Wow, am I reading that right? - that's a much better cost-benefit ratio than building rigs, what are they doing hardware wise that works out so much more efficient? It's a HUGE jump over their earlier models.
So my proposed 3 x 1080Ti rig will cost just a bit under $3,000, and mine @ current rates about $13.50/day. That's a 7 month payoff give or take, and a cost-benefit ratio of .0045.
An AntminerL3+, on the other hand, costs $2,250 and mines @ current rates about $61/day (450% better!). That's a 37 day payoff and a cost-benefit ratio of .027! I imagine they will sell out quickly.
The S9, S7, etc are SHA256 miners (mainly intended for Bitcoin mining) while the L3+ is a Scrypt miner (mainly intended for Litecoin mining).
The L3+ miners are hugely profitability right now but they come with a huge risk: The price of Litecoin could fall and/or difficulty may increase (and probably will when thousands of L3+ miners come online). And, unlike GPU mining hardware, if it becomes no longer profitable to mine with, an ASIC miner is effectively worthless. It's a big gamble but (I'm hoping) it's a fairly wise one. The general consensus right now is that the price of Litecoin is set to rocket soon -- if it does, these things could become even more profitable. If that doesn't happen but I get at least half of the current profitability for about 6 months, I'll be happy.
Are the ANTminers more dedicated to Bitcoin and a more limited pool of currencies? Also, do they retain value as well as general-purpose gaming cards? Seems like even a 1-2 year old high-end card that's not so good for mining anymore may be just dandy as a midrange gaming card.
They're ASIC (Application Specific IC) miners, effectively a box crammed with hundreds of custom-made ICs, designed with the sole purpose of mining a single algorithm, which generally limits them to mining just a few cryptocurrencies. Compared with GPU residual values and risks, they're at the opposite end of the scale; they're good for nothing but a paperweight when they can no longer mine. They're also rather loud, which limits their secondary use as a heater.
Having said that, my Antminer S9 is still going strong. It has paid for itself now (just) and continues to make about £250-300 per month.
Not willing to just let it go, I started researching more into this Antminer L3+.
Here's a 50 page thread about the unit:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1864920.msg18543129#msg18543129
On the second page there's a wise statement:
"One thing I've learned hard lessons in crypto is if it Seems to good to be true it usually is."
Bitmain does not seem to be a universally loved company.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1836179.0
Also, some think that they're exploiting a code flaw for unfair advantage and trying to corner the market by opposing SegWit
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/mining-manufacturer-blocking-segwit-benefit-asicboost/
Bitmain certainly do have their fair share of controversy. They've been accused of using open source code in their Antminers without playing by the open source code rules (ie modifying the code for their own uses without releasing the modified code), which seems to have made them a few enemies, particularly amongst the more hardcore believers of cryptocurrencies/open source. There's been conspiracy theories and accusations of unfair play (read about 'ASICboost'). I don't know if any of the accusations are true, but so far I've not seen any real evidence.
My own experience with them as a company has been excellent so far. My Antminer S9 was delivered on time (in fact it was a few weeks early) and it has worked flawlessly from day 1. And the one time I contacted support, they were very helpful and quick to respond.
Well, it's pretty scary to say the least. One typo in the Bitcoin address and some lucky SOB just got $2,500 that you'll never get back.
As I understand it, the chances of mistyping an address and picking another valid address are impossibly slim; probably billions of times more unlikely than typing a random Windows licence key and getting a valid one. Still, it is a little nerve-wrecking sending a large irreversible payment overseas, especially if you don't know whether you can trust the recipient. The experience for me has been pretty painless with Bitmain so far though; the payments have always been acknowledged quickly. Time will tell if everything else goes so smoothly with the L3+ miners ....
