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IRL (In Real Life) => Tech Talk => Topic started by: Staggerwing on June 04, 2016, 03:37:18 PM

Title: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Staggerwing on June 04, 2016, 03:37:18 PM
Does anyone her do it? Anyone tried it and gave up?

I know that for most folks it's not possible to make much money doing it without a big hardware investment but I'm curious if it's worth looking into for a little extra monthly income after purchasing one of the more moderately priced bitcoin mining rigs such as the Antminer (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RCTIY4G?creativeASIN=B00RCTIY4G&linkCode=w01&linkId=5AQZQE2AXILALSJ4&ref_=as_sl_pc_ss_til&tag=weusecoins-20). 


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F81ZKOGHf0aL._SL1500_.jpg&hash=ef676c56e2837d25983b337e3cd1a2a9301622dd)
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: bbmike on June 04, 2016, 04:13:48 PM
No one else will ask so I will. What the hell is that and what are you talking about?  :coolsmiley:
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Staggerwing on June 04, 2016, 04:19:40 PM
Quote from: bbmike on June 04, 2016, 04:13:48 PM
No one else will ask so I will. What the hell is that and what are you talking about?  :coolsmiley:


https://www.weusecoins.com/en/mining-guide/



It's all a mystery to me as well but apparently it's the digital version of going down into a gold mine and bringing up more gold to make coins. In this case the 'coins' are Bitcoins, a digital currency comprised of encrypted blocks of information that can be traded and used as payments.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: bayonetbrant on June 04, 2016, 04:37:38 PM
I knew what he was talking about, but no, no bitcoin mining here.  Though that said, I might have to consider it given how many computers we've got laying around here.  Should be able to hook up t least 1 as an automated bitcoin miner and/or WOW grinder.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: bob48 on June 04, 2016, 05:02:04 PM
I had no idea either, but one question; is it legal?
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on June 04, 2016, 05:07:21 PM
I dabbled in it a bit when BitCoin first started up but it quickly became apparent that you needed some serious computing power to keep up with the big boys.  I mined a grand total of 3 coins in 2 months.  Sold them for $19 of pure profit!  (minus the $70 I spent in internet fees for those two months.  I'm a savvy money manager.)

Aren't they all mined by now?  I thought the big thing was that there were only ever going to be a finite amount of coins available and once they were mined, that was it.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Staggerwing on June 04, 2016, 05:16:48 PM
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on June 04, 2016, 05:07:21 PM

Aren't they all mined by now?  I thought the big thing was that there were only ever going to be a finite amount of coins available and once they were mined, that was it.


AFA I know, it's still going on.


Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on June 04, 2016, 05:07:21 PM
I dabbled in it a bit when BitCoin first started up but it quickly became apparent that you needed some serious computing power to keep up with the big boys.  I mined a grand total of 3 coins in 2 months.  Sold them for $19 of pure profit!  (minus the $70 I spent in internet fees for those two months.  I'm a savvy money manager.)


Yeah, you need some speedy hardware, that's why there are dedicated hardware devices made to only mine bitcoins. A consumer-grade CPU is just not fast enough. The value of bitcoins has risen quite a bit since they first hit the internet, so, for some small pocket money it might be worth looking into.

Right now, google shows 1 bitcoin equal to 576.24 US Dollars. You should have hung on to them a bit longer, SDR.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Boggit on June 12, 2016, 06:47:15 PM
Quote from: bbmike on June 04, 2016, 04:13:48 PM
No one else will ask so I will. What the hell is that and what are you talking about?  :coolsmiley:
Exactly. I have my pan, bucket and cloth set up next to my computer ready for the Bit rush! ;)
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Boggit on June 12, 2016, 06:52:04 PM
I've just read https://www.weusecoins.com/en/mining-guide/

It looks like I have more chance playing the national lottery! :-[
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 03, 2018, 12:46:11 PM
Quote from: Staggerwing on June 04, 2016, 03:37:18 PM
Does anyone her do it? Anyone tried it and gave up?

I know that for most folks it's not possible to make much money doing it without a big hardware investment but I'm curious if it's worth looking into for a little extra monthly income after purchasing one of the more moderately priced bitcoin mining rigs such as the Antminer (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RCTIY4G?creativeASIN=B00RCTIY4G&linkCode=w01&linkId=5AQZQE2AXILALSJ4&ref_=as_sl_pc_ss_til&tag=weusecoins-20). 


