How to assemble a rig of mining etherum 2018

How to assemble a rig of mining etherum 2018

How to assemble a rig of mining etherum 2017

A mining rig or rig is a computer system used to mine cryptocurrencies. Basically it is a dedicated computer that has been acquired, assembled and operated specifically to undermine a certain cryptocurrency. The same is composed of one or more graphics cards connected to a motherboard in order to increase its rate of processing or hash hashrate .

While more graphics cards are operating, the greater the hashrate of mining, this is because the mining of ethereum is an operation performed exclusively by the GPU of your video card. Since the mining process is an exclusive task of the graphics card, the rest of the components such as the processor or ram memory go into the background. The important thing here are the GPUs.

Read Also : How to assemble an ethereum mining rig 2017 (Part 2)

The total hashrate of our mining rig will depend on the hash power of the graphics card, as well as the number of GPUs that are operating. The current standard is configurations with six or eight video cards connected to the same motherboard. This also implies that we will need a power supply with sufficient power (usually 1000 Watts or more) to provide power to our mining rig.

Read Also : How to mine Bitcoin Gold in Windows (2018)

• One or more NVIDIA GTX 1000 Series / AMD RX or AMD VEGA GPUs with at least 4 GB of GDDR5 memory. Recommended graphics cards: GTX 1070 8GB , RX 570 4GB , RX 580 8GB and RX VEGA 56 8GB.
• An LGA 1150/1151 / AM4 motherboard with enough PCI-E slots to support the number of cards to be installed. Recommended motherboards : ASRock H81 PRO BTC R2.0 (LGA1150), Gigabyte H110-D3A (LGA1151)
• If you use more than one GPU, you will need PCI-E extender cables for each additional GPU.
• Power supply: You should check that your power source has enough connections to support the number of GPUs you are running and the total power enough to support the total power consumption of the system. (plus 20% extra power to avoid problems). For example, for a rig with 6 GTX 1070 GPUs a power source like the EVGA SuperNOVA 1200W P2 80+ PLATINUM is recommended.
• A dual core processor compatible with LGA 1150/1151 / AM4 sockets; Recommended processors: Intel Pentium G4600 (LGA 1151), Intel Pentium G3260 (LGA 1150), AMD Ryzen 3 1200 (AM4).
• At least 4GB of DDR3 or DDR4 RAM . Recommended memory : HyperX FURY 4GB DDR3 (for 1150 motherboards), Ballistix Sport LT 4GB DDR4 (for 1151 and AM4 motherboards).
• Operating system: Windows 10 Creators Update 64-bits or Windows 10 Anniversary Update 64-bits (these 2 versions of windows offer the highest rate of hash and are the most stable when mining ethereum)

IMPORTANT Before starting, make sure that your motherboard, processor and RAM are compatible. For example:

• For motherboards with the LGA 1151 socket we must use Intel Skylake 6th generation processors and DDR4 RAM.
• For the LGA 1150 motherboards we will have to use 4th generation Intel Haswell processors and DDR3 RAM memories.

We need a basic processor that allows us to run Windows 10, Ubuntu or EthOS, and is responsible for managing the rest of the devices in our rig. Here it is clear that the mining process is by GPU, which means that the workload will fall exclusively on the graphics cards. Therefore, when choosing a processor, a double core would suffice.

• Dual-Core, 3.3 GHz
• Cores: 2, subprocesses: 2
• 3M cache
• Lithography 22nm
• LGA1150
• TDP 53 watts

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• Dual-Core, 3.3 GHz
• Cores: 2, subprocesses: 2
• 3M cache
• Lithography 14nm
• LGA1151
• TDP 54 watts

• Dual-Core, 3.6 GHz
• Cores: 2, subprocesses: 4
• 3M cache
• Lithography 14nm
• LGA1151
• TDP 51 watts

• Quad-Core, 3.1 GHz / 3.4 GHz
• Cores: 4, subprocesses: 4
• 8M L3 Cache
• Lithography 14nm
• Socket AM4
• TDP 65 watts

The main feature we look for in a motherboard is the number of GPU slots it has, since this will determine how many graphics cards or GPUs can be attached, and therefore, its total hashing power. For example, 6 PCI Express slots mean they can fit 6 Radeon GTX 1060 cards with a hashrate of 20 MH / s each – or a combined total hashing power of 120 MH / s. Currently several manufacturers such as AsRock or Biostar have products specifically designed for the mining of cryptocurrencies (BTC Motherboard).

