Realcent.org

Bitcoin continues to gain ground on gold after climbing above it for the first time on Thursday. The cryptocurrency trades up 2.6% at 1271 a coin while the yellow metal is down 0.6% at $1227 per ounce, as of 7:25 a.m. ET.

http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-price-extends-lead-over-gold-2017-3

I've noticed other crytpocurrencies have been trending upwards as well. ETC, ETH, ZEC, and XMR all seem to be doing well. XMR took a bit of a tank recently (probably due to bot mining selloffs), but is still holding pretty strong. It's pretty crazy seeing the market capitalization on 1's and 0's.

Any miners here? I do some GPU mining for XMR and ETH mainly. I have never ventured into BTC (difficulty and equipment seem to be in an arms race -- would probably never see an ROI).

Currently:

$1,250 – Bitcoin Price.
$1,213 – Gold Price.

hey all:

About a year ago, I was looking into bitcoin mining....The conclusion I came to was that it PROBABLY would not be profitable for an individual unless you could somehow get free power OR almost free power.

With that being said, I think there is a strong possibility that there is going to be strong demand for crypto-currencies in the future ESPECIALLY if there is a "war" on cash. People are going to want/need somewhere to put their capital that is out of reach of the government and has no/little counter party risk.

I also suspect that bitcoin is going to be the best at first...but eventually others will overtake it and or fill more "niche" needs.

I'm just getting into it and really enjoy it. For anyone thinking about getting into it as well I recommend jumping in and at least buying a little bitcoin (BTC). Having it available is key. It's often not as easy as forking over the fiat and it's yours. It could take as long as a week. I missed out big time this week because I couldn't get BTC in order to exchange it for what I wanted. As a result, I'm paying twice what I would've otherwise.

I just don't understand bitcoin or similar. What gives it value other then the hope someone else will trade goods or services for it? The econmy is not based on bitcoin, unlike the dollar, and the government does not back it.

I lost the passphrase to my bitcoin wallet. There is $5,650 in it that I can't do anything with. Make sure you can never forget your passphrase.

DTEJD1997 wrote:hey all:

About a year ago, I was looking into bitcoin mining....The conclusion I came to was that it PROBABLY would not be profitable for an individual unless you could somehow get free power OR almost free power.

Yeah, Bitcoin mining, even via cloud mining, at this point is more of a novelty than anything. There's really no way to turn a profit.

Mining alt-coins, I am averaging about $4 a day, once power is subtracted. Not an insane amount of money, but my latest hobby to keep my noggin busy has been building computers, and this basically helps my hobby pay for itself. It only takes about 190 days before I start to see an ROI on a GPU.

JadeDragon wrote:I just don't understand bitcoin or similar. What gives it value other then the hope someone else will trade goods or services for it?

So EXACTLY like the fiat dollar then?

But instead of a quasi-governmental central bank telling you the currency has value, it's more of a peer-to-peer network of currency holders and users trading and using currencies in a free market. And unlike government-issued fiat, most crypto currencies have a finite supply and/or predictable formulaic inflationary structure. No small board of directors implementing quantitative easing programs behind closed doors or government printing more money out of thin air to finance bailouts and wars.

I'm skeptical of cryptos but can also see the utility of fast electronic peer-to-peer payments with much lower fees than credit cards, no restrictions on what they can be used for, and without a mechanism for the sender to fraudulently claw back the payment later.

Bitcoin is by far the most widely publicized and recognized and a handful of the major metal dealers will already happily send you metal for your Bitcoins. I fully expect to see more places accepting Bitcoin and expanding to other crypto currencies in the not so distant future. Bitcoin will probably be the most mainstream for a while, but newer competing "alt-coins" that fill different niches and have different features are worth taking a look at.

