The Australian Bitcoin investment group digitalBTC is gearing up to release a cloud mining trading platform called DigitalX Mintsy, it will be supported by the Cryptsy platform.
The system sounds a bit like CEX.IO’s cloud mining platform, only users can rent out their own equipment if they have it. Buyers can then purchase that hashrate on the open market in coins called hashflexes (SHA256) liteflexes (Scrypt) xflexes (x11-x15). Currently, the only contracts open for purchase are DigitalX Mintsy’s own contracts. It isn’t clear exactly how they will ensure people selling hashing power on their network will be connected 24/7 and what they will do about inevitable down times. Presumably, they have a solution in mind. If hardware goes down on their own contracts, the time of the contract will be extended but that doesn’t seem like it would work in a semi-anonymous marketplace. A few rigs are up for lease and it appears that interested buyers can read ratings as well as see the hardware’s previous performance and reviews from previous buyers. We have contacted Mintsy to ask if there are any other failsafes and will update this space as necessary.
However they solve that, what is interesting here is that the service allows users to buy hash/lite/xflexes will then be able to point that at a multitude of different pools or coins. Currently, it looks like SHA256, Scrypt and X11 will be supported, but judging by some of the options on the site, they are keeping their options open for adding many more.
Mined funds can be deposited directly into a user’s Cryptsy account and the relationship with Cryptsy seems to be a close one. DigitalBTC invested US $250,000 into Cryptsy and according to DigitalBTC’s investors materials, Cryptsy users will be encouraged to use the platform.
Currently, the service offers Scrypt 10MH/s and SHA256 100GH/s mining contracts at 3 month and 6 month intervals for US $59.99 and $99.99 respectively. There are no maintenance fees, so calculating a ROI is fairly straight forward.
With those prices and no maintenance fees, users should be able to pull a small profit on Bitcoin and Litecoin assuming today’s prices. For investors the questions are how much they believe in cloud mining companies and how bullish they are on the price of the various cryptocurrencies. [Note: Just before publishing, Mintsy added week long contracts at the price of US $10 for SHA256 and US $15 for Scrypt.]
Cryptsy integration is an interesting prospect, it isn’t hard to imagine a future where the purchased mining power could be pointed at nearly every coin on the market. There is no confirmation at all that is in their plans, but if what I am hearing about their technology is correct, that is possible.
Mining in general has been going through some tough times. The consistently low price caused all sorts of problems for bitcoin mining companies. While the price has rebounded this past week, it still sits on the edge of profitability for even professional mining operations.
DigitalBTC admits in its investor material that the price of bitcoin has caused issues for their mining operations, and this may be part of their quest to find more secure sources of revenue that is less dependent on the volatile price of bitcoin. Investors may feel like they are dropping their older hardware on to them, but if you are bullish on the price of these currencies, then a guaranteed hashrate with no maintenance fee is an attractive option. DigitalBTC is currently publicly traded on the ASX, the public Australian Stock Exchange.
We will be keeping an eye on Mintsy as it develops.