Your outmost opinion is needed

[Darker45]

Is $800 enough to start mining solo? What kind of rig would you be able buy with that amount? Or you'd satisfy yourself with a USB miner?

Secondly, do you have a guarantee that your free electricity would last? Or how likely is it that you'd start paying for it in the next few years?

For me, I'd rather buy Bitcoin and hodl it. That's maintenance-free, effortless, profit isn't based on a lottery-like chance, no technology that goes obsolete over time, and so on. It's not much, but you could add more to it little by little.

[Hatchy]

On behalf of my home boy who is very good at crypto trading, came to visit me yesterday evening and this is the question he asked me, I just told him to chill and let me ask people who are more smarter than me, this is why I created this topic, if you are in the shoe of this home boy, which plan do you think is better?

It's good to always think properly before making that big move, only few people would seek suggestions regarding certain issues. Judging from how desperate your homeboy wasn't to make his decisions, he might not be willing to take the puzzle of mining. Even if he does have free electricity, I mean a good solar station can provide stable and constant power supply. But the $800 will not get him the kind of equipment he needs for successfully competing and mining any blocks. We've seen how the competitions usually are with top mining pools always popping out at the top of the list.

We aren't saying it's not possible to get a reward, but the chances as a solo miner will be very low. So like everyone has already said, it's better to use the money to invest into bitcoin it self and on a long term scale, you should expect to get back a reasonable amount of returns..

[sergiorus]

Brother I have $800 that's not doing anything for me, I am willing to risk this money, even if I lose it I don't mind at all, I will make it back in 4 weeks,

 I want to take a shot at mining Bitcoin on Solo using 30TH on CKPOOL, I have completely free electricity so, my $800 invested will be all, no additional spending later.

My mind is also telling me to just buy $800 worth of Bitcoin and hold for 10 years.

All I ask for is just 10years, solo mining Bitcoin till that period is doable for me, on the other hand, if I hold $800 worth of bitcoin today till 10 years time, which plan do you think is better?


On behalf of my home boy who is very good at crypto trading, came to visit me yesterday evening and this is the question he asked me, I just told him to chill and let me ask people who are more smarter than me, this is why I created this topic, if you are in the shoe of this home boy, which plan do you think is better?

Having free electricity is certainly a big edge and if it is legal (I hope so) and you are sure it's gonna last then you may indeed want to monetise it.
However, with a $800 budget you probably should mine something with lower marketcap and as a result - difficulty.

BUT, since the topic is in Bitcoin Discussion and you probably don't want to be involved with anything but Bitcoin, my advice would be just buy $800 worth of BTC. You could then use some CEX or even DeFi to generate a bit of yield on it (it will be peanuts though) if you fancy a bit of risk.

[As-Soon-As]

If you mine for $800, how can you make a profit? You can't buy an expensive mining machine, and you have to wait a long time and the chances of spending more are much higher. So in my opinion, you can buy Bitcoin for $800 and keep it in a strong wallet and wait for more than a decade. In this, you can make more profit from Bitcoin holding than from Bitcoin mining,
So instead of facing the difficult task, you follow the easy task like Bitcoin holding. You can easily earn more benefits through Bitcoin holding alone.

[Rashlyowl]

Mining BTC is not a good way to make a profit if not done seriously, indeed we see some lucky people who do solo mining & end up getting a block, but that doesn't make sense to me at all. With that $800, instead of mining, I think it would make more sense to just buy BTC. Moreover, when the holding plan is around 10 years, it will definitely go through 2 more halvings, maybe that $800 could double in 10 years.

[Awaklara]

which plan do you think is better?

If I were in that position, I would use that money to buy Bitcoin and hold it. Of course, it would be better if that $800 were the initial investment and you could gradually add to it. Whether once a month with smaller purchases, or for a certain period of time. 
If you do it routinely, you will not forget the Bitcoin you have bought. But making a single purchase and waiting for 10 years, you might forget many things.

[salad daging]

Is there still free electricity today? Do you yourself have a water power plant so mention the words “Free electricity”?

I myself am not very familiar with mining but it is quite rational what people say that with a budget of $800 it will not be enough for a solo miner, even if you do it in the future there will be miner maintenance that must be maintained and even that is not easy.

