Quote from: Exocyst on August 08, 2013, 12:55:36 PM

Quote from: TsuyokuNaritai on August 08, 2013, 12:33:22 PM

Quote from: VinceSamios on August 08, 2013, 09:54:28 AM

Quote from: BlackLilac on August 08, 2013, 09:23:55 AM

ASICMINER's next generation chips will be out by November... do you honestly think any of these IPOs will produce functional products by then? We don't know the specs of the next AM chips... but there is every reason to assume they will be in line with the specs these other companies are promising, if not superior.

The primary difference is that ASICMINER has proven that they can deliver.

Great so... lets invest in an unknown. I don't doubt they'll come up with something awesome, but they also have a glass ceiling in the percentage of network hash rate they can take. They've currently got 12% of network hash rate, so they could double that, but not really any more than double... that's their major class ceiling. Whereas ActM can increase their hashrate by a few hundred times, plus hardware sales.

Their franchising plans means no hashrate glass ceiling. Plus hardware sales.

Well no, potential franchises will have to consider the value proposition of the cost of operating an ASICMINER franchise versus holding mining security, buying hardware with higher GH/watt, or investing in growth funds. There are no sure bets (especially in bitcoin).

This is the crux of it and a huge part of this decision is based on tech. Is the franchised mining operation going to run off of ASICMINER's 130nm technology? Is the benefit of the equipment being ran by AM worth whatever operational cost they charge? Will investing in something newer and more efficient (28nm?!) outweigh the cost of running and maintain the operation themselves? There are a number of variables in this CBA that will need to be weighed.