• Socket LGA 1150
• Chipset: Intel H81
• 4th Gen Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium / Celeron (LGA1150)
• 2 X DDR3 DDR3 1600/1333/1066
• 1 x PCI-Express x16 2.0
• 5 x PCI-Express x1 2.0

• Socket LGA 1151
• Chipset: Intel H110 Express
• 6th / 7th Gen Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium / Celeron (LGA1151)
• 2 x DDR4 DIMM 2400/2133
• 1 x PCI-Express x16 3.0
• 5 x PCI-Express x1 2.0

• Socket LGA 1151
• Chipset: Intel H110
• 6th / 7th Gen Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium / Celeron (LGA1151)
• 2 x DDR4 DIMM 2400/2133
• 1 x PCI-Express x16 3.0
• 12 x PCI-Express x1 2.0

• Socket AM4
• Chipset: AMD B350
• Ryzen 3/5/7
• 2 x DIMM DDR4-3200 (OC) / 2933 (OC) / 2667/2400
• 1 x PCI-Express x16 3.0
• 5 x PCI-Express x1

It’s time to choose the GPUs! There are several models of graphics cards recommended to mine Ethereum, but the most important thing to consider when choosing is the energy consumption / processing power / price ratio.

Hashrate: The ideal in this sense is to acquire a graphic card with a hashrate of between 20 to 30 TH / s. Currently GPUs that employ architectures such as Pascal (NVIDIA) and Polaris (AMD) are those that offer the highest mining hashrate.

Type of memory: your video card must have memory (VRAM) type GDDR5 to mine without problems.

Amount of graphic memory: the minimum essential for ethereum currently (July 2017) is 4 GB. However, due to the progressive increase in the size of the DAG file (which is loaded into the VRAM of your graphics card at the time of mining ethereum), it is advisable to choose a graphics card with 8 GB of memory.

We can quickly recommend the following graphics cards:

– Nvidia GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 Ti: are powered by Nvidia’s Pascal architecture, have low power consumption and offer a high hashrate in Ethereum, Zcash and other cryptocurrencies. (30MH / s and 35MH / s respectively)

– AMD Radeon RX 480 and RX 580: are based on the AMD Polaris architecture, have good performance and are easily optimized by updating the VBIOS (up to 30 MH / s)

– AMD Radeon RX 470 and RX 570: are economic solutions based on the Polaris architecture and have almost the same performance as the RX 580 and RX 570. By means of a modification to the VBIOS they can reach a hashrate of 28 MH / s.

-AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and Vega 64: based on AMD’s new VEGA architecture are high-performance cards that can achieve hashrates of up to 40 MH / s.

• GPU: Vega 10XL (GCN 5.0)
• Stream Processors: 3584
• GPU frequency: 1156 MHz / 1471 MHz
• Memory: 8 GB HBM2, 2048 bits
• TDP: 210 W
• GFLOPS: 10,544 GFLOPS
• Hashrate: 37 MH / s

• GPU: GP102 (Pascal)
• CUDA Cores: 3584
• GPU frequency: 1556 MHz / 1670 MHz
• Memory: 11 GB GDDR5X, 352 bits
• TDP: 250 W
• GFLOPS: 11,340 GFLOPS
• Hashrate: 32-35 MH / s

• GPU: GP104 (Pascal)
• CUDA Cores: 1920
• GPU frequency: 1594 MHz / 1784 MHz
• Memory: 8 GB GDDR5, 256 bits
• TDP: 150 W
• GFLOPS: 6,463 GFLOPS
• Hashrate: 27-30 MH / s

• GPU: Polaris 20 XTX (GCN 4.0)
• Stream Processors: 2304
• GPU frequency: 1411 MHz
• Memory: 8 GB GDDR5, 256 bits
• TDP: 185 W
• GFLOPS: 6,175 GFLOPS
• Hashrate: 27-29 MH / s