If you ask for advice with a good plan then of course buy bitcoin regularly especially since you can get it back in 4 weeks, just accumulate for a long time, I'm sure in the next 10 years your BTC will grow rapidly.

[Faisal2202]

I am not a miner but so far I know the risks here, using 30 TH/s solo mining on ckpool hmm it seems like buying lottery tickets where the jackpot is massive but the odds are extremely close to zero but not zero there is always hope. So if you are ready to take the risk of running the machine for at least 10 years even if your electricity cost is zero which is a really concerning point for me like how in the world it is going to be zero, while you have to at least pay for the internet and keep the machine running for such time you need proper flow of electricity all the time and some security for the machine too.

I would also suggest the same as others, that you should give it a try with your $800 in BTC, because in the next three halvings your amount could make you at least 9x that is not a guarantee. But if you want direct exposure then you should give it a try but if you still want to mine then after 4 weeks when you have $800 again use it for mining as well don't stop at one checkpoint, do it by yourself for at least a year.

[suzanne5223]

Brother I have $800 that's not doing anything for me, I am willing to risk this money, even if I lose it I don't mind at all, I will make it back in 4 weeks,

 I want to take a shot at mining Bitcoin on Solo using 30TH on CKPOOL, I have completely free electricity so, my $800 invested will be all, no additional spending later.

My mind is also telling me to just buy $800 worth of Bitcoin and hold for 10 years.

All I ask for is just 10years, solo mining Bitcoin till that period is doable for me, on the other hand, if I hold $800 worth of bitcoin today till 10 years time, which plan do you think is better?


On behalf of my home boy who is very good at crypto trading, came to visit me yesterday evening and this is the question he asked me, I just told him to chill and let me ask people who are more smarter than me, this is why I created this topic, if you are in the shoe of this home boy, which plan do you think is better?

Due to halving, and difficuilty adjustment with only 30 TH/s there's no guarantee he will double the $800 within the 10years because 30 TH/s solo mining will not be profitable, and since he have access to completely free electricity, he might be lucky to mine a block within the 10 years, but this is what i advise him to do since he can get the $800 back in 4 weeks. Solo mine BTC, and in the next 4 weeks buy BTC. Besides, why not tell him to focus on DCA BTC every 4 weeks?

[noorman0]

Let's say you only allocate $800 specifically for ASICs. I checked all Bitmain products and found nothing else at least close to $1.5k. You might find a second-hand item, such as an Antminer S19j Pro (104 TH/s), depending on the condition. However, the reality is that the current Bitcoin network has a peak rate of hundreds of EH/s.

30TH seems impossible to hit within 10 years, not to mention the network hashrate continues to increase over time.

[sunsilk]

Solo mining is you're using your luck.

But with that $800 and holding that for years, that will reflect on how patient that guy. Having free electricity looks enticing but, you'll have no idea if that solo mining would get you a thing or two.

And don't just stop at $800 because the more consistent a person DCAs, the better future they'll have.

Is there still free electricity today? Do you yourself have a water power plant so mention the words “Free electricity”?

Maybe through solar power.

[PrivacyG]

Mining is an interesting topic to get into but it is not for everyone.  If I were you, unless I wanted to particularly get involved in Mining and learn more about it I would simply purchase Bitcoin instead and hold on to it.  It is just more simple at the end of the day.

[Cryptomultiplier]

I am not a miner but so far I know the risks here, using 30 TH/s solo mining on ckpool hmm it seems like buying lottery tickets where the jackpot is massive but the odds are extremely close to zero but not zero there is always hope. So if you are ready to take the risk of running the machine for at least 10 years even if your electricity cost is zero which is a really concerning point for me like how in the world it is going to be zero, while you have to at least pay for the internet and keep the machine running for such time you need proper flow of electricity all the time and some security for the machine too.

I would also suggest the same as others, that you should give it a try with your $800 in BTC, because in the next three halvings your amount could make you at least 9x that is not a guarantee. But if you want direct exposure then you should give it a try but if you still want to mine then after 4 weeks when you have $800 again use it for mining as well don't stop at one checkpoint, do it by yourself for at least a year.

The bottom line is that OP does not have the proper knowledge of how to mine the bitcoin by himself even if there's electricity supply, the process might turn out to be more daunting that anticipated. With his friend also coming to assist him at some point, maybe for the initial set up of the mining system, the best bet would be to just invest it in Bitcoin for the next ten years and avoid all the drama.
 
