one of the most serious costs associated with bitcoin mining and a market player who has been able to secure a low price for its mining equipment may definitely be in a position to dominate the market.
ProfitabilityOnce the costs savings have been addressed, one certainly needs to calculate the potential profits that can arise from any investment. I have approached investing in the Ice Rock Mining project in the following manner:
1) Hashrate per $100 investment: a $100 investment (minimum investment) in the project buys an investor 587 GH/S. This is calculated by dividing 13,500 GH/s (the mining out put of a miner) by the price of the miner which the company pays under its contract for supply of mining equipment which we are told is $2,300. 13,500/2,300= 5.87GH/s per $1 or 587 per $100. Currently, participants in the ICO are offered a 45% bonus on their investments, which means that a $100 investment buys 45% more hashing power, or (587/100)x45 + 587= 851.15 GH/s, or to put it simply $100 buys 851.15 GH/s with Ice Rock Mining.
Just by way of a comparison, the hashrate offered by the best value for money contract (called "Diamond") run by Genesis mining (which has sold out and is thus not currently available) is: 25,000 GH/s / $3,975= 6.28 GH/s x 100= 628 GH/s for each 100$ invested. In other words, the hashpower that one can get with the Ice Rock Mining is approximately 35% more than what has been offered by Genesis.
Another market leader, Hashflare, offers 10GH/s for $2.20. This means that $100 will buy 454.54 GH/s, calculated as per the above. This means that compared to Hasflare, the Rock Mining project offers approximately 90% more hashpower per $100 invested.
2) Profitability in real terms- if one runs the mining calculator on coinwarz, the results that one would get as at today's date (11 February) having invested $100 in Genesis mining or Hashflare (as per the above) are as follows:
Genesis mining: btc worth $172.51. This represents a 172.5% return on investment. Such investor would have recovered his initial investment and made 72.5% profit.
Hashflare: btc worth $124.86. This represents a 124.8% return on investment. Such an investor would have recovered his initial investment and made 24.8% profit.
Please note that I have not taken into account any pool fees and other fees these companies charge to cover their expenses. I am doing this in order to really cut on the time needed to collect the relevant data. In any case, such information would make the above profit figures even lower.
Ice Rock Mining- the compensation structure is set out here
https://ico.icerockmining.io/Account/Register?stcRef=7110c6d6-08fd-43e1-beb9-62074f9a14d7 but for convenience, I also set it out below:
50% of the profits are paid directly to the investor;
20% is reinvested on behalf of the investor;
20% is withheld to meet operating costs and maintenance;
10% is kept by the management of Ice Rock
Mining profits are paid monthly at the end of each month. This means that the return on a $100 investment will look as follows (using the Conwarz calculator as at today's date 11 Febryary 2018 and increasing the return by 20% each month, following the automatic 20% re-investment on behalf of the investor):
The profits for the 1st month per $100 investment are equal to btc worth $19.22. The profits get distributed based on the above schedule of distribution which means that an investor gets 50% and an additional 20% from month 2 onwards.
1 month: btc worth $9.61
2 month: btc worth $11.53
3 month: btc worth $13.83
4 month: btc worth $16.59
5 month: btc worth $19.90
6 month: btc worth $23.88
7 month: btc worth $28.65
8 month: btc worth $34.38
9 month: btc worth $41.25
10 month: btc worth $49.5
11 month: btc worth $59.4
12 month: btc worth $71.28
Total for 12 months: btc worth$379.8 which means that an investor in the Ice Rock mining project would have recovered his/her initial investment and made 279.8% of profits in one year
Obviously the above are just rough assumptions, as the price per btc, mining difficulty etc would change, but these would affect every mining service company in the same way.
3) Unlimited contract: each mining company sets a limit to the length of its contracts. The Ice Rock mining sets a 3 year limit to its contracts which is probably the longest in the industry- longer than both of Genesis mining and Hashflare. However, because of the automatic 20% reinvestment feature, contracts with the Ice Rock mining are technically unlimited in time. This is a huge selling point for the project because for as long as these contracts are profitable, a one off investment in the project will in theory, never expire and will increase in size automatically which again in theory means that such investment will generate profits for the investor perpetually.
Team1) Management and operational teams: while the above factors are important, it is the people behind the project who will be ultimately responsible for its success. That is why it is incredibly important for a project to be sourced by the right individuals possessing the right skillset. You can read more on the Ice Rock Mining team members' credentials on
https://ico.icerockmining.io/Account/Register?stcRef=7110c6d6-08fd-43e1-beb9-62074f9a14d7 , but suffice it to say that these individuals seem to have the right background to make this project a true success as they appear to have the right mix of technical, management and marketing skills.
ConclusionThe opportunity offered by the Ice Rock Mining project appears to be quite attractive based on the above analysis and with the potential to turn this company into a market leader. As the ICO progresses and the bonus offered to participants becomes less and less, the potential returns will also decrease hence why I believe it is important to identify and analyse such opportunities as early as possible.
I will keep an eye on how the project develops and will attempt to provide further clarification and updates as and when needed.
For disclosure purposes, I am not a financial adviser and the above is not a financial advice and should not be relied as such. I have simply outlined the way I have analysed this investment opportunity and I recognise that there might be risks I am not familiar with. ICOs are risky to invest in and such investments can go down to zero due to risks which exist at the time of investment or subsequent to it.
Should you wish to explore this opportunity further, you may use this link:
https://ico.icerockmining.io/Account/Register?stcRef=7110c6d6-08fd-43e1-beb9-62074f9a14d7 
