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Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

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Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

#1

Post by anon84835 »

I am not here for boasting, but my question is purposefully meant to be provocative.

I used to be one of the biggest Bitcoin miners, back when the difficulty level was low enough that CPU mining was the norm. These days people mine with video cards but I am mostly out of the game...

Anyway, I have accumulated enough Bitcoins (73k BTC) and the exchange rate has skyrocketed so much ($27/BTC as I am typing) that I am currently selling on a daily basis as many as possible via MtGox. They have a limit of $1000/day, so I am effectively making $30k/month. (I do plan to report this income to the IRS and am about to hire a tax accountant.)

But the question I have asked myself is: what should I do with that money? Or what would you do if you were in my situation? I am a typical geek with a successful technical career: well-paid Senior Developer position, as an H1B visa holder, working for a large US company. I enjoy my job, but to be truthful I have always wanted to found a startup. However, as an H1B holder, I cannot start a company in the US.

If I quit my job I will be bored and run out of money after a few years.

If I return to my home country to found the startup I will regret the opportunities I may have in the US.

If I keep my current job I will regret the opportunities of not starting a startup today.

Re: Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

#2

Post by pharno »

well, you probably should get a place for many computers (good aircondition), computers with low end cpus, but a few really good graphic cards inside and mine again. Then with the leftover you could start a startup, make websites or host them, or you could donate them to some great open source projects you rely on.

Re: Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

#3

Post by 2weiX »

well.. if you'd like to get rid of them faster, sell me some (20 BTCs, or so) via PayPal. maybe I can get one of my US friends to direct transfer. being serious, as noone else seems to be selling and i cant access mtgox. if you'd like, contact me on BTCcommodities@googlemail.com

that said, i'd prolly cash out half and start a mining pool. get a garage/basement, invest 10k in some serious GPU shit and get at it. with the prices continuing to go up, you should come out ahead.

Re: Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

#4

Post by schraeds »

pharno wrote: post #2

well, you probably should get a place for many computers (good aircondition), computers with low end cpus, but a few really good graphic cards inside and mine again. Then with the leftover you could start a startup, make websites or host them, or you could donate them to some great open source projects you rely on.

He can't sell his bitcoins fast enough... Mining for more after it has gotten exponentially less lucrative seems rather myopic on your part.

Re: Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

#5

Post by _arturh »

Keep cashing out until you have enough BTC to fund your start-up, don't act as if you had a million dollars, because you still don't have them.

It's hard not to have ideas for startups based on Bitcoins honestly.

You may be interested in putting some of the money you are making into ensuring Bitcoin is a success. For example, at the moment I think that MtGox predominance in the market is a bad thing for the future of Bitcoin.

Also, don't give BTC to people who just ask for them, like me: 1BNbVQBhfb8G4yG81bbcXWQmt7uDLrVrk3

Re: Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

#6

Post by anon84835 »

To clarify, I don't actually think I will eventually run out of Bitcoin wealth, as I expect their value to keep increasing (unless Bitcoin crashes).

I am simply cashing out as fast as I can, in the short term, in order to diversify my wealth across BTC and USD to spread risk. I own the equivalent of $2 million in Bitcoins, so I would probably want to sell a quarter or a third of that.

Re: Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

#7

Post by 2weiX »

anon84835 wrote: post #6

To clarify, I don't actually think I will eventually run out of Bitcoin wealth, as I expect their value to keep increasing (unless Bitcoin crashes). I am simply cashing out as fast as I can, in the short term, in order to diversify my wealth across BTC and USD to spread risk. I own the equivalent of $2 million in Bitcoins, so I would probably want to sell a quarter or a third of that.

sell me.

send me 20 BTC to 172LLtd45L9AunPJBWWsf3D15UeqMidqxZ and I will paypal you 538$ right now.

Re: Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

#8

Post by anon84835 »

2weiX wrote: post #7
anon84835 wrote: post #6

To clarify, I don't actually think I will eventually run out of Bitcoin wealth, as I expect their value to keep increasing (unless Bitcoin crashes). I am simply cashing out as fast as I can, in the short term, in order to diversify my wealth across BTC and USD to spread risk. I own the equivalent of $2 million in Bitcoins, so I would probably want to sell a quarter or a third of that.

sell me. send me 20 BTC to 172LLtd45L9AunPJBWWsf3D15UeqMidqxZ and I will paypal you 538$ right now.

Honestly, it is too much hassle to deal with individual sales, making sure the guy is not a PayPal scammer, etc. Selling in a mostly automated way via MtGox is just fine for me.

Re: Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

#9

Post by [deleted] »

2weiX wrote: post #7
anon84835 wrote: post #6

To clarify, I don't actually think I will eventually run out of Bitcoin wealth, as I expect their value to keep increasing (unless Bitcoin crashes). I am simply cashing out as fast as I can, in the short term, in order to diversify my wealth across BTC and USD to spread risk. I own the equivalent of $2 million in Bitcoins, so I would probably want to sell a quarter or a third of that.

sell me. send me 20 BTC to 172LLtd45L9AunPJBWWsf3D15UeqMidqxZ and I will paypal you 538$ right now.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: I make $30k/month thanks to Bitcoin. What should I do?

#10

Post by paraschopra »

2weiX wrote: post #3

well.. if you'd like to get rid of them faster, sell me some (20 BTCs, or so) via PayPal. maybe I can get one of my US friends to direct transfer. being serious, as noone else seems to be selling and i cant access mtgox. if you'd like, contact me on BTCcommodities@googlemail.com that said, i'd prolly cash out half and start a mining pool. get a garage/basement, invest 10k in some serious GPU shit and get at it. with…

Do you realize that " get a garage/basement, invest 10k in some serious GPU shit and get at it. with the prices continuing to go up, you should come out ahead." is not real value creation and goes in face of Economics 101? If people can make money out of nothing, I'd say it is a bubble which will eventually pop.
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