• GPU: Polaris 20 XL (GCN 4.0)
• Stream Processors: 2048
• GPU frequency: 1325 MHz
• Memory: 8 GB GDDR5, 256 bits
• TDP: 120 W
• GFLOPS: 5,095 GFLOPS
• Hashrate: 25-27 MH / s

This is a fundamental component in any PC. Considering that the graphics card will do most of the work, we opted for the basics. In this case 4 GB of DDR3 or DDR4 (depending on your motherboard) should be sufficient for our mining rig. If you plan to install more than 4 graphics cards it is advisable to have at least 8 GB of memory (or properly configure the virtual memory of the system).

For a motherboard with LGA 1150 socket , remember to use DDR3 1600 memories.

In the case of motherboards with socket LGA 1151 and AM4 you must choose memories of type DDR4 1866/2133/2400

• 4GB – DDR3 1600MHz CL10 DIMM
• Model: HX316C10F / 4
• Specifications: DDR3, 1600MHz, CL10, 1.5V, Unbuffered
• Timings: 1600MHz, 10-10-10, 1.5V

• 4GB – DDR4 2400MHz DIMM
• Model: BLS4G4D240FSE (Red)
• Specifications: DDR4, PC4-19200, 2400MHz, 1.2V, NON-ECC
• Timmings: 2400MHz, 16-16-16, 1.2V

• 8GB – DDR3 1600MHz CL10 DIMM
• Part number: HX316C10FB / 8
• Specifications: DDR3, 1600MHz, CL10, 1.5V, Unbuffered
• Timings: 1600MHz, 10-10-10, 1.5V

• 8GB – DDR4 2400MHz DIMM
• Model: BLS8G4D240FSB (Gray)
• Specifications: DDR4, PC4-19200, 2400MHz, 1.2V, NON-ECC
• Timmings: 2400MHz, 16-16-16, 1.2V

It is time to choose a suitable PSU for our mining Rig. This point is fundamental and basically what we are looking for is a power source with a high level of efficiency (80 Plus Gold). For example, if we want to assemble a mining rig with 6 GTX 1060 GPUs , we must bear in mind that each GPU has a maximum consumption of 120W (in normal conditions each will consume around 80W), if we multiply this figure by 6 and add the consumption of the other components (processor, motherboard, etc) will result in a consumption close to 800W. In this case, with a power source of 1000W 80 Plus Gold or Platinum we will have power to spare.

Here you can calculate the approximate consumption of your mining rig: https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

Once the maximum consumption has been calculated, we can choose the source that best suits our needs. For example:

For a rig with 6 GTX 1060 GPUs we recommend the EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 GQ 80+ GOLD , of 1000W.

For a rig with 6 AMD RX 570 GPUs we recommend the EVGA SuperNOVA 1200 P2 80 PLUS Platinum , of 1200W.

• 1000 Watts (1000W)
• 100% Fully Modular Power Supply
• 80 plus Platinum certification, 90% efficiency
• Fan size: 139mm

• 1000 Watts (1000W)
• Semi Modular Power Supply
• 80 PLUS Gold certified, 90% efficiency
• Fan Size: 135mm
• 5 Year Warranty

• 1200 Watts (1000W)
• 100% Fully Modular Power Supply
• 80 plus Platinum certification, 90% efficiency
• Fan size: 139mm

• 1200 Watts (1200W)
• Fully Modular
• 80 PLUS Platinum certified, 92% (115VAC) / 94% (220VAC ~ 240VAC) efficiency
• Fan Size: 140mm
• 10 Year Warranty

You need a storage unit to host the operating system and software for mining. The best option right now is to use a hard disk of solid type or SSD. An SSD is a solid state storage device as there are no moving or breaking parts, and it is also much faster than a traditional hard drive. If you are only going to mine Ethereum by being part of a pool or mining pool, then you will get a low capacity SSD.