At least am sure he has the proper knowledge of how to keep it safe and can even add to it without the stress of running a mining farm.
Perhaps, it would be better to diversify into mining BTC along the way while the $800 is still being held in a safe self custody hardware wallet, probably airgapped.

[acroman08]

My mind is also telling me to just buy $800 worth of Bitcoin and hold for 10 years.

If you are going to do this, maybe start with that $800 and then build it up. Yes, you will spend more money, but it might be worth it. What I mean is, continue investing over time, little by little, using money you can afford to lose. You're basically doing DCA strategy. There have been a lot of discussions about it here in the forum, so if you have questions, a lot of members would probably be happy to answer it.

[PrivacyG]

Perhaps, it would be better to diversify into mining BTC along the way while the $800 is still being held in a safe self custody hardware wallet, probably airgapped.

What advantages would OP get by 'diversifying' into mining Bitcoin while purchasing Bitcoin too?  Is there any positive side to it?  I imagine one would either purchase or mine, not both.

[Slimzeee]

If you consider the amount of capital required to run a crypto node to mine, and the timeframe to mine a block, let’s say within a year, your location has probably given you an advantage due to your free electricity. But considering other experienced miners, who may have mining pools filled with other experienced miners, the odds of mining a block within a year are not even guaranteed. You will definitely require more than $800 if you add the cost of tools required.
If you are not too experienced in scraping the market, which you did not list as an option, then I would advise you to consider holding. However, I’m not a financial advisor, he has to do further research. But the fact remains that if he has no prior experience of mining, then it will be a tug of war compared to miners with 5+ years of experience.

[PeRo]

If he has the possibility of risking that kind of money and monthly even, it's probably safer to just invest and hold on the long run. It can be tempting to work on something more 'active' but holding is probably the best option. If he hasn't mined before, he should do some research and really see how much money he should allocate even though he has free electricity. Rigs aren't cheap, that budget isn't enough for a start.

I mean, if he is good at trading, why not just continue that? If he is experienced and can take risk he will surely make a profit.

[macson]

I want to take a shot at mining Bitcoin on Solo using 30TH on CKPOOL, I have completely free electricity so, my $800 invested will be all, no additional spending later.

I'm still curious about how you can be so confident about having completely free electricity. I mean, is it from solar panels? There are maintenance costs, though, so it shouldn't be "free" as you say. Don't tell me it's from stolen electricity or from your parents' own house?

My mind is also telling me to just buy $800 worth of Bitcoin and hold for 10 years.

Your mind is telling you the right thing because, with that amount of money, I don't think you can afford a proper mining rig that would actually turn a profit --- especially since you plan to set it up over the next 10 years. It would be better for you to use that money to buy Bitcoin and then hold it in your wallet for the next 10 years. There's still a good chance you'll make a profit on that investment.

[Rockstarguy]

Brother I have $800 that's not doing anything for me, I am willing to risk this money, even if I lose it I don't mind at all, I will make it back in 4 weeks,

 I want to take a shot at mining Bitcoin on Solo using 30TH on CKPOOL, I have completely free electricity so, my $800 invested will be all, no additional spending later.

My mind is also telling me to just buy $800 worth of Bitcoin and hold for 10 years.

All I ask for is just 10years, solo mining Bitcoin till that period is doable for me, on the other hand, if I hold $800 worth of bitcoin today till 10 years time, which plan do you think is better?

I think mining Bitcoin may cost you a lot and would also require a lot, and I think you are just getting started and you can't really tell exactly the process of going into this. For me, I would prefer to buy Bitcoin since I'm very convinced I won’t be making use of the money in the next 10 years, so I believe investing in Bitcoin will yield a good outcome in this period of time.

To you, it seems very easy to go into mining as if there is a good guarantee, but I think holding Bitcoin will be more preferable and an easier task compared to going into Bitcoin mining.

[Marykeller]

Almost everyone advise is for your home boy invest in Bitcoin, rather than the mining he wants to get into with free electricity. Let me believe that he will go with the advice given, to invest in Bitcoin for 10 years plan he has in mind. That sounds better with no stress attached, simply hodl and apply DCA anytime as an additional of $800 Bitcoin purchase