(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F81ZKOGHf0aL._SL1500_.jpg&hash=ef676c56e2837d25983b337e3cd1a2a9301622dd)

Am I glad I found this topic..... late to the forum, but not to the topic.
I am no expert, but I can help out those with questions.

I have a GPU mining rig and expanding. Got my hands good and dirty and learned through experience how to mine.

Lets see if we can get this thread going again.!!!
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 03, 2018, 12:46:54 PM
Quote from: bob48 on June 04, 2016, 05:02:04 PM
I had no idea either, but one question; is it legal?

Short answer is "Yes".

But it is relatively unregulated.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Con on January 03, 2018, 12:53:52 PM
All I can think of is at today's pric s SDR had 45 grand in bitcoins that he sold for <100 dollars in mid 2016.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on January 03, 2018, 01:04:04 PM
Much earlier than that.  Used the profits to acquire a cheeseburger and two pitchers of beer.  I'm a financial genius.



Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 03, 2018, 01:12:09 PM
Quote from: Con on January 03, 2018, 12:53:52 PM
All I can think of is at today's pric s SDR had 45 grand in bitcoins that he sold for <100 dollars in mid 2016.
Then there's the true story of a guy who paid a pizza guy, hundreds of thousands of dollars (in todays value) for a pizza.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 03, 2018, 01:22:16 PM
Quick summary is

1/ Its very expensive to mine bitcoin, BUT its much less money to mine the alternate cryptocurrencies using graphics cards.
2/. There are two ways to make cryptocurrency money with a computer, Proof of Work (POW) and Proof of Stake (POS). I do both.

POW is mining using ASIC machines, graphic cards (GPUs) and CPUs. You help create new coins/tokens (very difficult to game when all your GPU is mining)
POS is ledger keeping - using some of your HDD or SSD and some of your CPU you become a node that tracks ALL the blockchains and transactions for a given currency. You have to buy and hold some of currency you are POSing (you can game will doing this).

3/. YES you can convert cryptocurrency back to fiat currency.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on January 03, 2018, 01:31:35 PM
TBH, I'm amazed that I even went into it at all.  I was working overseas and there was a guy in the same town as me who was talking it up.  He tried explaining it to me but the whole thing just sounded like a huge scam at the time.

"OK, so I'm going to be mining for coins?


Yup.


Is this some kind of stupid Facebook thing like Farmville or something?


Nope.  Nothing to do with Facebook or gaming or any thing like that.  You're basically allowing access to your PC's processing power over the internet.  Kind of like how they're doing the star mapping and stuff.


OK, so I let these bitcoin guys have access to my PC over the internet.  And who are these guys exactly?


Nobody knows.


So, I let a bunch of guys nobody knows access my PC over the internet on the off chance that I might get a coin at some point?


Yup.


And what are these coins used for?


They're a virtual cryptocurrency.  It's a new kind of money that doesn't involve central banks or governments.


So what are they worth and who even takes them.


They're about $2 a coin right now but there's going to be a finite amount so the value will go up.  Only a few places like Silk Road take them now but it'll get bigger.


Dude, this whole thing sounds dodgy as hell.  You want me to give access to my PC to a bunch of guys nobody knows to get money that doesn't even exist and is only used by a website that seeds weed.  How does this not end up with me getting my identity stolen or the cops kicking down my door because my ISP was used to send out spam or kiddy porn or something?"


The only reason I even did it was because this guy had steered me right on gold and silver and I'd just bought a new PC so I scrubbed the old one and used that as the miner. 


Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 03, 2018, 02:49:18 PM
now a days, a home computer won't even dent what it takes to mine a BTC
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: jomni on January 09, 2018, 03:27:31 AM
Do we have a general cryptocurrency thread?
I have been trading since September and had some significant earnings.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: bayonetbrant on January 09, 2018, 05:51:12 AM
Quote from: jomni on January 09, 2018, 03:27:31 AMDo we have a general cryptocurrency thread?
This one is probably as close as we ever got

Quote from: jomni on January 09, 2018, 03:27:31 AMI have been trading since September and had some significant earnings.
Cool!  What's you secret? :)
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 09, 2018, 10:16:51 AM
Quote from: jomni on January 09, 2018, 03:27:31 AM
Do we have a general cryptocurrency thread?
I have been trading since September and had some significant earnings.

