Investing in hardware for mining, is it too late?

[bitbites]

I'd really like to invest in buying hardware to mine bitcoins with. I live in the UK so I think electricity is more here. In a month's time I will have some spare money to invest in hardware. How soon could I expect to break even? Or have I missed the boat already?

[Lord F(r)og]

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison

http://bitminer.info/

as shyone intended to say at your other post: use google!

[bitbites]

Thanks for the links. It looks like even in the best case scenario, I'm looking at a year before I make a return. I wish I'd found out about Bitcoin sooner

[Lord F(r)og]

the future is unwritten

[pandemic]

At the current rate, probably would take you a year at the least, not including power. difficulty increases but also decreases supply. If we hit $30/btc again, it'll be worth the investment, then again if btc tanks tomorrow, it wouldn't have been. It's a gamble.

[Palmdetroit]

Thanks for the links. It looks like even in the best case scenario, I'm looking at a year before I make a return. I wish I'd found out about Bitcoin sooner

Ya best to just learn more about it , maybe buy some coins if you think it's going up - Mining ain't for everyone.  But then again having a miner run on your PC when you'd be on it anyway can't hurt (much)

[IdeaMan]

At the current rate, probably would take you a year at the least, not including power. difficulty increases but also decreases supply. If we hit $30/btc again, it'll be worth the investment, then again if btc tanks tomorrow, it wouldn't have been. It's a gamble.

Hit it right on the nose - mining is kind of like playing the lottery; it can pay off, but the vast majority of the time you pay out instead.  Even if there is a massive drop in difficulty, the number of coins generated over times drops, so your investment loses value the more people know about mining and attempt it.  Even in the case of a phenomenal drop (you were one of 5 miners), the difficulty would adjust automatically anyway over time.  Long term, mining is profitable under the theory that you run a dedicated miner for many years, and only assuming that the number of miners doesn't increase TOO rapidly in that time.

A best bet option for mining is to contribute unused CPU cycles from existing unused hardware to a pool in terms of payout/reward, if your operating (electric/bandwidth) costs are low enough to justify the long term investment in BitCoins and it appreciated to a profitable level before you sold.  If you are determined to buy a dedicated mining rig (if you have very low power costs, for instance, this might make sense), the same principle applies - make sure you are profitable per sale.

Many miners go about it the wrong way, mining at a loss and then selling BitCoins almost immediately to reap some reward.  In order to be a profitable miner, you have to measure your costs accurately, set your profit margin, and sell when the price meets your goal.  Anything less planned is usually just paying too much for BitCoins vs. market value. and getting a really high framerate in Crysis.

[bitbites]

Ya best to just learn more about it , maybe buy some coins if you think it's going up - Mining ain't for everyone.  But then again having a miner run on your PC when you'd be on it anyway can't hurt (much)

Yup, I have quite a bit to learn I think.

I guess it's an investment and there's risks with any investment. Unfortunately my graphics card isn't very powerful (nVidia GTX 460) and I have to sell my computer anyway right now because of cash flow problems

I think next month when I get some money I will invest in some hardware for mining and see how it goes. It'll be a good learning experience if nothing else!

[fently]

It's an experiment, and a very captivating one at that. I'm not convinced I can make a solid business case for borrowing money to mine. Given that, the only reason I spend money on mining hardware is because I find the whole thing so interesting -- not because I might make money off it. I already make a decent living and if I had to pay myself $5/hour for all the effort put in, even with free electricity it would take much more than a year to pay myself back.

So basically, as far as I can tell, bitcoin mining is for financially established geeks. No one else. Everyone else either does not have the technical skill to pull it off efficiently, or does not have the money to risk on capital outlay and freak out when the going price for BTC changes, causing needless market volatility.

Something that requires less technical know-how, doesn't have the same angry wife factor, and is easier to scale, is investing in the bitcoin market. The downside, from what I can see at the moment, is that the market is still so small that it is very easy to manipulate (downside except for whoever does the manipulating).

[smsmining_pl]

depends on how much time you have a return on investment...

[cryptobard]

There are still 2/3 of the bitcoin monetary supply to be generated and we do not know what the value of bitcoins will be in the future. It is not too late; the pay off may be very, very worth it.

Plus, who's to say that participating in a cryptocurrency network isn't worth it in itself?

[Evil Juggalo]

the future is unwritten

Alot of people were in when BTC was sub .05USD and CPU mining..
Most people joined in at the 30$ week, you never know if next week it might hit 100$..

I would not suggest spending money that would hurt you if you didnt get it back.

[Palmdetroit]

Thanks for the links. It looks like even in the best case scenario, I'm looking at a year before I make a return. I wish I'd found out about Bitcoin sooner

Ya best to just learn more about it , maybe buy some coins if you think it's going up - Mining ain't for everyone.  But then again having a miner run on your PC when you'd be on it anyway can't hurt (much)

Now that I think about, if I had 10-20-50g laying around I would buy some more houses in Florida, yes some are selling for 10-50k 3 bedrooms with pools right now, and can rent out 600-850 a month after fixing up, honestly much more profitable then mining - from a biz perspective anyway

[kdf]

You could also consider playing the market.  I don't think that it is too late, but you have to be in it for the long haul now as any investment will take months to pay off.  Which in the grand scheme of things is not a bad return on your investment.

[IdeaMan]

You could also consider playing the market.  I don't think that it is too late, but you have to be in it for the long haul now as any investment will take months to pay off.  Which in the grand scheme of things is not a bad return on your investment.

Which in the grand scheme of things is not a may or may not be a bad return on your investment.

Edited for accuracy.  No one can predict the future, only offer theories as to what may happen.