• Capacity: 60GB
• Type: SSD (Solid State Drive)
• Interface: SATA3, 6 GB per second
• Format: 2.5-inch Internal Solid State Drive
• Speed: Reading 500MB / S Write 90MB / S

• Capacity: 120GB
• Type: SSD (Solid State Drive)
• Interface: SATA3, 6 GB per second
• Format: 2.5-inch Internal Solid State Drive
• Speed: Reading 535MB / S Writing 500MB / S

• Capacity: 120GB
• Type: SSD (Solid State Drive)
• Interface: SATA3, 6 GB per second
• Format: 2.5-inch Internal Solid State Drive
• Speed: Reading 550MB / S Writing 420MB / S

• Capacity: 120GB
• Type: SSD (Solid State Drive)
• Interface: SATA3, 6 GB per second
• Format: 2.5-inch Internal Solid State Drive
• Speed: Reading 500MB / S Writing 350MB / S

Finally we must choose a case for our mining rig. To mine with multiple GPUs connected to the motherboard, we are going to require a case of the open type ( open air case or mining rig case ) with enough space inside to house the different components that will integrate the rig. The choice of this component will depend on the number of GPUs to be used and your budget. If you have the necessary tools, you can even choose to manufacture it yourself. It is the best option and probably the most economical.

• Made of aluminum
• Space for 6 GPUs

• Made of aluminum
• Space for 8 GPUs

You will need extension cables with MOLEX / SATA power so that each PCI-Express port occupied by a GPU can work without problems (this does not replace the power cable of the graphic card, so keep this in mind when assembling the equipment).

• Version 006 (with molex 4-pin power connector)
• Solid capacitors of high quality
• 60 cm USB 3.0 riser cable
• MOLEX 4-Pin Power Cable to 15-pin SATA

• Version 006 / 006C (with molex 4-pin power connector)
• Solid capacitors of high quality
• 60 cm USB 3.0 riser cable
• 4-Pin MOLEX or PCIe to 15-pin SATA power cable

We already have all the essential components to assemble our mining rig. As is logical, we will also require a monitor, keyboard and mouse . If you plan to build the frame by yourself, you will also need the respective ignition and reset cables . Likewise, our mining equipment must be connected to the router using 1 ethernet cable or wifi adapter.

Optionally, we can add the following components:

– Economical LED monitor Acer 21.5 “, to configure and monitor our rig

– AmazonBasics keyboard and mouse

– Power button and reset

– Molex to PCIe converter cable , (8-Pin PCIe to 2x Molex)

– TP-Link N450 WiFi Router

– Adapter WiFi USB TP-Link AC600

– Thermal paste MX 4, will help you reduce the temperature of the processor

– Pack of fancoolers ARCTIC F12 PWM 120mm, for adequate ventilation.

With the components we have selected we can start the task of assembling our mining equipment, for this we will include as an example two configurations based on AMD and Nvidia with the best price performance ratio:

1 Gigabyte H110-D3A motherboard (6 PCIe – LGA1151) http://amzn.to/2iEL9Ou

1 Intel Pentium G4400 processor http://amzn.to/2i8pdYg

1 RAM Memory Ballistix Sport LT 4GB Single DDR4 2400 http: // amzn.to/2zKgvXe

1 SSD PNY CS1311 120GB SSD http://amzn.to/2gIXSeP

6 GPUs EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0 http://amzn.to/2i9qnT7

1 PSU EVGA SuperNOVA 1200W P2 80+ PLATINUM http: //amzn.to/2hf1O7B

6 PCI-E Risers with Molex power connector http://amzn.to/2zLnbEB

1 Gigabyte H110-D3A motherboard (6 PCIe – LGA1151) http://amzn.to/2iEL9Ou

1 Intel Pentium G4400 processor http://amzn.to/2i8pdYg

1 RAM Memory Ballistix Sport LT 4GB Single DDR4 2400 http: // amzn.to/2zKgvXe

1 SSD PNY CS1311 120GB SSD http://amzn.to/2gIXSeP

6 GPUs Sapphire Radeon NITRO + RX 580 8GB http://amzn.to/2zcDjTk

1 Power source EVGA SuperNOVA G2 80+ GOLD 1600W http: //amzn.to/2hgkLqC

6 PCI-E Risers with Molex power connector http://amzn.to/2zLnbEB

And here comes the first part of this mini tutorial. In the second part we will proceed to explain the assembly of our equipment from scratch, as well as some precautions that we will have to take into account during its construction.