Jomni, keep this on the down low eh?  ;)

Seriously, congrats on your gains. I too have been doing alright, but it's been a school of tough lessons to get there.

Are you mining, staking, or trading? I am doing all three. Let's talk.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 10, 2018, 11:40:36 AM
Thought I'd give you guys a sit-rep of what I am engaged in. Remember, I just started in late September. It all started when I was wanting a new video card for my gaming PC and started research on them.

Crypto Currency Mining and Staking
-- Currently I have 3 NVIDIA 1060-6 Gb cards as of today they are cranking out 15 dollars US/day (in bitcoin currency).
-- I used to mine with my CPU as well, but now I am doing what is called Proof of Staking (POS); that is, being a holder of a POS crypto coin and maintaining a node for the coin's block chain, this uses my CPU and some hard drive and not the video cards. (about 3 dollars US a day).
-- currently building a dedicated mining rig (imagine a motherboard with 6+ GPUs connected to it).

Online Investing/Wild West Speculating
-- Lots of legitimate exchanges online now for cryptocurrencies. I am on two, the biggest one is BITTREX, the other is Canadian and smaller.
-- high risk - high reward scenario in play here.

Currently it is just a passionate hobby that miracles of miracles, pays off some and warms my house (OK really just one room, but it's only 3 GPUs at the moment) in the cold Canadian winter.

From a monetary position, Mining ROI is like 100 days on a video card purchase (with the other 265 days of the year as profit) and is pretty much a sure bet. POS is more like 30% return Annually, also a sure bet.

Buying and holding Crypto Coins.... well, it's a wild-west market out there.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 10, 2018, 12:01:55 PM
Some good links that I copypasta'd


•http://www.coindesk.com - Overview of what's going on in the crypto world


•http://cryptopanic.com - An aggregator of various crypto sites and news, filterable. I use the pro version to customize the feeds but the free version is good enough for most.


•http://coinmarketcap.com - Not just for checking prices, they also are the most convenient way to start your research as they have the blockchain explorers, official website links and also a useful API that can be linked to Excel.


•http://cryptomaps.org - Visualization of price across different segments, primarily hashing functions and ICO release dates


•http://onchainfx.com - A better version of coin market cap, has all sort of columns and you can add flags. Only downside is it only has 61 cryptos, but its always adding news ones.


•http://icotracker.net - I like this site for looking at what ICO are coming up


•http://icobench.com - Another ICO tracker which does nice summaries, shows teams, milestones, financials and gives a rating for each ICO


•http://solume.io - compares the number of Twitter mention increase decrease to price


•http://eveningstar.io - this is basically like Morning Star except for cryptos


•https://bitcoin.tax - for calculating taxes owed on your crypto gains

Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: GDS_Starfury on January 13, 2018, 08:14:11 PM
with a few word changes, SDR's post basically explains the stock market as well.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 13, 2018, 08:16:23 PM
Oh I know you probably got something going on Star..... LOL
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: GDS_Starfury on January 13, 2018, 08:37:16 PM
I'd like to thing so but it has nothing to do with cryptocurrency.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 13, 2018, 09:05:57 PM
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on January 13, 2018, 08:37:16 PM
I'd like to thing so but it has nothing to do with cryptocurrency.
Gert out of this thread you oversexed heathen......    LOL    ;)
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: jomni on January 16, 2018, 05:41:52 PM
Woohoo!!!! A massive crash today.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 16, 2018, 05:43:51 PM
Yeah... I have been buying like crazy.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: jomni on January 17, 2018, 03:38:41 AM
I am trading my BTC and ETH short term to grow the number of coins I have.  The price against USD may tank but at least my coins are growing. So you can say I HODL these two coins (along with some XRP and BCH which don't have active trading markets).

I have been successful trading alts vs BTC in Poloniex exchange. I caugh the recent alts frenzy and sold back to BTC the first sign of weakening momentum.  People who held alts until yesterday's big crash lost all their gains. But I'm not so successful with my ETH trading in Binance since ETH was very strong recently and it was better to hold ETH than alts.

It's not easy. I use technical analysis (charts) and rely on price action patterns (Doji, inside bar, pin bar reversal) and the Ichimoku cloud indicator.  I have previous experience trading other stuff so I'm quite attuned to this sort of activity.  I use TradingView for charts joined Altpocket.io for portfolio tracking. Both have social network features so I can gauge maket sentiment.

