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The Hunt for Profits in the Mining World
The global pursuit for cryptocurrencies has seen an explosion in interest and activities over the past decade. We have witnessed a rapid surge in the inception and growth of various digital currencies being mined daily. As much as the digital mining world primes itself as a profitable venture, the most significant issue many miners face goes far beyond the technical know-how. The problem often lies in the upfront capital and uncertainty of return on investment. Often, this uncertainty can quickly turn a productive mining rig into a paperweight, leading to massive losses.
In my experience, investing in a full-size Asic can be a considerable gamble. Its profitability can swing drastically from twenty dollars a day to negative five dollars daily in just a few months. The question often is: what leads to such dramatic shift in income?
Unpacking the Gamble
For starters, the purchase and investment in a full-size Asic can be an enormous gamble, especially with varying market prices. I, for one, have experienced the roller coaster of purchasing a KD Max and watching its profitability plummet.
At the time of acquisition, KD Max, offered by GoldShell, posted an attractive daily profitability of$20, a figure that significantly dropped before I could even fire up the Asic for the first time. Alongside various complications unrelated to the vendor, the Asic miner that once seemed like a goldmine turned into a regrettable financial decision within months.
The External Market Forces
Crypto mining is intensely tied to various external market conditions. In recent times, the market for cryptocurrencies has turned bearish, leading to reduced profitability across all mining operations. Moreover, the global increase in electric rates added to the predicament by escalating operational costs and thus, substantially lowering profits.
The situation for my KD Max went grave when Bitmain launched KA3, competing directly with GoldShell’s KD Max. The introduction of this unit essentially rendered my miner obsolete and unprofitable.
KA3 – The Game Changer
Bitmain’s introduction of KA3 irrefutably changed the industry dynamics. This model, boasting 166 Tera hash to KD Max’s 40 Tera hash, and a power consumption of 3100 Watts, 200 Watts less than KD Max, decimated the scene with significantly higher performance and efficiency. The advent of the KA3 and its consequential success led to a dramatic increase in the Cadena’s network hash rate, creating higher mining difficulty and significantly reducing profitability per Terra hash.
The Crypto Mining Shake-Up
Over the past year, the crypto mining community has experienced numerous phases and evolutions. Profitability, hardware, hash rate efficiency, and other significant facets of mining cryptos have significantly transformed, impacting decisions of both novice and seasoned miners.
In my case, the profitability of KD Max nosedived and reached a point where it was costing me money to continue operating the unit. The volatility of crypto mining throws light on one of the most common fallacies that plague the crypto mining world: perceived product lifetime.
The truth is, in the highly competitive world of crypto mining, products age fast. GoldShell’s KD Max is a perfect testament to this phenomenon. Despite being released barely a year ago, the KD Max soon lost its competitive edge due to the boom of newer, more efficient, and powerful mining units like the KA3.
The Learning Curve
In conclusion, my TD Max experience wasn’t ideal, but it taught me a lot about the unpredictable nature of the crypto mining industry. These realizations underline the fact that buying crypto mining hardware is, at the end of the day, a gamble.
While mining rigs promise a handsome income today, market trends could render them unprofitable in a matter of months. The critical lesson here is to navigate the world of crypto mining aware of its inherent volatility and to invest wisely, based on a host of factors, including but not limited to external market forces, electricity costs, and competition.
While it’s no fault of the vendors, the introduction of newer, more effective hardware can upset the balance overnight. The product lifetime in the mining world is shorter than you would think. And while the allure of stacking massive profits from mining hardware seems attractive, one must tread carefully, evaluating their financial and risk appetites before diving headlong into the mining realm.
In this industry, careful planning, constant vigilance, and adaptability are the keys to sustained profitability and success.
Have you purchased any Crypto Mining Hardware, that quickly became unprofitable?
I love mining as much as the next guy but it most cases it makes more sense to take the fiat you would have used to buy the miner and just buy the coin, especially if you are a big believer in the project.
Just rolled the dice on a L7 9050 for $4600. Fingers crossed the rumored L9 doesn’t actually deliver for at least 9 months. Then concurrently hope we’re in a good bull this time next year to offload the L7 for around what I paid.