Read Also : How to assemble an ethereum mining rig 2017 (Part 2)

• 1 Basic requirements
• 2 5. Power source or PSU

Original article and pictures take digitalbodha.com site

How Frugal People Buy Bitcoin Safely and Easily

How Frugal People Buy Bitcoin Safely and Easily

Many are asking if it’s too late to buy Bitcoin and if people can still make money with it. Back in May when Bitcoin was $2000 each, I thought that we had reached the top. Now Bitcoin is over $16,000 today and seems to keep rising in value.

Will it keep going up or will it fall and lose its value? That is the question of the year. Buying bitcoin is a bit like buying stocks. You don’t want to use your grocery money to buy it, but it’s kind of fun to watch it grow with money that would have probably just been sitting in the bank.

Here is how Bitcoin has progressed in just the last few months.

How To Buy Bitcoin or Other CrytpoCurrenies

The average person can buy Bitcoin or other Cryptocurrencies through a service called CoinBase. It is a simple and safe way to buy cryptocurrency from home. Some larger cities have ATM machines where you can buy cryptocurrencies, but most people don’t have that luxury.

You can buy a fraction of a cryptocurrency. So don’t think you need a lot of money to invest and still make money on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like LiteCoin.

If you don’t know where to buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, just follow the directions below. It’s simple and easy and if you use this link, you will get an extra $10 worth of Bitcoin put into your account once you purchase.

Here’s Where to Buy Bitcoin or Other Cryptocurrencies Instantly:

1. Decide how much you can afford to lose. That’s right. It is a risk. But it can also make you a huge profit.
2. Get a free account with CoinBase. If you use this link, you get an extra $10 given to you by CoinBase!
3. Follow the steps and buy your coin. You will learn how to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, or LiteCoin with a debit card (LiteCoin is the ONE to buy right now!). I prefer to use a debit card to purchase because it’s much faster. You can use a credit card but it will take a bit more time to get into your wallet.
4. You will start at the dashboard once your account is created.

Enter the amount you want to purchase and click the blue “Buy Bitcoin/Ethereum/LiteCoin Instantly” button. You can also set up weekly, monthly, daily or bi-weekly repeat buys by clicking the “repeat this buy” box.

Once you enter the amount you want to buy, it will show you the amount of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or LiteCoin you will be receiving. The fee and total categories will populate.

Once you go through the payment process, you can view your account and portfolio. Be patient, though. It can take a while for the coin to show in your account.

This screen will show you how much of your CoinBase wallet is invested in the products they sell.

You can leave your Bitcoin, Ethereum, or LiteCoin in your CoinBase wallet and buy and sell from here. Or you can move it to a Block Chain wallet if you choose. I feel that both are very secure though.

The maximum amount you can buy through CoinBase from your bank account is $10,000. The maximum amount you can buy with your credit card is $750. You can sell up to $10,000 back to CoinBase if you choose. Your initial limit will be $750, but then you might get an upgrade like I did after a few weeks.

Coinbase has an integrated trading desk and exchange called GDAX that you can use to actively trade between multiple cryptocurrencies and back into regular currency.

Should You Buy Bitcoin?

Imagine if you had invested $100 in 2010. You would have been a millionaire by now!

So is it too late to get into bitcoin?

I don’t believe it’s too late. And the great thing is that CoinBase makes it easy for the average person to get in the game.

You may be wondering why a natural mom like me is writing about cryptocurrency. Well, I’m also a frugal mom who likes to see her money grow. So you can follow me or not, but know that I WILL be investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and others.

I know people who are making a lot of money with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. There is still the opportunity available to make money, so I encourage you to dive in and learn all you can.

Contact me if you have any questions. Also, if you purchase Bitcoin through the links on this site, you and I BOTH get $10 worth of Bitcoin added to our accounts at CoinBase once you purchase!

How to Make Money with Cryptocurrencies

Once you have one of these currencies, you can just watch the market at www.coinmarketcap.com. When the price goes up enough for you, you can cash in what you have in your wallet. You will probably want to wait at least a few months, but know that many people are making tons of money buying low and selling high. LiteCoin is the one you need to watch. It is set to increase quickly. My recommendation is to invest in LiteCoin and watch it grow.