As for BTC, my interpretation is that it will be down for a while. Price is under the Ichimoku cloud which acts as resistance.  That said, last time, BTC just stayed under the cloud for 3 days.

(https://www.tradingview.com/x/k6gmWcxQ/)
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: CptHowdy on January 17, 2018, 06:01:24 AM
so if one wanted to do the POW or POS what kind of initial investment are we looking at? thanks.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 17, 2018, 11:27:44 AM
Quote from: CptHowdy on January 17, 2018, 06:01:24 AM
so if one wanted to do the POW or POS what kind of initial investment are we looking at? thanks.

POS just needs a CPU, HDD and an internet connection. - you probably can do that now with what you have.
You download the coin's wallet and install it.
You buy some of the coin you want to do POS work in and move it into your wallet. (you need to do this in an exchange)
Your wallet also acts as an automatic ledger (node) and it copies and syncs up to the block chain (this can take days).
It doesn't impact computer performance.

POW requires a computer and mid/higher end GPUs and an internet connection. Or you can buy a dedicated mining machine called an ASIC.
There are several mining sites that make it easy to start as they look after all the software/GUI/backend mining pool settings and programing stuff.
I do it as a profitable hobby, but my business plan says I will have to get serious about it likely in June when I have the resources to go from a 3 GPU open computer rig that I game on, to a separate dedicated 8GPU mining rig.


NOTE that GPUs are harder than hell to get right now.... because miners are buying them up.

Building a decent stand alone mining rig will put you back anywhere from 2-5 K USD (depending on the type and number of GPUs you want to mine with).

Myself personally, I just looked at how many PCIe slots I had in my gaming rig and that determined how many GPUs I eventually bought (3).
Two of the GPUs are outside of my gaming rig and are powered by a separate power supply.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Labbug on January 17, 2018, 03:10:33 PM
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/17/irs-steps-up-tax-enforcement-for-cryptocurrencies.html
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 17, 2018, 03:59:27 PM
Quote from: Labbug on January 17, 2018, 03:10:33 PM
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/17/irs-steps-up-tax-enforcement-for-cryptocurrencies.html

up here in Canada it's taxed as capital gains
when I get over my personal exemption I'll worry about it
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: airboy on January 17, 2018, 05:06:26 PM
I've been investing in the financial markets since I was in Junior High.  I read finance and investment books for fun.  The whole bitcoin thing makes no sense to me.  Every time in my life when an investment opportunity made absolutely no sense to me it ended up in misery.  When the general public becomes really excited about a "really new investment opportunity" that I don't understand in my lifetime, it has ended in misery.

I had students ask me about a couple of these during the course of my B-school career.  The first was day trading tech stocks (that had no profits) in the 1990s.  I was asked about it in class.  I told the class that it was pretty insane to trade money, especially borrowed money to buy something that had no profits.  The students laughed in unison because I really did not understand what was going on.  Almost all lost everything.

Again, during the height of the housing bubble I had students actually borrowing money to flip houses.  Many had parents doing this - especially on the Gulf Coast.  I told them that the housing market was the most over-extended it had been since 1928, that I had gone to a 100% cash position in my real estate development business (started in the mid-1980s) because my partners and I were very alarmed.  Again, lots of laughter by the students which ended in misery for them and their parents.

I'm not mentioning the dozens of Ponzi schemes that students have either asked me about, fallen for, or ones I've reported to the State Attorney General.

I'm not saying that bitcoin might be some really wonderful investment opportunity that my study of financial markets for the last 40 years does not prepare me to understand.  I'm especially not arguing that some have made real money at it.  But all speculative bubbles have real money winners.  After all, even if the investment itself is nuts if you sell it for more than you  paid for it you make real money.

Still, I like all of you guys and I would urge you in the absolutely strongest possible terms not to put a dime into this that you cannot afford to lose.

All of this is of course my opinion.  But I've made a lot of money in the financial markets over the last 40 years.  I've also never been wiped out in an investment.  Not saying I've not been negative at times.  At the absolute heart of the 2000s crash I was down $400,000 at one point.  Still, my lifetime return has been excellent and I generally know enough to realize when things are really "high" or "low" by historical standards.  I've also always kept my head and not gotten swept away by one or another investment craze.

It is your life and not mine.  But I would urge not investing in this with money you need to live on at some point.

Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: jomni on January 18, 2018, 01:43:06 AM
Yes. Very good advice.  Only put in what you can afford lose. Put in only "play money". Once you make a windfall, take the seed money out. It is very tempting to put more money in but you must control yourself. It might end up as a trap.

I'm a finance professional myself.  My money is still in conventional investments (unit trust and equities) earning dividends. I have some in SME lending.  Earn some royalties from my game too (hehe). And my retirement goal is to have a base big enough to give me enough dividends for daily living.

I'm just doing crypto out of curiosity.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on January 18, 2018, 01:45:37 AM
Excellent advice. No buts. Crypto currencies are highly volatile. If you are a conservative investor who doesn't like 20% daily price swings or doesn't want to research alt-coins... then this is not your kind of action.

Here's a relatively safe bet crypto tip for you though. Monaco. They have teamed up with visa (yes the credit card company) and offer a credit card you pay for with the Monaco crypto currency.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: CptHowdy on January 18, 2018, 02:03:14 AM
can you POS more than one currency at a time? any exchanges recommended? do you need any certain amount in your wallet to begin? can you POS monaco? their website shows a timeline thats says full pos and masternodes in 2019. ive downloaded the wallet for monaco and now have 3 applications. ive run all three but it appears that nothing has happened!! any thoughts on myetherwallet? thanks.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on February 02, 2018, 02:40:03 PM
Yes you can PoS more than one currency. The best three are
1. BeanCash BEAN (aka BitBean BITB at Bittrex exchange)
2. Syndicate SYNX
3. Condensate RAIN

Yes I follow this guy.

(https://imgur.com/gallery/1hcHzQd)
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on February 02, 2018, 02:41:08 PM
I use Bittrex as my exchange... just because it seemed the most legit.
No minimums.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Gusington on February 02, 2018, 02:43:36 PM
Looks like the party may be over, JP Morgan.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on February 02, 2018, 02:47:06 PM
Quote from: CptHowdy on January 18, 2018, 02:03:14 AM
can you POS more than one currency at a time? any exchanges recommended? do you need any certain amount in your wallet to begin? can you POS monaco? their website shows a timeline thats says full pos and masternodes in 2019. ive downloaded the wallet for monaco and now have 3 applications. ive run all three but it appears that nothing has happened!! any thoughts on myetherwallet? thanks.

Their wallet/POS is not active yet.

BITB is a good starter for POS. Safe and its been around for a few years... little drama in the community.
If your thinking of getting in, now is a good time. The whole crypto market has taken a good shit-kicking in January and the prices are way down. Today the market is just starting to go up across the board.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on February 02, 2018, 02:51:33 PM
Quote from: Gusington on February 02, 2018, 02:43:36 PM
Looks like the party may be over, JP Morgan.

Hell no, it's barely just begun.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Gusington on February 02, 2018, 02:53:05 PM
Diversify with some covfefe.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Barthheart on February 02, 2018, 02:57:33 PM
Doesn't that cause cancer?
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on February 02, 2018, 03:18:03 PM
Quote from: Barthheart on February 02, 2018, 02:57:33 PM
Doesn't that cause cancer?
Only if taken like an enema
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Gusington on February 02, 2018, 03:28:01 PM
What other way is there?
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on February 02, 2018, 05:44:51 PM
Quote from: Gusington on February 02, 2018, 03:28:01 PM
What other way is there?
with Irish-cream liquor, taken orally
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Gusington on February 02, 2018, 08:44:58 PM
TEEHEE

you cad
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: airboy on February 11, 2018, 09:39:26 PM
The Wall St. Journal said there is a shortage of high end graphics cards for gamers because bitcoin miners are buying them up.

Ouch!
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: bbmike on February 12, 2018, 06:31:44 AM
Can I use my metal detector for this?  :-"
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on February 12, 2018, 11:27:44 AM
Quote from: bbmike on February 12, 2018, 06:31:44 AM
Can I use my metal detector for this?  :-"

I will buy every Pascal architecture video card you find with it... that's it working condition that is.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: GDS_Starfury on February 13, 2018, 12:11:53 AM
Quote from: Gusington on February 02, 2018, 03:28:01 PM
What other way is there?

well you take it like a Gus...


oh wait.....   :o
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Jamey on June 11, 2018, 07:40:46 AM
Don't even know. Does it make sence to mine nowadays? There is main game on exchanges. It quite hard to compete with mining plants. I personally prefer  Paxful exchange https://bitcoinbestbuy.com/exchanges/guide-paxful-exchange/ It not so popular but it attracts me by flexible conditions.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Con on June 30, 2018, 07:38:19 AM
I was interested to hear from our resident bitcoin miners if they are still in it or if they got out and if so did they make money or lose their shirt

Just interested since I have been following the economics and history of bitcoin and would like to hear what some of the miners who are living it feel like where it is going.

