Welp, this is a costly lesson is why not to buy from Bitmain.
i think we all need to face the reality that we're the ones that are doing this to ourselves. remember that bitmain only made the miner. we all chose to buy it and increase the difficulty on our own. everyone wants a piece and therefore pushes the difficulty up and therefore less to go around. in short, we're our own demise.
in the long run, whether it be asics or gpus, it will be a battle of attrition. the ones who can outlast the rest will win. as people turn off their gpu rigs, it increases profits for the other gpu rigs that are still on. same goes for asics as well... the question is who will give up first.
another analogy... gun manufacturers make guns. we buy guns (both good and bad people) and use the guns to hurt other people... so is it the gun manufacturers fault or is it us? i know there's a lot of variables and great depth of discussion here but the fact is that we do it to ourselves.
another scenario... market value and trading... if sellers would just hold strong on their sell books and not panic-sell, coin prices won't drop. of course buyers want to buy low but if seller won't budge, then buyer will have to meet it or the price won't move and that's okay. again, a lot of variables and depths of discussion but the fact is we do it to ourselves whether by choice or consequence.
just my opinion. take it with a grain of salt.
Is the gun manufacturer using what it manufactures for themselves to benefit themselves by shooting people? Hell NO!!!
Is the ASIC manufacturer using what it manufacturers for themselves to benefit themselves while harming others? Hell YEAH!!! How are they harming others they sale their products to? By competing against the very ones they sale hardware to by manufacturing four (4) units with the money they are paid from only one unit they sale. They keep three of those four units for themselves to mine with and take their sweet ass time getting out that fourth one to the buyer.