Original article and pictures take heidinaturally.com site

How Cryptocurrencies Could Transform Video Games -- Or Not

How Cryptocurrencies Could Transform Video Games -- Or Not

A number of cryptocurrency companies want to transform the gaming space with new coins, but there are bound to be roadblocks.

Original article and pictures take www.scoop.it site

Helpful Ideas For Bettering Your Forex Trading

Helpful Ideas For Bettering Your Forex Trading

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Central bank activity will continue next week with policy meetings of the Bank of Japan and Sweden’s Riksbank. It will be a relatively quieter one though for economic indicators, except in the United States, which will see several big data releases, including personal consumption expenditure figures, housing numbers and durable goods. But happenings in Capitol […]

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The pound climbed by almost 1% on Tuesday during the European trading hours, hitting a one-year high against the greenback and extending gains versus the euro after the widely expected UK inflation figures for the month of August came in stronger than expected. With consumer prices rising to a four-year high reached first on May, BOE policymakers will […]

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Industrial output and retail sales data will dominate the economic calendar week, and inflation and employment will also be in focus. However, the week looks set to be a less dramatic one from the past seven days with policy meetings by the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank unlikely to bring much surprises. […]

Original article and pictures take myhobbymypassion.org site

HC7 Planetary Ransomware May Be the First to Accept Ethereum

HC7 Planetary Ransomware May Be the First to Accept Ethereum

A new variant of the HC7 Ransomware is in the wild that encrypts a victim’s files and appends the .PLANETARY extension to the filename. What makes this particular ransomware variant unique is that it may be the first one that accepts Ethereum as a ransom payment.

HC7 Planetary Ransomware Ransom Note

Almost all ransomware utilize Bitcoin for the ransom payment, with a few requesting Monero. Now that Ethereum is currently selling for over $1,200 per coin and rising in price and popularity, it’s not surprising that we see criminals accepting it as a payment.

While a cryptocurrency like Monero, or even Verge, makes more sense due to their greater privacy and being less traceable, Ethereum’s smart contract feature could make ransomware payment processing more efficient. Using Ethereum’s smart contracts, a criminal could make a “honest ransomware“, where a victim guarantees payment if the developer actually decrypts the victim’s files.

While no ransomware currently uses Ethereum smart contracts for payments and most likely will not due to its complexity, that is really the only good reason to use Ethereum over other cryptocurrencies. In the future, I would expect developers to move away from Bitcoin and start moving more towards Monero and XVG due to them being “privacy” related coins.

What we know about the HC7 Planetary Ransomware

As for the HC7 Planetary variant, we do not know much more than it is currently being distributed via the developer hacking into networks using remote desktop. Once they gain access to the network they will manually install the ransomware on all machines they can gain access to.

Example of what a Planetary Encrypted Folder Looks Like

As the ransomware is manually installed and typically cleaned up by the developer afterwards, finding a sample is not easy. Bleeping Computer only learned about this variant because a victim reached out to us for help.

When infected, the developers allow a victim to decrypt a single machine for a set price or the entire network for another price. As you can see from the ransom note below, the current ransom amount is $700 per machine or $5,000 for all of the machines on the network.

In the past, a method to decrypt HC7 encrypted files was discovered by performing memory forensics on a victim’s computer in order to retrieve the password used on the command line when the ransomware was installed. The change of success using this method, though, diminishes the longer the computer is in use and no longer works at all if the computer has been rebooted.

