It's easy to picture the ASIC manufacturers mining with customers' equipment for as long as they can before shipping, but I don't think it's actually all that easy to pull off.
Getting caught would likely mean big fines or a PR nightmare. They would somehow have to hide it from the majority of employees so the secret doesn't get out.
Getting caught would likely mean big fines or a PR nightmare. They would somehow have to hide it from the majority of employees so the secret doesn't get out.
You're new here so you missed all the scamming. Big fines? By who? Avalon mined with their customers equipment for months and then shipped the units which had obvious signs of use. Users even found their machines configured to mine on pools and when the addresses were checked they saw the machines mined for weeks-months and payments sent to Avalon. Hence the hatred of all things Avalon and Yifu.
BFL is suspected of doing the same but no confirmation with definitive proof as far as I know. They shipped units that have build dates from weeks prior. And they're suspected of giving their COO and other privileged people mining equipment ahead of paying queued customers.
Then there are the fails and scams companies which just run away with money like bASIC.
None of these companies have paid any regulatory agency a single penny. PR nightmare? Doesn't stop BFL and Avalon from selling to new users
