To those who say mining is unprofitable:

[xstr8guy]

S3 antminer is among the best right now but 14 and 20 nm is coming. Hopefully you have ROI by then..

20nm is here... see the KNC Neptune. Disappointing. It barely beats the efficiency of Bitfury's 55nm from a year ago. 14nm is a long way away. And smaller dies size doesn't always mean better.

[jjc326]

Mining just seems to be crazier and crazier.  I mean, it seems at this point that people and companies have realized how profitable it can be so there are just newer and newer miners coming out.  It doesn't seem to show any sign of slowing down so you have to hope you can get positive ROI fast...or just go with cloud mining at least there if diff. stays low you can positive ROI and then not worry about having defunct hardware.

[Bitsaurus]

S3 antminer is among the best right now but 14 and 20 nm is coming. Hopefully you have ROI by then..

BFL set out to go for 65nm before Avalons 110nm tech that BFL failed horribly (of course BFL would fail at making a peanut butter & jelly sandwich).  Better design will lead to greater efficiency now - not the race to the smallest node.

[X7]

I am not speculating... I am a miner :/

I'm gathering that you got ripped off by over-priced hardware...

Not at all... by your comment i'm gathering you bought 3-4 antminers and think that is what I meant by I am a 'miner'

If you really were mining at any serious hash speeds you would understand what I am saying by this is really not as profitable as people dream it would be. I should be selling hot dogs on the side of the road for 40% margins

[counter]

I think you'll be good for a few months. Lots of miners say they don't know how long it will be profitable but I'm curious if they are holding the coins the bulk of the coins they mine.  

[SMB-2525]

I think you'll be good for a few months. Lots of miners say they don't know how long it will be profitable but I'm curious if they are holding the coins the bulk of the coins they mine.  

Planning on an increase in value is the only reason to mine. That said, I just spent my first BTC on a miner upgrade.

[Nagle]

Planning on an increase in value is the only reason to mine.

No, mining and speculation are separate businesses. We've been through this before here.

[SMB-2525]

Planning on an increase in value is the only reason to mine.

No, mining and speculation are separate businesses. We've been through this before here.

Well yes - if mining is a replacement for bass fishing or Everquest, then it is a leisure activity. IIRC, there was an article about gold panning in the Sierra's that focused on the social aspects of the activity. Since my mining operation is tiny and based on "free" power, I might fall into this category. I'm not quitting my day job.

That said, in a topic titled mining speculation, I might be forgiven for munging the two notions together. In a thread entitled "To those who say mining is unprofitable:" helping to think through the profit elements of mining is useful. To make a profit mining today you need one of the following:
- Very inexpensive power
- A slowdown in the rate of difficulty increases (may be in process).
- An increase in bitcoin value.
- Less than $1/GHS hardware.

[X7]

Planning on an increase in value is the only reason to mine.

No, mining and speculation are separate businesses. We've been through this before here.

Well yes - if mining is a replacement for bass fishing or Everquest, then it is a leisure activity. IIRC, there was an article about gold panning in the Sierra's that focused on the social aspects of the activity. Since my mining operation is tiny and based on "free" power, I might fall into this category. I'm not quitting my day job.

That said, in a topic titled mining speculation, I might be forgiven for munging the two notions together. In a thread entitled "To those who say mining is unprofitable:" helping to think through the profit elements of mining is useful. To make a profit mining today you need one of the following:
- Very inexpensive power
- A slowdown in the rate of difficulty increases (may be in process).
- An increase in bitcoin value.
- Less than $1/GHS hardware.

A slow down in the rate of difficulty? lol.. thats cute...

[gallery2000]

I believe the only constraint is power.  If you don't have at least 200 amps of power dedicated to mining, then your earning is very low.

[Cranky4u]

I put GPU mining profits (Q2 2010) into a 1.5kWh solar array, grid connected. So now the elec from that is thought of as free as I do not owe anything on it   

[gallery2000]

I put GPU mining profits (Q2 2010) into a 1.5kWh solar array, grid connected. So now the elec from that is thought of as free as I do not owe anything on it   

Nice, but are you earning anything substantial?