GLBSE is UP, sorry about that, something I was doing had choked the server (it actually was up but had frozen).

Everything is working, go ahead and go crazy with it.

Here is the asset details for those interested in having a look.

http://dev.glbse.com/cgi-bin/asset?id=4813709653f9d4b4060d045fb1ebef1ef1a1895cb585d076c9553955e1005399.xml

View source if you can't see normal xml.

Also folks, don't forget to check out the trustworthyness of the issuer, and whether the gpg public key in the asset contract is able to verify the asset clearsignature.

These are up for sale.

Whoops, thanks for catching that error!


Yes, this was just a number I pulled out of thin air, and I haven't really decided on an exact number as of yet.  It would really depend on the changes in difficulty, so that the business would continue competitively mining.  That would probably be something that would be discussed and decided by investors.


Sure (@ $7.42/BTC, 157426.20629 difficulty):
Proposed rig ~$710
Theoretical power: ~710 Mhash/se
4,999 shares issued @ .75 BTC/share
~$27,819 or ~ 39 rigs
30*710 = 27690 Mhash/sec
Generate 50 BTC in ~6h 45m
~177 BTC/day, ~1244 BTC/week, ~4976 BTC/month (or ~$36,921 USD/month)

**Something I didn't take into account when calculating power costs: I have a variable rate where 10am-7pm is charged at ~15 cents kWh and 7pm-10am is charged at ~8 cents kWh, so that drastically lowers operating costs**

Rigs operate ~700 watts
504 kWh/day = ~$54/day operating cost
~$1500/month
Profit = ~$35421/month
45% growth = $15,939
Net Profit = $19,481 month

10 shares = .001 stake
2625 BTC ($19,481) * .001 = 2.63 BTC ($19)
50 shares = .005 stake
2625 BTC ($19,481) * .005 = 13.13 BTC ($97)
100 shares = .01 stake
2625 BTC ($19,481) * .01 = 26.25 BTC ($195)

Once again, I think it is important to stress that I will be striving to have investments pay for themselves in 4-8 months.


As far as projecting difficulty increases, I'm no expert on the subject, but from studying several graphs as well as the effects of difficulty jumps on network power and the exchange rate for BTC, I think that even if the total number of Bitcoins generated falls (which is to be expected), the actual worth will be more than enough to compensate for the difficulty increase.  In the future (very long term here, thinking decades), mining will switch from Bitcoin generation and be about fee collection.  Less Bitcoins will be generated, that is a given, but more people will use fees and the worth of individual Bitcoins will increase to offset this.

As far as staying competitive, I believe that this is a relatively unique idea at this point, simply because of the scale proposed.  It's one thing to have a few computers running in your apartment where you aren't paying for utilities, but when the landlord realizes that you're using a whole lot more power than was calculated into rent, that will quickly end.  As far as power-efficient custom hardware, that would definitely be something worth looking into, and part of the growth fund taken from profits may be invested into R&D for something along those lines.  Once again, that might end up being something to be discussed among investors.  Eventually, as the business grows, the power consumption will overcome the current supply and will need to be upgraded, at which time the costs will drop (this is how my power company works, with larger consumers getting better prices.)  Once again, I think that discussion between the shareholders about new and more efficient rigs to use would be an excellent way to keep the business from going stale.


This is by far my biggest road block: I've lurked for far too long.  I am open to suggestions on how to help alleviate the trust issue, I think that it is very important and that this won't pick up off the ground until we can get past it.  A logical argument would be that I have much more to gain from following through with the deal than fleecing a bunch of people, because the money to be made is better than the money to be invested.

I'm glad you mentioned this, I forgot to discuss the lodgings of the operation.  They will be housed in a large pole-barn with a 200 A breaker, and I will be utilizing the wonders of geothermal cooling to keep heat down (the ambient temperature in the hottest parts of the summer in the building is around 65 degrees F, so it stays naturally cool in addition to the cooling I will be providing.)  In the winter cooling will be a non-issue.  When the time comes, the breaker will need to be upgraded, both in the building and at the telephone pole, but I think that is a way into the future and will not cause too many problems in the short run.  I intentionally overestimated the consumption of each rig, as well as the price, in order to account for factors that I may not have thought of, such as the things you have mentioned.  The rig probably won't actually operate over 550 watts, but I think it's better to overestimate costs than underestimate them!

I would say that if the 750 shares didn't sell by the end of the month, I would purchase them all back and close up shop.  That being said, the minimum number of shares that I would require to sell before starting will probably drop as the exchange rate for BTC increases.

I am too old to learn these new tricks.  I can't make heads or tails of the stock trading site, and I don't think that I could use it at work anyway.

Anyone willing to be a broker?

A web interface would be great.  The command line method is workable but somewhat difficult to get set up.

Casper: I am attempting to be very anonymous, I realize that this is a huge problem for raising the funds that I have requested.  I think that once we reach our start goal and I purchase the computers and show myself to be trustworthy, more people will be willing to invest, and that will start a wave.  I do not feel comfortable divulging the information you have requested, mostly because I plan on working with many thousands of dollars of computers that someone could simply come take from me if they knew exactly where I lived as well as the layout and location of the building, not because I am trying to hide so no one can find me if I screw everyone out of their money.

For those interested: so far 199 shares have been sold!  We're slowly approaching the starting line!  Thanks to all who have chosen to invest so far!

Sounds interesting, one thing I didn't see in your calculations was what your plans for the network hardware and internet connection are and what the costs will be.

Big risk due to lack of trust => big rewards. Bought some shares. I invested in DISHWARA, which is IMHO more risky then this and to be honest I expect more of this. Plus I don't need my bitcoins at this moment, even at 50% return of investment after 8 months would be worth it.

Interesting idea.
I would like to see much more information, however.

Being anonymous can be fine.  However, I would like to know more about your qualifications.
Have you worked on clusters or data centers at this level before?
How much experience do you have in IT?
Do you have any programming experience?
Are you currently mining?  For how long?

I would also recommend signing at least one post to this forum so that we can be sure you are the same person that is issuing the SIN stock.

Your powerpoint presentation was good, but I would also like to see a complete business plan posted.  If nothing else, to prove that you are serious about putting the time into this project.
Off the top of my head, some other information I would like to know:
More details on the rigs you plan to buy
Cost estimates on support equipment: UPS, racks, cabling, monitors, kvms, etc.
Projections on profits based on changes to the exchange rate and difficulty rate.
At what USD/BTC rate does it stop being profitable?
At what difficulty rate?
You mention increasing capacity to compensate for difficulty increases.  How will you determine the required capacity increases?  Will it be a static 15% of revenue?  Will you attempt to keep a constant BTC generated per day?
Any pictures you are willing to provide of the physical space where the cluster will reside.
How exposed is the space, do you anticipate any issues with humidity or dust?
Do you own the location, or rent?
How do you plan on securing the location?  Who else will have access to it?
Will you be paying yourself a salary for managing the cluster?
Will you pay yourself rent for the location?
Will the cluster be sharing power with your residence?  If so, how do you plan on determining the power usage of the cluster vs personal consumption?
When do you plan on paying dividends?  Monthly, quarterly?
Will you be providing financial reports?  When, and what will they contain?

Good luck, I love to see people actually implementing their ideas instead of just talking about them.