PBmining - legit?

[FalconFly]

Yes, it is legit

From the mouth of a bought sockpuppet that may as well be a bot. Nothing but max. 4 words, meaningless posts across all forums so far.

pbmining looks more and more suspicious by the day, given how frequently we're seeing these unusual posters.
From an analytical standpoint, these occurences give away that something is wrong there and (based on intensity) should reach conclusion within the next weeks (a few months maximum).

[iflash]

Little update: I am now at 2.3 BTC paid out so far. Which means that I have still 6.6 BTC to go before ROI. Fingers crossed ... :-)

What came as a bit of surprise: The payout last Sunday was higher than the week before. I wonder how that could be. Wasn't there a diff raise in between? But maybe I mix things up.

I also noted that they have done a little bit of work on their page. Nothing super fancy but still some improvements in the back end. Maybe that's wishful thinking but a thought stroke me: It this is a ponzi: Why would they even bother to enhance the user experience in the back end? It just means work for them with no benefit selling more. Just a thought ...

I will keep everybody updated on the progress next week again. Until then if anybody wants to risk investing there, using my ref code is highly appreciated: http:/pbmining.com?ref=iflash11

Happy mining,


iFlash

[TechByPC]

Yes, it is legit

From the mouth of a bought sockpuppet that may as well be a bot. Nothing but max. 4 words, meaningless posts across all forums so far.

pbmining looks more and more suspicious by the day, given how frequently we're seeing these unusual posters.
From an analytical standpoint, these occurences give away that something is wrong there and (based on intensity) should reach conclusion within the next weeks (a few months maximum).

Yes, this type of activity is what convinced me more than anything else that PBmining must not be legitimate. I haven't invested any more, and I won't.

[amprocket]

Jasus, iflash, is that you with 1000GH/s? 
I thought I was taking a risk with 14...

[MrPiggles]

It this is a ponzi: Why would they even bother to enhance the user experience in the back end? It just means work for them with no benefit selling more. Just a thought ...

You could make the same argument for a non-ponzi.

They're making loads of money with their old site, why would they need a new site?

That's really not an argument for or against the likelihood of them being a ponzi

[MrPiggles]

I actually wish I'd bought one gh when they appeared, and then spammed referral links everywhere. At least I'd be getting a cut, pretty sure some people have read this thread then gone ahead and invested anyway, lol

[amprocket]

I read this thread & invested, maybe it is a ponzi, we'll find out eventually I guess.
I just went to price some GH/s with them a minute ago & it says they are currently sold out, try again later, odd practice for a ponzi.

[botolo86]

This is what appears now when you try to load their website:

We are currently changing servers and we request that all customers flush their cache, and clear their bookmarks for the new PBMining site.
Failure to do this may give you errors or prevent you from accessing some portions of the website.
Part of the transition is adding SSL Certificates and therefore, you may be prompted to accept a Certificate while the transition is in progress.

You can access the new site by clicking here: pbmining.com new site

You are currently seeing this page because the DNS propagation has not completed yet. Once it does, the pbmining.com website and URL will be displayed properly again.

[rara12121]

This is what appears now when you try to load their website:

We are currently changing servers and we request that all customers flush their cache, and clear their bookmarks for the new PBMining site.
Failure to do this may give you errors or prevent you from accessing some portions of the website.
Part of the transition is adding SSL Certificates and therefore, you may be prompted to accept a Certificate while the transition is in progress.

You can access the new site by clicking here: pbmining.com new site

You are currently seeing this page because the DNS propagation has not completed yet. Once it does, the pbmining.com website and URL will be displayed properly again.

I see this:
You attempted to reach pbmining.com, but instead you actually reached a server identifying itself as ssl6574.cloudflare.com. This may be caused by a misconfiguration on the server or by something more serious. An attacker on your network could be trying to get you to visit a fake (and potentially harmful) version of pbmining.com.

[er.arpit]

I also saw that error, the new site contain IP address only. I logged in with wrong password just to see if this site is fake or not and when it threw authentication fail error, i logged in with correct credential and could see my profile with correct details.

[iflash]

They seem to have changed their server config. I had a warning about the encryption but now everything seems to work.

Regarding the "sold out": Probably Mr. Piggles will claim that this is also only a trick to make it look legit. And - it could be. But I doubt it. Because a Ponzi scheme can't afford not to get new customers on board because they need to do the payouts of the existing customers with the BTCs of the old customers.

But let's see how long they are out of stock. The longer they are, the less likely they are a scam.

We just have to wait and see.

Isn't it a bit thrilling, though?

Happy mining,


iFlash

PS: Surely enough I will advertise my ref-code: http://pbmining.com?ref=iflash11

[MrPiggles]

You're right, ponzis need exponentially expanding client base in order to keep paying their early adopters.

PBMining payouts aren't too high, not 5% a day or anything so they don't need to panic like most ponzis do so soon.

If they were continually adjusting on a daily basis and claiming to have more TH every time they got near their claimed TH then it'd be incredibly obvious they were up to something, since no one can actually get hold of TH at that rate. I'm personally skeptical they can get TH at the claimed rate they are anyway. They've added 15TH in under a week, which by anyones estimation is $30-$45,000 worth of equipment.

When you add in the bids they're using to advertise on this forum (I saw 4 ad bids for 2.75 btc the other day) they're easily spending $35k-50k a week on hardware and advertising (if they are legit)

Which is more likely: They're spending $35-50k a week on new hashing power and advertising despite selling GH for around $4 each.

