There are two reasons to mine.

1.) As a for-profit venture.
2.) The add some to, and support, the Bitcoin network.

For #1 - If you pay your own electric bill from a utility company, it's not worth it. CPU mining is obsolete in terms of speed, and they're rather bad at it. GPUs are better, but already borderline obsolete due to FPGAs. And "very soon (tm)" they WILL be obsolete, with the release of ASIC devices in the next 3 weeks to 3 months. If you want to be involved in the Bitcoin community, purchasing Bitcoins is the best bet for profit. The fees take less out of your pocket than electricity would, and that assumes you already have the hardware.

Note: If you do not pay for your own electricity, this might be inaccurate for GPU mining. Some governments subsidize electric costs, and some people have non-utility power (solar, hydro-electric, et cetera). If this either of these is the case for you, mining MIGHT be a profitable option.

For #2 - DO IT! One of BTC's strengths is that it is decentralized and peer-to-peer. One real (but diminishing in importance every day) risk to the Bitcoin network is a 51% attack - where a single person or group has 51% or greater processing power on the Bitcoin network. Every little bit of hashing power helps offset this risk, and the more individuals that do it, the better. But it's not a profitable venture. It just adds to the nebulous concept of "a stronger Bitcoin network".

It's a heated topic, for sure. I'll give my answer and someone will pop in to refute it.

My answer?

You can trusty Butterfly Labs. You can trust the folks at btcfpga.com.

The reason I say this is because I have products from both. Not ASICs, as they've not been released yet, but FPGA devices from them. Any company could decide to up and screw over their customers, but both have proven that they CAN develop and ship a functional product.

Now, what remains to be seen is how well their ASIC products perform once they ship. But I trust that both will ship, and they will be awesome, and they will not screw over their customers.

I would not buy a product from a company that has not yet shipped any product. There might be legit vendors that will produce ASICs, but I wouldn't risk the kind of money on it.

I've been involved in open source for years and years, and that's probably where I heard about it first - an open source take on money.

A few years later, I became a libertarian and got thrust into the economics-heavy discussions that come up when you know more than three other libertarians.

The fact that Bitcoin is an alternative to government-controlled currency really appealed to me.

I was drunk.

Which means you are probably right.

Using these was kind of my take on "this is retarded..


Mind if I ask how? Nothing I said here was inaccurate or dishonest.

Unless you're prepared to invest a few thousand dollars (or your native currency) in mining hardware, purchasing is a better bet.

There is no such thing as a 100% secure wallet.

If the United States government could torture you for your passphrase, it's not secure.

If you can forget it, and deny access to the rightful owner, it's not 100% secure.

Most Bitcoin users are somewhere in between.

Truth. Moving on?

I don't even trust myself!

I only keep weekly backups of all my computers. BASTARD!

I am pissed off by the rules, and I am new.

I only troll when I find it fun.

What was this thread for? to weed out trolls?

What about trolls that meet the rules?

Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.

My initial n00b post was here... https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=128127.0

Tomorrow is halving day, and despite having thousand of USD in ASICs, I still can't post to confirm my BTCJame name...

What gives? I think I know my stuff, and if I am a troll, I'm a good one.

I'd like to be whitelisted. Thanks.

I have been involved with the Bitcoin Community for over a year. My name one these forums is my legal name.

The fact that I have to post in n00b forums is retarded, but I will delicately spam in accordance with the rules.

Also, Hi.