IOCs

HC7 “Planetary” Ransom Note:

ALL FILES ARE ENCRYPTED.  TO RESTORE, YOU MUST SEND $700 EQUIVALENT FOR ONE COMPUTER OR $5,000 FOR ALL NETWORK PAYMENTS ACCEPTED VIA BITCOIN, MONERO AND ETHEREUM BTC ADDRESS: [bitcoin_address] MONERO (XMR) ADDRESS: [monero_address] CONTACT US WHEN ETHEREUM PAYMENT INFORMATION BEFORE PAYMENT SENT EMAIL m4rk0v@tutanota.de ALONG WITH YOUR IDENTITY: [base64_encoded_computer_name] INCLUDE SAMPLE ENCRYPTED FILE FOR PROOF OF DECRYPT
NOT TO SHUT OFF YOUR COMPUTER, UNLESS IT WILL BREAK 

Associated Emails:

m4rk0v@tutanota.de

Source link

Original article and pictures take ratehash.com site

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Goldman Sachs Predicts Profitable 2018 for Nvidia, Which Bodes Well for Ethereum Miners

Goldman Sachs Predicts Profitable 2018 for Nvidia, Which Bodes Well for Ethereum Miners

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Goldman Sachs predicts that chipmaker Nvidia is headed for another banner year, a forecast that is bullish not only for shareholders but also ethereum miners.

Goldman Sachs Predicts Profitable 2018 for Nvidia

After last year’s 109 percent increase, one might assume that Nvidia’s share price is primed for a correction.

Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari, however, predicts that 2018 will be a banner year for Nvidia, citing growth potential in the gaming and VR/AR sectors.

“Nvidia is one of the few stocks in our coverage universe exposed to multiple secular growth markets … With the emergence of eSports and the potential proliferation of VR/AR, we view Gaming as a meaningful and sustainable growth driver for the overall company,” the analyst wrote in a note to clients Friday, according to CNBC. “In terms of single stock, our top picks in Semis and Semi Cap are Nvidia and Entegris.”

Though not mentioned, this bullish forecast also assumes a solid outlook for cryptocurrency miners because the industry served as a driving force for share prices of both Nvidia and AMD, its archrival and fellow GPU manufacturer.

The two companies have become so closely associated with mining that analysts have even characterized them as proxies for cryptocurrency market movements because as prices increase and mining becomes more profitable, demand for GPUs rises as well.

Both companies have leaned into the burgeoning cryptocurrency mining sector, releasing drivers and even graphics cards designed specifically for mining-specific applications, all the while incurring the ire of their traditional gaming-focused clientele.

Nvidia Exempts Miners from Data Center Restrictions

More recently, Nvidia has even structured the license agreement for its consumer-focused GeForce and Titan graphics cards to exclude cryptocurrency mining from restrictions on using these cards in data centers, according to a report from The Register.

“No Datacenter Deployment. The SOFTWARE is not licensed for datacenter deployment, except that blockchain processing in a datacenter is permitted,” the licensing agreement reads.

This exemption allows large-scale miners to purchase high-end GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics cards, which retail for $699 rather than being required to fork over as much as $9,000 for enterprise-level Tesla V100 chips.

Featured image from Wikimedia.

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Original article and pictures take 248qms3nhmvl15d4ne1i4pxl-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com site

Generate Bitcoin 0.02 – 0.5 BTC (Update 2018)

Generate Bitcoin 0.02 – 0.5 BTC (Update 2018)

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Funny Ethereum hodl t-shirt hodler gift miner crypto tshirt bitcoin trader litecoin hodl shirt Ethereum billionaire investor cryptocurrency

Funny Ethereum hodl t-shirt hodler gift miner crypto tshirt bitcoin trader litecoin hodl shirt Ethereum billionaire investor cryptocurrency

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Original article and pictures take www.etsy.com site

Forget Bitcoin, Think Ethereum

Forget Bitcoin, Think Ethereum

Summary

Bitcoin's volatility seems to be histrionic in nature.

Cryptocurrencies do not match historic bubbles.

Ethereum is the better, faster, and more versatile bitcoin.

Let's talk about two cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and Ethereum and why Ethereum might be better.

What or Who Determines the Price?

Now, though some will tell you they know exactly where it will go and exactly why, I can almost guarantee you that they are either lying to you or they are lying to themselves. If you ask any economist to take a look at Bitcoin, they will tell you the same thing. The ONLY thing that is currently determining the price of bitcoin is supply and demand. All other factors are entirely endogenous factors which can be captured by the effect of supply and demand.