Or they're just raking in loads of deposits (hence the huge advertising budget) and aren't buying any hashing power (hence the laundering of payouts and general shadiness)

all they do is every 3 days or so add 5 TH, which seems to be enough to convince people that they're not just pulling figures out of their ass.


Just some quick math. They are selling 1 gh for around $4 - let's say they sell someone 1000gh for $4000, let's say their miners are pretty power efficient and are 1000w/TH

They are paying $3.60 a day in electricity - presuming they pay around 15c per kw. That's $108 per month for their 1 TH.

1 TH for 12 months costs $1300 in electricity, so they're already down to $2700 left for purchasing their mining gear, paying for advertising and they have 4 years of hosting left to pay for.

After 5 years at $1300 per year they're on $6500 for power costs alone, forget about advertising, forget about buying the mining equipment - they've lost $2500 already.

You guys think this is for real? Seriously?

[iflash]

Your calculations assume that they run the same gear over the whole time. That would be a stupid thing to do. It, of course, can only work if they upgrade their mining power.

I mean: Today, 1 TH/s sounds like a pretty decent mining power unit. But in a year from now, I bet you that there is hardware at a fraction of todays prices and with lower power consumption that does the same trick.

Therefor I simply assume that they upgrade their gear i.e.. selling old stuff and buying new stuff on a regular basis. If they are legit and buy at the speed they do, it is fair to assume that the prices they achieve are probably better than the ones a private buyer would get.

Again: *If* they are legit.

[MrPiggles]

You calculations assume that they run the same gear over the whole time. That would be a stupid thing to do. It, of course, can only work if they upgrade their mining power.

I mean: Today, 1 TH/s sounds like a pretty decent mining power unit. But in a year from now, I bet you that there is hardware at a fraction of todays prices and with lower power consumption that does the same trick.

Therefor I simply assume that they upgrade their gear i.e.. selling old stuff and buying new stuff on a regular basis.

Otherwise it simply does not work.

So with the $2700 left out of the $4000 you gave, they are spending $5000 a week on advertising on this forum, as well as upgrading all their hardware to the latest gear, whilst paying yourself a hefty chunk of bitcoins too?

[iflash]

So with the $2700 left out of the $4000 you gave, they are spending $5000 a week on advertising on this forum, as well as upgrading all their hardware to the latest gear, whilst paying yourself a hefty chunk of bitcoins too?

I don't know how their business plan looks like (if they have one):

But consider this: I think we can agree that there *are* legit pool mining companies out there, huh? How would they do it? Or is *every* pool mining a scam in your eyes?

[MrPiggles]

So with the $2700 left out of the $4000 you gave, they are spending $5000 a week on advertising on this forum, as well as upgrading all their hardware to the latest gear, whilst paying yourself a hefty chunk of bitcoins too?

I don't know how their business plan looks like (if they have one):

But consider this: I think we can agree that there *are* legit pool mining companies out there, huh? How would they do it? Or is *every* pool mining a scam in your eyes?

Most of them charge a lot more, are open about where they mine, will post pictures of their mining equipment, are public about their identity and pay you direct from mining pools.

PBmining's prices are too good to be true, they won't say where they mine, won't post pictures of equipment, won't reveal their identity and they pay you with laundered coins.

Their identity isn't that hard to figure out though, a determined internet sleuth could do so. I'm just waiting to see if it goes tits up before I say anything.

[botolo86]

Another way of thinking is that pbmining is just taking advantage of the low profitability of mining nowadays. As long as they keep the price of GHS higher than its profitability, they can just get bitcoins and give only a portion of these bitcoins back as alleged mining profit.

Let me give you an example.

They are currently selling 1 GHS at 0.0075 BTC. According to bitcoinwisdom.com BTC calculator, 1 GHS starting to mine today will not breakeven at that price. After 510 days, it will have made 0.00742435 BTC. After all those years, even if they give you back the money you deserve with mining, they are still keeping 0.00007565 BTC per GHS sold.

Also, this is an easy way to get a loan for them at zero interest that they can pay back in five years.

[MrPiggles]

Another way of thinking is that pbmining is just taking advantage of the low profitability of mining nowadays. As long as they keep the price of GHS higher than its profitability, they can just get bitcoins and give only a portion of these bitcoins back as alleged mining profit.

Let me give you an example.

They are currently selling 1 GHS at 0.0075 BTC. According to bitcoinwisdom.com BTC calculator, 1 GHS starting to mine today will not breakeven at that price. After 510 days, it will have made 0.00742435 BTC. After all those years, even if they give you back the money you deserve with mining, they are still keeping 0.00007565 BTC per GHS sold.

Also, this is an easy way to get a loan for them at zero interest that they can pay back in five years.

Bitcoin wisdom says no machine will ever break even.

They're pretty pessimistic on mining in general.

http://www.bitcoinx.com/profit/

Says you'll break even after 73 days

[botolo86]

I have started reading this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=418183.260 and these guys seem to put a lot of efforts in their website and they are always available to help. If this is a scam, it is very well planned and managed.

[Wattda]

I have been on the sideline reading all the post. I bought early and am sitting around 150. I have tried for two days to log in to my accounts to no avail. I just tried now and I got in. I don't think it is the end yet but I wonder if I am really talking to anybody out there or there cronies.  
LOL
Wattda

p.s. except Mr P