Unless you want to spend $5-10M in NRE, you're going with a structured ASIC process.
Who's to say they haven't spent that much? With a VC investor, you can spend more than you normally would without one.
And, some of the numbers that others have presented in terms of hashing ability for a custom chip on various processes have been reasonably convincing. I still have my doubts about "USB Powered" and not needing an external brick, but meh.