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Bitcoin ASIC Miner from BFL, finally

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11–20 of 104 posts

Re: Bitcoin ASIC Miner from BFL, finally

#11
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ordered a Jalepeno almost immediately. I chose to pay by wire, and the email i received included "Your order position won't be penalized for any time it takes to send you this payment information. Please send me an email with a copy of the wire confirmation form. Once payment has been received, I'll respond with final confirmation of your order." I still haven't paid and am going to now. I wonder if they will honor…

"time it takes to send you this payment information. " I don't see where it says you won't be penalized for the time it takes for you to make a payment. With that said - I'm curious, did people pay in advance of shipping?

oh no! i read that wrong everytime. In my said it said "it takes you to send this payment".

but yes, they have been taking pre-orders for like 9 months and people have been paying.

Re: Bitcoin ASIC Miner from BFL, finally

#13
post #4

I doubted that these ASIC rigs would ship any time soon. Wouldn't it be more profitable for the vendors to simply to delay/cancel orders and run the rigs 24/7 themselves?

Totally agree. Why would anyone wants to sell the goose who lays golden eggs while gold cost more than the goose? They'll pile up cash from "preorders", mine bitcoins and when time is right - will dump outdated devices to customers.

I see it as a futures contract on the value of the BTC. Selling a mining ASIC locks in profit for the seller, betting that this will exceed the time-value generated from the rig itself. Buying a rig locks in a loss, betting that it will pay for itself. We can't be certain whether the BTC will be at US$1,000 or US$1 a year from now. You could make a case for either side, that's why the contract exists.

Re: Bitcoin ASIC Miner from BFL, finally

#14

I doubted that these ASIC rigs would ship any time soon. Wouldn't it be more profitable for the vendors to simply to delay/cancel orders and run the rigs 24/7 themselves?

Part of the value of Bitcoin (if any) is that it's decentralized. It should be more profitable to sell the miners out than to hoard them because if they're distributed the cryptographic safety of Bitcoin is greater.

Re: Bitcoin ASIC Miner from BFL, finally

#15
post #4

I doubted that these ASIC rigs would ship any time soon. Wouldn't it be more profitable for the vendors to simply to delay/cancel orders and run the rigs 24/7 themselves?

Totally agree. Why would anyone wants to sell the goose who lays golden eggs while gold cost more than the goose? They'll pile up cash from "preorders", mine bitcoins and when time is right - will dump outdated devices to customers.

The profitability of ASICs is going to decrease at a rapid rate once they start shipping to consumers. Additionally, in a few months the market is going to be flooded with cheap ASICs.

From BFL's perspective if they don't release first they're dead in the water. They don't know where their competitors are compared to them but they recognize it's a winner take all situation. The natural thing to do would be to take pre-orders to fund the manufacturing and start realizing profits now. Also, if your competitors are offering pre-orders you should be too.

Re: Bitcoin ASIC Miner from BFL, finally

#16
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. Why would anyone wants to sell the goose who lays golden eggs while gold cost more than the goose? They'll pile up cash from "preorders", mine bitcoins and when time is right - will dump outdated devices to customers.

The profitability of ASICs is going to decrease at a rapid rate once they start shipping to consumers. Additionally, in a few months the market is going to be flooded with cheap ASICs. From BFL's perspective if they don't release first they're dead in the water. They don't know where their competitors are compared to them but they recognize it's a winner take all situation. The natural thing to do would be to take pr…

Did they collect the money in advance? If not, it seems to me that the shipping time is almost irrelevant.

Re: Bitcoin ASIC Miner from BFL, finally

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The profitability of ASICs is going to decrease at a rapid rate once they start shipping to consumers. Additionally, in a few months the market is going to be flooded with cheap ASICs. From BFL's perspective if they don't release first they're dead in the water. They don't know where their competitors are compared to them but they recognize it's a winner take all situation. The natural thing to do would be to take pr…

Did they collect the money in advance? If not, it seems to me that the shipping time is almost irrelevant.

Yes, you pay at time of order, and wait a few months for the unit.

Re: Bitcoin ASIC Miner from BFL, finally

#19

I doubted that these ASIC rigs would ship any time soon. Wouldn't it be more profitable for the vendors to simply to delay/cancel orders and run the rigs 24/7 themselves?

Their competitor Avalon sells the units for "the first 30 days profit of the device". So whatever the current price of Bitcoins and mining difficulty affects the price.

Re: Bitcoin ASIC Miner from BFL, finally

#20
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. Why would anyone wants to sell the goose who lays golden eggs while gold cost more than the goose? They'll pile up cash from "preorders", mine bitcoins and when time is right - will dump outdated devices to customers.

I see it as a futures contract on the value of the BTC. Selling a mining ASIC locks in profit for the seller, betting that this will exceed the time-value generated from the rig itself. Buying a rig locks in a loss, betting that it will pay for itself. We can't be certain whether the BTC will be at US$1,000 or US$1 a year from now. You could make a case for either side, that's why the contract exists.

Which, by the way, doesn't mean they are betting against BTC. They just elected to take sure profit up front, over less certain profit of potentially greater value long-term.
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