I had no interest in getting involved in crypto currencies for a long time, but a discussion on Bullionstacker recently got me interested in PIVX:

http://www.bullionstacker.com/viewtopic ... 08&t=27637

Ron Paul always talked about competing currencies being a good thing.

http://www.ronpaul.com/2012-08-13/ron-p ... rencies-2/

I recently got this email from the Amagi Metals email list. I am always a bit skeptical of Anthem and they only seem to be looking for investors with deep pockets, but it may be interesting to watch this take shape.

We are writing today to introduce you to a new opportunity that we are very excited about and very proud of. AnthemGold, Inc. which is a spin-off company of Anthem Vault, Inc. was launched in December, 2016 and has created a gold-backed cryptocurrency. We are raising funds for the company that will launch the 'anthem' or 'AGLD,' (which is the name of the fully gold-backed token) from qualifying investors on the Online Investment Platform BnkToTheFuture.

https://bnktothefuture.com/pitches/anthemgold/landing

As you will see, BnkToTheFuture has a glowing testimonial from Sir Richard Branson on its home page, they have over 37,000 professional investors, and over $160 million has been invested via the Online Investment Platform for the select few cryptocurrency companies that it allows on its site. We are very honored to have been chosen to be on their Online Investment Platform.

As a loyal and valued client, we want to invite you to visit our page before anyone else to see if you qualify to invest in AnthemGold and what we are creating to change the face of cryptocurrency.

If you are an accredited investor, you are able to explore the opportunity before it goes live to the 37,000+ FinTech investors on BnkToTheFuture. Please refer to the disclaimers below before you proceed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact myself or Cynthia at the email addresses below.

Best Regards,

Anthem Blanchard, CEO, and Cynthia Blanchard, President, of AnthemGold, Inc.

An investment in Anthem Vault involves a high degree of risk and should only be considered by persons who can afford to lose their entire investment. Prospective investors should not construe any information about Anthem Vault from the web site or from communications with Anthem Vault, and its affiliates, officers or employees, as legal, investment or tax advice. Each investor should consult with his or her own personal legal, tax and investment advisors prior to subscribing to any investment.

The securities being offered are subject to restrictions on transferability and resale and may not be transferred or resold except as permitted under applicable federal and state securities laws, pursuant to an exemption therefrom. You must be prepared to bear the economic risk of the investment for an indefinite period and be able to withstand a loss of your entire investment.

Neither this letter nor the information contained on the web site constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction.

No person has been authorized to give any information other than that contained in this letter or the web site or to make any representations in connection with the offering made hereby, and, if given or made, such other information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by Anthem Vault.

natsb88 wrote:[...] most crypto currencies have a finite supply and/or predictable formulaic inflationary structure. No small board of directors implementing quantitative easing programs behind closed doors or government printing more money out of thin air to finance bailouts and wars. [...]

They are also (at least the good ones) almost impossible to counterfeit.

The Ethereum blockchain has some pretty big players interested in it.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Intel Corp (INTC.O) and more than two dozen other companies have teamed up to develop standards and technology to make it easier for enterprises to use blockchain code Ethereum in the latest push by large firms to move toward distributed ledger systems.

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) will work to enhance the privacy, security and scalability of the Ethereum blockchain, making it better suited to business applications, according to the founding companies, which said they plan to announce the initiative on Tuesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ether ... 662K7?il=0

I stopped mining Ethereum a few weeks ago. The "difficulty bomb" finally pushed it outside of profitability for my small rig. It's supposed to be moving away from Proof of Work, and over to Proof of Stake pretty soon. I still mine Ethereum Classic though once in a while.

USD to BTC at this moment = $1797.50 / 1

I am currently averaging ~$2.10/day for each GPU I have mining alt coins.

With the cost of power to run the computers doing the mining, is it even worth setting up a bitcoin mining operation in the the U.S. these days? Maybe if you got into the game early on it would be worth it to continue mining as long as the exchange rate is favorable. A while back I read an article about bitcoin mining in Venezuela where, under socialism, electricity is baisically free so the economics of bitcoin mining is entirely different there. It is a very interesting read.

