My question is: would you consider legitimate markets for buying and selling hash power to be a scam? If so, why?
Considering there is absolutely no way to get any kind of return on your investment I'd say it is most definitely a scam.
Thank you for answering.
I disagree of course. Entities
selling hash power would earn slightly more on average than pointing their equipment at a pool (so sellers
do have an ROI advantage). This bonus is paid for by entities
buying hash power as a way to express their vote. In other words, what we're seeing is a market emerge for the ability to construct blocks according to one's volition.
Constructing blocks according to one's volition has value; it's how Bitcoin's consensus mechanism works and evolves.