how can mining still be profitable even for the big farms

[brian_23452]

Noone sinks that many millions into huge facilities like that without a long term plan so people should not assume the big farms are turning a profit 'at the moment'.

My guess is its a waiting game, as Ive said in the past, first to blink.

5 or more large players owning a huge chunk of the hashrate, holding the difficulty up to break point and waiting firstly for the small players to drop out then medium players rigs to become unprofitable enough to drop out eventually only leaving those players too big to quit.

If they can hold the hashrate to dollar value high enough that noone in their right mind would every want to contest them, then they have won the arms race.

The end game then is a bitcoin version of OPEC (  perhaps Organization of the Bitcoin Exporting Companies - possibly a reincarnation of the Bitcoin Foundation ) which will be an economic cartel with the task to coordinate the policies of the bitcoin mining conglomerates. The goal would be to secure a steady income to the large mining conglomerates and to steady the price of bitcoin while guaranteeing constant supply to the markets.

Basically a complete bastardisation of everything Satoshi tried to create.

1.  Bitcoin is not a consumable commodity like oil, nor does it have a relatively inelastic demand.  There is NO comparison whatsoever between Bitcoin and OPEC or oil.  None. 
2.  What Satoshi tried to create?    I've read his white paper many times as I'm sure you have as well, and there is NOTHING in it abut trying to create anything other than a trust-less, irrevocable electronic payment system, which isn't bastardized or even effected by who is profiting from the mining. 

[tjwebb]

Mining is a long-term bet on the transaction volume of the bitcoin economy. The large players are poised to benefit over time as the transaction fees paid to miners rises with transaction volume. Short term, you're just happy to break even on electricity. But If you have the capital to burn while you wait for the tipping point of transaction volume, it'll be worth the wait.

[petersiddle98]

Big farms usually get better deal on electricity rates, thats how they are more profitable..

[ranochigo]

The real people who get the most profit is the ASIC manufacturer. They "test" their customer's orders and profit themselves. Most of the big farms are hosted in datacenter with low electrical cost and good cooling. They can easily buy some used raspberry pi as a controller, or some of the ASIC even come with a controller.