Bitcoin miners facing a shakeout as profitability becomes harder

[truetype]

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/inv...g-a-shakeout-as-profitability-becomes-harder/

Bitcoin is at an inflection point.

Even with the price back above US$8,000, many of the so-called miners that perform the complex calculations to generate the digital currency are at risk of turning unprofitable. If prices drop below that threshold again for an extended period, there will likely be a swifter consolidation to industrial-scale mining. That could knock out the last guy-in-a-dorm-room operations and leave holders of the currency vulnerable to the dictates of the big miners...

Many smaller miners are trying to cut costs by relocating to locations such as Springfield, Mo., where buildings – abandoned factories and car dealerships – can be had for as little as US$1 a square foot. Electricity can cost between US$3,224 and more than US$9,000 to mine a single bitcoin, depending on the state, according to Crescent Electric Supply Co.’s estimates.

At current prices, though, all that may not help the smaller bitcoin miners that much. Take startup Bcause, which hosts some 11,000 mining machines belonging to clients in Virginia Beach, Va. Its clients likely only make a return on their capital investments with bitcoin above US$9,000 to US$10,000, founder Tom Flack said...

 

[Scataphagos]

Of course "it's harder".

The entire notion of bitcoin is stupidity and folly. That doesn't preclude it from being "in" for a while.

Originally, we had "barter"... trading one thing of value for another... you know, like a trading a plow for a buggy.

Then, gold and silver were "money".

Then, paper money backed by gold.

Then, paper money "backed by the full faith and credit of _____"

Then, paper money "backed by faith in the government/central banks ability and authority to print".

Now, we have cryptocurrency... backed by nothing except the belief/hope that others will "take the notion to heart" and pay higher prices for some ethereal notion in the hope of getting rich.

Bad as things are (RE $USD fiat/money print), still can't stoop to "accepting crypto" as anything beyond a baseless fad.

Sorry, believers. People are naive, stupid, greedy, hopeful... the notion of crypto currency plays to all of that.

Still.. a thing is "worth what others are willing to to pay for it". Regarding cryptos... yet to be seen how long that (fad?) lasts and how far it carries.

The big crypto winners are those who "got in for pennies" and "sold for $thousands".... in perhaps the greatest Ponzi scheme since Social Security... but "latecomers" should beware.

Are "backed by nothing" cryptos going to transform the world of money and finance? Likely not, regardless of how many asshats predict so.

 

[traider]

Bitcoin has a lot of good applications for its tech. you have to look deeper

 

[schweiz]

Hoi, who is/was one of the believers, wrote this:Mining one coin will never cost more than the price of the coin itself (it will auto adjust to about 25% to be profitable...

I would like to know whta the bitcoin gurus have to tell now. But they seem to be disappeared, or at least they cannot explain the fact that mining will be always profitable does not sounds to be correct. Probable their statement was part of the pump and dump scheme.

 

[DaveV]

The entire notion of bitcoin is stupidity and folly. ...
Are "backed by nothing" cryptos going to transform the world of money and finance? Likely not, regardless of how many asshats predict so.

I am not a crypto fan, but I have to admit that there are some good uses for crypto currencies, such as hiding money from the government, ex-wives, business partners, etc. There are not a lot of people who need to do this, but the ones that do tend to have a awful lot of money. Witness the existence of massive banking centers such as Switzerland and the Caymans, whose sole purpose of existence is hiding money. So I believe that a few, very few, of the cryptos will survive forever, or until the government takes steps to ban it. And the only way I see the major governments banning it, is if cryptos become a favorite tool for kidnappers and extortionists to get paid.

As for performing regular everyday transactions, I see no chance that cryptos will replace currency/credit cards. It takes too long and costs too much to process a single crypto transaction.

 

[Pekelo]

The article is kind of stupid. The real mining is done in China and wherever the electricity is dirt cheap or stolen. Yet it only talks about mining in the USA.

Could be a good country song though: Coo(a)l mining in the USA!!!

 

[Scataphagos]

I have to admit that there are some good uses for crypto currencies, such as hiding money from the government, ex-wives, business partners, etc.

Considering that those are illegal (civally, criminally, or both).... hard to justify as "good uses".

 

[Tibster]

Hoi, who is/was one of the believers, wrote this:Mining one coin will never cost more than the price of the coin itself (it will auto adjust to about 25% to be profitable...

I would like to know whta the bitcoin gurus have to tell now. But they seem to be disappeared, or at least they cannot explain the fact that mining will be always profitable does not sounds to be correct. Probable their statement was part of the pump and dump scheme.

That sounds bogus. If you live in a place where you get cheap electricity, you'll keep your profit margin because BTC/hash increases as miners with a worse USD/kWh rate turn off their miners. This process continues until only the best USD/kWh miners are active, which means a lot of miners lost their profit margin along the way.

 

[FXbeachbum]

Idk I could be wrong but the longer the chain gets won’t the mining also become more extensive? It seems like I’d not now it’s doomed to fail

I am not a crypto fan, but I have to admit that there are some good uses for crypto currencies, such as hiding money from the government, ex-wives, business partners, etc. There are not a lot of people who need to do this, but the ones that do tend to have a awful lot of money. Witness the existence of massive banking centers such as Switzerland and the Caymans, whose sole purpose of existence is hiding money. So I believe that a few, very few, of the cryptos will survive forever, or until the government takes steps to ban it. And the only way I see the major governments banning it, is if cryptos become a favorite tool for kidnappers and extortionists to get paid.

As for performing regular everyday transactions, I see no chance that cryptos will replace currency/credit cards. It takes too long and costs too much to process a single crypto transaction.

Look at all the pressure the Swiss got about their secrecy laws, and they ended up copping out and giving in to the EU and US demands. If the Swiss are screwed by world governments so will cryptosbe. Hypothetically speaking let’s say cryptos become something at that point government will step in and the whole point of cryptos is worthless at that point. Sure they promise to get the middle man out of transactions sounds great until you realize the middle man is taking the risk and responsibility for the negative possibilities of the transactions, fraud, hacking, theft, etc. idk I’m not even going to go on cryptos are bunk. Block chain has potential but still had too many problems one being efficiency. Bitcoin Biggest pump and dump ever, they only got away with this scale of P&D cause it’s not regulated. Our generation got to see the biggest ponzi in history with Madoff now we get to see the biggest P&D also.

 

[DaveV]

Look at all the pressure the Swiss got about their secrecy laws, and they ended up copping out and giving in to the EU and US demands. If the Swiss are screwed by world governments so will cryptosbe.

The Swiss have changed virtually nothing. I suggest you read this article in Forbes mag: Swiss Bank Secrecy---Their Lips Say Yes, But Their Eyes Say No. https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxana...s-say-yes-but-their-eyes-say-no/#314fa2455783

Hypothetically speaking let’s say cryptos become something at that point government will step in and the whole point of cryptos is worthless at that point.

I believe that as long as rich donors are benefiting from cryptos, the government won't step in. The only way I see the government stepping in, is if the cryptos are being against the rich, such as for collecting kidnapping ransoms.

Sure they promise to get the middle man out of transactions sounds great until you realize the middle man is taking the risk and responsibility for the negative possibilities of the transactions, fraud, hacking, theft, etc.

The middleman will never go away. In fact for cryptos transactions, it involves even more middlemen (i.e. miners) than traditional transactions.

Bitcoin Biggest pump and dump ever, they only got away with this scale of P&D cause it’s not regulated. Our generation got to see the biggest ponzi in history with Madoff now we get to see the biggest P&D also.

I am not arguing that the vast majority of new crypto investors will lose big on cryptos. I am just arguing that some cryptos will survive.