If the price of DASH falls, you're not better off if you mined instead of having a MN, are you?
Mining is a whole different story. You take different things into consideration in the event of price depreciation, you can sell your gear (yes, the 2nd hand price isn't wonderfull but it depends) or switch to another crypto.
I would say it's safer, thus less profitable.
The problem I have in understanding is just about the risk/reward profile of MN vs Minig, assuming that you accept the DASH/USD risk.
Profitability it's better as a MN operator then.
As for the third parties, agreed. But is mining really an alternative, i.e. can you put DASH into mining and get more DASH out than you invested into it?
It is an alternative when you don't accept 3rd parties. Mined Dash won't work for you like shares, untill you mine a whole 1000.
But the thinking that every single Dash need to give you a ROI, like a Masternode, is wrong. Mine, trade or invest medium, long-term like any other crypto.
And going back to your question from wchich this conversation started:
If one has 1000 Dash, who would ever put them in X11 hash power instead of just running a MN?
You are right. No one would put 1000 Dash into hash power, imo. Running a Masternode is an upgrade but still both need each other.