I sold my antminer l3+'s right when the l7 started shipping. Br far my best crypto decision. Even if you can't afford The new hardware in this arms race you need to sell the old gear
Of course we are all in the same boat.. I’m hesitating till now to get KA3 but still curious about KDA project now.. I got my KD5 almost $20k and it worth nothing 😅.. wish you see your recommendation as my electricity cost is $0.02 doesn’t matter the watts
Hosting is the way to go. Especially after the next halving. It will be the only real option.
Yeah I got screwed on that
I got myself the KD Box 2nd hand like 6months ago and prob get 2 KDA in 10-12days so definitely a paperweight but if find free power ill plug it in and forget it.
Hey, I just started following your channel and it’s very informative. Do you have a simple guide to get you started mining? Thanks
I just wanted to stop in and warn people to be aware of BT Miners. They will throw more stipulations on the transaction AFTER the order has gone through and, if you don't want to comply, they are quick to tell you that it's only a 90% refund. They were VERY quick to jump on the 10% 'fee' and seemed to have a 'it's my way or the highway' type attitude. Even while attempting to discuss the transaction, your card will be charged the full amount. This could just be a one-time experience, but they seem to have the pattern down. Please be careful with them.
I'm so sorry for your loss. Frustrating. You do need to be so careful in purchases. These ASICs have a very short life cycle. The money they charge for these is so expensive . During the California Gold Rush, I always remember
It was the general stores selling pick and shovels made the most money by inflating prices. A lot of gold miners did not make it. It's the same here. Sorry again for your investment did not work out. Take care!
same risk goes with hughend KAS ASICS burning over 3kW for 8Ghash
I bought a couple of ETH Classic Miners about a months before the Merge. I was making about $15/Day on ETC and my hashrate at ~500w as equal to my GPU's at ~2000w so I thought I was doing really well. I knew that ETC hashrate was going to bloom but not quite to the level that happened. Fortunately I was able to move them to my Data Center rack where I already Pre-Pay for power but even at that I am making less than $1/Day. Hoping the next Bull run pumps ETC at least high enough to recoup my costs.
THM I hear you man one thing I have learned over the years is if Bitmain has not drop their miner for a given coin any other manufacture has already released their is to still whatever you got before their is released, i had 6 KD5’s and sold 4 of them in April 22 and got a KD6, and in early June when Bitmain KA3 spec got leaked I sold my KD6 just before the KD Max drop and became the Bitmain KA3 specs was so crazy the KD Max price drop just a month after it was released, we all see the end coming for Goldshell because the Bitmain miner was so much more efficient, and Goldshell was greedy they released the KD 2 after the Bitmain KA3 knowing only a few weeks of profitability remaining, but yeah many people that did not do the math got burned.
yea , it hit me toooo, but i will be getting very low power cost and i will plug it in and see what i can get. i will still write this off
I know people who bought KD Max @ 40-50k and got KILLED by them. I was bullish and got a KA3 early on but profitability didn't last long. Now BITMAIN sells them at 1/2 price after they saturate the market – it's the Nail in the coffin.
I bought a KD6 pre order for 47k, by the time it got delivered, it was no longer profitable. I have never used it, I just can't afford to, I spent all my money on it, now I'm totally broke.
How many grafic cards do i need to get a150$ per month and what brand ? Pls help guys im a big noob 😢
I'll take it off your hands and give you half of what it makes I got free electric
This is all situation I accrue 7/8000 Kwh after my home usage per year for my solar panels that isn't paid out, its accrued, the year ends it restarts at none. FOR ME these small home miners are prefect ie KD BOX II x 2 are perfect. No noise hidden under my desk and costing me nothing. Could or should I have bought KDA, CKB ect! maybe.
I bought a second 3090 for 700 bucks, figure I can pivot if PoUW doesn't work out.
The answer is NO! Unless you have almost free power, then dont waste your money. There is no crypto network at moment that has any real value to handle one release. The miner is usually already outdated by the time u recieve it and its estimated profit is down by more then 90% if it even makes money. You always make out better buying the coin the selling it before the miners are delivered. 😂
I feel your pain. I bought the IBlink BM-K3 for a little over 2 ETH ($4000-4200) in December last year. I cashed out about $1200 so far. Still barely profitable on low power mode 51th around 2000 watts. Debating about just stacking the coin for the bull run since the easy offramp to USD (BinanceUS) is no longer available. The plummeting KDA price isn't helping matters either
Where I came from, we say: "Don't open an old wond".
I think kind of thing has happened to most of us. Great video Hobbyist!