"The Secret, Dangerous World of Venezuelan Bitcoin Mining
How cryptocurrency is turning socialism against itself"
https://reason.com/archives/2016/11/28/the-secret-dangerous-world-of

TwoAndAHalfCents wrote:With the cost of power to run the computers doing the mining, is it even worth setting up a bitcoin mining operation in the the U.S. these days?

Bitcoin mining; definitely not. Even cloud mining Bitcoins at this point is more novelty than anything else. Most contracts you'd be waiting 2+ years for ROI, and that's assuming difficulty and exchange remain unchanged.

Alternative coins are profitable right now though. You just mine them, and then exchange them for bitcoin. There are also multipools like Nicehash that automatically switch algorithms for you and pay directly in bitcoin.

I pay $0.12 per kWh. In about a month, daytime premium rates will kick in at $0.36 per kWh. Even at the higher rate, I could still make a modest profit of about $0.60 per day for each GPU. I won't be doing that of course, as there's a point where wear-and-tear on hardware just doesn't make sense for some cents.

https://reason.com/archives/2016/11/28/the-secret-dangerous-world-of

Interesting article. Thank you for sharing it.

Doctor Steuss wrote:I pay $0.12 per kWh. In about a month, daytime premium rates will kick in at $0.36 per kWh.

I was just doing some analysis of our power at the machine shop looking at LED lighting. We are paying a hair under $0.10/kWh year round. Commercial 3-phase. I have never tried mining but I probably have enough parts laying around to put 2-3 towers together...

natsb88 wrote:

Doctor Steuss wrote:I pay $0.12 per kWh. In about a month, daytime premium rates will kick in at $0.36 per kWh.

I was just doing some analysis of our power at the machine shop looking at LED lighting. We are paying a hair under $0.10/kWh year round. Commercial 3-phase. I have never tried mining but I probably have enough parts laying around to put 2-3 towers together...

If you decide to give it a go, and would like some help walking through it, let me know. I'd be glad to share whatever modest knowledge I have.

Downside with towers is you're somewhat limited on the number of GPUs per setup. That's still the route I go though (I have three -- two with two GPUs, and a monster with three), as I figure I'll always be able to somewhat recoup a bit of cost if I ever decide to sell. The market for a gaming PC is much wider than the market for a mining rig.

BTC is now starting to move toward flirting with the 2K mark.

As of this moment, 1 BTC = $1,959.99

That puts the current market cap at $32,007,013,279.

Doctor Steuss wrote:USD to BTC at this moment = $1797.50 / 1

I am currently averaging ~$2.10/day for each GPU I have mining alt coins.

USD to BTC at this moment = $2,251.00 / 1

Currently averaging ~$3.72/day for each GPU I have.

This little bubble is getting silly.

USD to BTC at this moment = $2,764.36 / 1

Currently averaging ~$4.68/day for each GPU I have.

We can only hope that someday the irrational exuberance now in BTC will arise in the silver market.

Crazy that this was less than a year ago.

Anyone still mining?

Just on the Cryptotab browser, which might not even cover the electricity with BTC at only $21k.

Welp... the dust has settled a bit from Etherium going to PoW.

GPU mining is likely dead (at least in the US). Even at a crazy $0.03/kWh, you're lucky to get $0.30/day per high-end card. Electricity where I am, the only card turning a profit would take me over 20 years to break even.

I know some people are holding hope, but there's just too much hashing power out there. Even if there's a coin that tips into the profitability range, you've got an army of idle gamers that'll fire up their cards, sending the difficulty for that coin to the moon.

Most ASIC miners can't turn a profit either by the looks of it. Only one that looks good at all is the L7 (at about $13/day, depending on power rates), and those rascals (when they are in stock) are around $13K new. That's a pretty long ROI, and risk (especially when replacement boards are like $1K each).

RIP hobby mining... and a whole lotta mining businesses. I'm sad I stopped as early as I did, but I'm also glad I didn't pick it up again a few months ago when I got the itch.