Prompted by this article today
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/bitcoin-bloodbath-nears-dot-com-024507352.html
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Pete Dero on June 30, 2018, 07:46:32 AM
https://www.pcgamer.com/there-might-be-a-big-drop-in-graphics-card-prices-next-month/

Digitimes claims to have heard from sources within the upstream supply chain that suppliers are planning to axe graphics card pricing to clear out existing inventories.

The other reason is because cryptocurrency mining has cooled. Larger operations are still out there cranking out calculations, but in general it's less profitable to mine cryptocurrencies at the moment, pushing out medium and smaller size mining firms, and individuals looking to make an easy buck. This in turn as has weakened the demand for graphics cards.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: bbmike on June 30, 2018, 08:04:56 AM
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: bayonetbrant on June 30, 2018, 01:08:46 PM
https://apnews.com/e98ad152f12e4894b8208d5d19aaa4ca

QuoteIs the web browser on your phone slower than usual? It could be mining bitcoin for criminals.

As the popularity of virtual currencies has grown, hackers are focusing on a new type of heist: putting malicious software on peoples' handsets, TVs and smart fridges that makes them mine for digital money.

So-called "crypto-jacking" attacks have become a growing problem in the cybersecurity industry, affecting both consumers and organizations. Depending on the severity of the attack, victims may notice only a slight drop in processing power, often not enough for them to think it's a hacking attack. But that can add up to a lot of processing power over a period of months or if, say, a business's entire network of computers is affected.

"We saw organizations whose monthly electricity bill was increased by hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Maya Horowitz, Threat Intelligence Group Manager for Checkpoint, a cybersecurity company.

Hackers try to use victims' processing power because that is what's needed to create — or "mine" — virtual currencies. In virtual currency mining, computers are used to make the complex calculations that verify a running ledger of all the transactions in virtual currencies around the world.

Crypto-jacking is not done only by installing malicious software. It can also be done through a web browser. The victim visits a site, which latches onto the victim's computer processing power to mine digital currencies as long as they are on the site. When the victim switches, the mining ends. Some websites, including Salon.com, have tried to do it legitimately and been transparent about it. For three months this year, Salon.com removed ads from its sites in exchange for users allowing them to mine virtual currencies.

Industry experts first noted crypto-jacking as a threat in 2017, when virtual currency prices were skyrocketing to record highs.

The price of bitcoin, the most widely known virtual currency, jumped six-fold from September to almost $20,000 in December before falling back down to under $10,000.

The number of crypto-jacking cases soared from 146,704 worldwide in September to 22.4 million in December, according to anti-virus developer Avast. It has only continued to increase, to 93 million in May, it says.

Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on July 02, 2018, 06:39:54 PM
Prices have dropped across the board for mining lately, but many miners are doing the HODL bit (Holding On (to their mined coins)for Dear Life) and waiting for prices to go up.

Profitable large scale mining is very dependent on cheap electricity, Europe doesn't have it. There a lot of smaller farms in the EU/Eastern Europe shutting off.


Media is portraying this as a huge crash, but prices are still better than they were 1.5 years ago.

Those who bought over priced GPUs during the big price bubble with dreams of big bucks are looking at 2-3 years to get a return on their cards.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: bayonetbrant on July 03, 2018, 11:19:21 AM
https://hackernoon.com/the-3-types-of-cryptocurrency-traders-that-are-kicking-your-ass-d765e4a4ad32
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Jarhead0331 on July 03, 2018, 11:31:32 AM
The fucking Matrix is here...
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Con on September 06, 2018, 03:20:52 PM
Whats the latest for the crypto miners - still in the game?

Con
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Windigo on September 06, 2018, 04:00:57 PM
Quote from: Con on September 06, 2018, 03:20:52 PM
Whats the latest for the crypto miners - still in the game?

Con

The game has changed big time, but I am still playing.

