I ordered one and paid via bitcoin with no issues. Payment went through within 10 mins. I personally don't get all the crying over asics. they aren't going anywhere. In terms of supporting a single company that ends up dominating the landscape, i think that's a different argument and not one that is all bitmains fault. if you look at the other companies producing asics, they have terrible selling practices. They either require 5 units MOQ or having stupid high prices. If people want more options then those companies need to do a better job of competing and trying to get more business than just the large farms. I gpu mine and I try to get an asic here or there if it looks profitable, but asics aren't going anywhere and trying to fork every coin every time a new asic is created causes more problems than it solves imo. Just my .02
The instant inflation that asics cause is great for traders but basically bad for people who want to actually get utility for the coins by spending them.
Cryptos will never be mainstream as long as the prices swing all over the place. Everyone asks "bitcoin - when moon?" and the answer is when it really goes mainstream and starts getting a major chunk of the multitrillion dollar banking industry.
That won't happen with excessive volatilty from asics so the coins that shift to be asic proof will get their slice of the pie first. Bitcoin's halving effect will eventually make asics irrelevant to it but most alts still have a lot left to me mined so for them asics have to be dealt with or they will end up in the scrap heap.