Well, so then I must have been on a different forum where a couple of guys offered exactly this: leasing hash rates, a.k.a. mining contracts. Actually it's because it makes a lot sense not just for the seller but for the buyer as well. Personally I started setting up such a service as well
and I don't see a problem in offering such thing. It's (almost) just a matter of the right price, no? And trust of course.
Oh, sure, people are trying to lease hash rates. What I meant was, if you look at the amount of money being spent on leasing computer equipment versus leasing computer *output* (of any sort), there's no real comparison.
Here's the problem which nobody has successfully addressed: Why would you lease me your hashing at a monthly rate that is less than you would receive yourself from mining? Conversely, why would I lease your hashing at a monthly rate that is more than I would receive from the value of the coins?
See, either way somebody loses. Thus, there can be no trust, because there is no mutual benefit. Business 101.
Because, as anyone who has actually mined coins can tell you, time is of the essence and there is more to it than simply looking at wikipedia hash rate charts.
"Why would you lease me your hashing at a monthly rate that is less than you would receive yourself from mining?"
Answer - Because I already have the equipment and I'll keep it when the lease is over. You get the future coins, I get the instant cash that I can use for whatever I want.
"Conversely, why would I lease your hashing at a monthly rate that is more than I would receive from the value of the coins?"
Answer - You don't know where difficulty is going and you certainly don't know where the exchange rate is going. You're making decisions on assumptions as though they are fact when they are really nothing more than speculation. You might be speculating correctly, but spare me the, "I can't predict the future mentality." You're as bad a Kiwi thinking he can beat the math month over month.