Here is my gift to all you crypto-followers... I have known these guys for over a year and they got tired of bullshit coins and developers... they made their own... very early days for it.


https://www.helix-crypto.com/
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: CptHowdy on May 13, 2021, 01:08:12 AM
so 3 years later how is everyone doing at this? i never started mining just didnt have the resources. i have those now but just wondering if straight up buying the coin is better than mining it? im sure SDR wishes he had 3 bitcoin right now! ethereum seems to be the next big thing and is reasonably priced. tried watching YTube vids to see what people are saying about mining but not getting any decent info from them. input from this forum would be excellent. i trust you guys!
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on May 13, 2021, 01:51:55 AM
Big losses today after Elon tanked BTC by saying Tesla wouldn't accept it anymore due to the energy costs associated with mining.  All the alt coins tanked along with it.

I wonder if he's going to jump on XRP as it's the "green" coin.  Bitcoin's been slowly losing market dominance (down to 48% of total crypto value last time I looked).  It's still the big boy of the block but it's slower than other coins and uses more energy because they stuck with the 1MB size.

Cardano, Etherium, and XRP are faster and better at POW contracts than bitcoin.  They might start to take over.  I think a lot will depend on the outcome of the SEC's case against LBRY and what precident it sets.  I wish I'd bought more ETH last year but I thought it might be done as ETH 2.0 was in the pipe.

I'm holding about a 90% BTC, 9% ETH and dabbling in some random shitcoins with the final 1%.  Up about 3.5X on my investments after today's drop and I'm going long and holding what I have and buying more when I can.

Yeah, in hindsight I wish I'd held those 3 BTC but can't worry about it.  I still came out ahead.  Same with Doge.  I bought a piddling amount at $.03 and sold it at $0.11.  Not the huge gains I could've made had I held it, but still a win.

I'd have a look at the finance 2.0 section over at www.odysee.com.  lots of the crypto crowd post videos there.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: nobodyjune61944 on May 24, 2021, 12:00:36 PM
The US Internal Revenue Service announced that they were going to carefully audit and track any profits from crypto currency.  That was either the leading element, or a close follow-up to the recent bitcoin crash.

The IRS auditing bitcoin/cryptocurrency was inevitable once it got large enough.  This will have a profound impact on the nongovernment backed currency.

My guess is that it will lower valuations substantially - like nongovernment currencies in the past.  This happened in the USA once before when FDR banned the use of gold to pay ordinary debts - and then the IRS was sent after those who routinely did business in gold transactions.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: nobodyjune61944 on May 28, 2021, 07:53:23 PM
The Chinese Communists have publicly announced that they are going to ban bitcoin in China.  They have told their subjects to transfer out of the funds by a set date.

They have done similar things under the current dictator - so I doubt if they are bluffing.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on May 28, 2021, 10:48:10 PM
I think they are. 

They want to get individual investors out, depress the value, and then buy it up on the dip.  Analytics showed the same thing happened when Turkey and India banned it.  When Elon announced Tesla wouldn't accept Bitcoin as payment anymore and the value tanked,  the average value sold was between $100-$200 and the average buy on the dips was 100x that.  Indicates to me that the big players are exploiting the volatility of the coin in order to accrue more when the price drops.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Staggerwing on May 29, 2021, 08:20:53 AM
That kind of price manipulation could never happen with precious metals, now could it?
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: solops on May 29, 2021, 11:14:27 AM
Quote from: Staggerwing on May 29, 2021, 08:20:53 AM
That kind of price manipulation could never happen with precious metals, now could it?
Much tougher, but doable. Ask the Hunt brothers.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Staggerwing on May 29, 2021, 01:15:01 PM
Just who I was thinking of.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: nobodyjune61944 on May 29, 2021, 01:31:25 PM
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on May 28, 2021, 10:48:10 PM
I think they are. 

They want to get individual investors out, depress the value, and then buy it up on the dip.  Analytics showed the same thing happened when Turkey and India banned it.  When Elon announced Tesla wouldn't accept Bitcoin as payment anymore and the value tanked,  the average value sold was between $100-$200 and the average buy on the dips was 100x that.  Indicates to me that the big players are exploiting the volatility of the coin in order to accrue more when the price drops.

I don't understand bitcoin.  I've not tried to understand it beyond my knowledge of other non-government backed currencies over the last 100 years.
Given my disclosure, your comment could be lifted verbatim substituting the item (bitcoin) and the specifics (Turkey & India) from any discussion of financial bubbles in the last three centuries.   Do as you wish, but I avoid investments that I don't understand or which resemble classic financial bubbles from the past.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Gusington on May 29, 2021, 02:57:14 PM
I got some tulip bulbs here burning a hole in my pocket.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: steve58 on May 29, 2021, 04:06:00 PM
Quote from: Gusington on May 29, 2021, 02:57:14 PM
I got some tulip bulbs here burning a hole in my pocket.

