Quote from: TheQuin on January 03, 2018, 08:23:09 AM

Quote from: dlezama on January 03, 2018, 08:16:58 AM

They sell these pieces of shit like hotcakes, at the price they want to,

This is exactly the problem, demand far outstrips supply so they can get away with anything they want to and still have full order books. It has been this way since ASICs first came out and all the manufacturers have been the same. Until there is more competition in the ASIC miner market things are very unlikely to change.

I completely agree and add: there is no transparency whatsoever - it's a swamp and voodoo rules.

Personally, I have the skills and contacts to do something about it as both individuals and company, but funding anything in this space has always been a challenge. The likes of Butterfly Labs have completely destroyed the credibility of ASIC and mining equipment development that investors are completely averse, so the cowboys like Bitmain now have a free ride.

This may very well change for myself and colleagues - provided we can get an existing ASIC vendor to bite on our proposal for a miner development, we intend releasing a machine at least 3x more powerful and dense as anything out there and that's our Phase 1. Phase 2, which is kicked off simultaneously, is the discussion with two FABs to tape out ASICs for us, and that's the bit which is going to need the heavy money, hence going into the miner market on someone else's ASIC is the only viable strategy I could see, given the lack of investment and given that I do not subscribe and will not, as a matter of principle, enter into the scam that is pre-order taking.

That's what I'm trying to do about it in a tiny way. I think more people should also try to change this miserable status quo.

Phew .. just wanted to blow off some steam.