I bid one Dogecoin (https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/).
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Staggerwing on May 29, 2021, 05:14:40 PM
Quote from: Gusington on May 29, 2021, 02:57:14 PM
I got some tulip bulbs here burning a hole in my pocket.

If the prices tank again on tulip bulbs at least you can roast them up and eat them.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on May 29, 2021, 05:48:31 PM
Could very well be another spec bubble.  Then again, it's been going and increasing for 12 years.  The tulip mania was only a season.  I got hammered pretty bad in 2008 and my more traditional portfolios took another beating with the COVID thing.  With the way they've been printing money, I figure holding cash is a bad idea and real estate around here is too expensive to buy, so I've been doing precious metals (even though I tried that with silver post 2008 and that didn't pan out) and crypto.  Crypto has taken a beating over the last month but I'm still up.  I think the only thing I've bought that's out performed it is ammo.

Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: nobodyjune61944 on May 29, 2021, 09:22:04 PM
My generic, very broad, minimum cost stock index funds are up 10.21% (international index) to 20.6% (high dividend yield stock index) for the year.  My total US stock index fund is up 13.7% for the year as a comparison for the other high and low index stock funds.

None of this is special in any way.  If you were in any super low cost, very broadly diversified stock fund you should have returns close to this.

I'm sure this won't last.  Actual monthly US and world inflation numbers are horrible and I fear that inflationary expectations are getting built in like the last time we had a US President determined to spend our way to prosperity (Lyndon Johnson).  Hope I'm wrong.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: ArizonaTank on June 09, 2021, 03:37:42 PM
For those who want to know more about cryptocurrency from a financial (not technical point) of view, I recommend MIT's Open Courseware (free online courses).

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-s12-blockchain-and-money-fall-2018/ (https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-s12-blockchain-and-money-fall-2018/)

lectures are at:  https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-s12-blockchain-and-money-fall-2018/video-lectures/ (https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-s12-blockchain-and-money-fall-2018/video-lectures/)

The course has a very good overview of blockchain and cryptocurrency including issues. It is not a course on how to invest however.  More about the fundamental foundations of crypto.

You can't beat the price (free). The course is a little dated however (Fall 2018).

The best thing about it is that MIT is not trying to sell you anything with the course.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: steve58 on June 10, 2021, 02:06:47 PM
El Salvador Government to Mine Bitcoin with Volcanic Energy (https://www.tomshardware.com/news/el-salvador-plans-mine-bitcoin-volcano)

Quote
Bukele appears to be going all-in on Bitcoin. Earlier this week, El Salvador became the first country in the world to consider the cryptocurrency legal tender because his proposal was approved by 62 of the country's 84 members of Congress. He also said El Salvador would offer citizenship to anyone who owns more than 3 bitcoin.

Is that like the entrance fee to that wonderful paradise that is El Salvador??  :idiot2:
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: steve58 on July 11, 2021, 12:04:52 PM
Ukraine busts 3,800 PlayStation and 5,000 computer crypto mining farm.

Now that is was a crypto mining op (https://www.yahoo.com/news/look-inside-underground-crypto-mining-090129713.html)!

Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: TonyKlurk31 on March 28, 2022, 05:17:54 PM
The popularity of cryptocurrencies is growing by the hour. I have such a machine at home, and the extra money it brings in never hurts. The main thing is to buy good farms to earn really good money, but they are very expensive now, so not many people dare to mine bitcoin. I recently found a good article about 16 easy ways to get free cryptocurrency (https://wealthofgeeks.com/free-cryptocurrency/). Making free money may seem too good to be true, but smart consumers know that there are plenty of opportunities. but when searching for free cryptocurrency, be careful about disclosing any confidential personal information
Title: Re: Bitcoin Mining
Post by: Toonces on March 28, 2022, 05:44:55 PM
You know, I've watched documentaries, read articles, etc. and while I get the gist of bitcoins or digital currency or whatever, I don't really understand it.

Same with NFTs.

I'm just getting too old, man.

(https://media1.giphy.com/media/lq3t22MU374ty7hEkB/200w.gif)