Now this isn't a bad or good thing. It is simply the state of affairs. Some would argue that the same stands for all assets: stocks, bonds, or whatever. And they aren't entirely wrong. With any of those asset classes, there is some tangible value behind them. Whether it be the physical assets the company holds or the cash flows a company generates. So using the assumptions of the efficient-market hypothesis, we can say that if markets behave rationally even some of the time, then the pure effect of supply-demand and individual daily sentiment should not be able to move any individual security down to zero without a rational cause.

But the environment which listed public securities operate in is different from that of cryptocurrencies. Public markets have a lot of oversight, regulatory structure (Rajgopal and Venkatachalam 1997), as well as institutional investors which act as values and levies to relieve some of that downward pressure on financial markets. Unfortunately for bitcoin, it does not have any of this, at least not yet.

With the recent rise of Bitcoin, institutional investors are beginning to take notice. Hedge funds have now entered the market for the prized asset, while new hedge funds have begun to complete financing rounds for cryptocurrency-specific funds. All this is to say that institutional investors will add to the demand side initially.

Now, I have mentioned the supply and demand quite often so far. So a quick flashback to econ 101; above you can see a standard supply and demand curve. Now, let us for one second assume perfect price elasticity of demand and look at the charts in the context of bitcoin. As demand for bitcoin increases, and as the hype surrounding bitcoin grows with its price, we can see that a seemingly endless positive feedback loop forms. In other words, people demand more bitcoin as the price increases, which in turn leads to an increase in the price which leads people to demand more and so on and so on.

In addition to this, the cryptocurrency is viewed by most as an asset rather than a currency. The result of this is a tendency to hold the asset rather than use it on a transaction basis. This means that as people demand more, the people who hold bitcoin are less willing to sell at the current price due to the probability of future appreciation. All this can be described in the graph below. The chart represents the quantity of bitcoin willing to be bought or sold in a marketplace. Do not mistake this with the total number of bitcoins outstanding. As you can see from the chart, this iterative process drives the price rapidly higher.

News and Volatility

People point to positive news about various companies accepting bitcoin as the validity of the coin price. Which is correct and wrong at the same time: yes, it does have validity to it as a currency, but it makes no inference to its price. The price solely increases because to investors the risk has gone down. Strangely, however, the implied volatility of bitcoin is so high that any of these reductions to risk will send the price skyrocketing. Now there are some reasons for this; primarily it seems that the high volatility has become part of the identity of bitcoin. Mathematically a simple version of this suggests:

Note: The equation above is a working histrionic model, which I am developing and is highly subject to change. I am including it for illustration purposes, not for practical asset pricing.

I know it may seem overly complicated, but what it is suggesting colloquially is pretty straightforward. It is saying that currently it appears that the expected volatility of a bitcoin is codependent on the current implied volatility as well as some weighted factor of its past volatility during a period of characteristically high volatility given this past period volatility. Now given that Bitcoin's price only fluctuates based on supply and demand, this means that the histrionic model above, or a variation of it, is caused by people's expectations for it to occur.

Is it a Bubble?

I realize 100% that this question just triggered almost all of you. This is a phrase that has been repeated over and over again by naysayers. The opinion is that this is just a baseless slogan that means absolutely nothing and is only said by people who do not understand what cryptocurrencies are. Now no one can tell you for certain that it is or is not a bubble. But let us look at some historical examples and then see if there are similarities and differences.

Perhaps Bitcoin is the poster child for disruptive technologies. It definitely has the potential to entirely revolutionize our entire society. When Henry Ford introduced his Ford Model T, there were those that thought it was the most ludicrous idea ever. Yet, today, our entire infrastructure globally is built around his invention.

(Source: Google)

The chart above does look scary. A large number of people seem to have gained interest in whether bitcoin is a bubble or not. So let's take a look at the two best historical examples of bubbles and see what we can learn and how to navigate forward. And if currently popular cryptocurrencies resemble anything like either of those bubbles that burst so violently.

In the early 1600s in the Netherlands, a series of events occurred which are now referred to as Tulip Mania, where the price of tulips were viewed as highly coveted. Prices of tulips erupted and skyrocketed higher. Now there are highly contesting reports around the exact prices of its enormous ascent due to the lack of existing data, so I won't include a chart here. But they are accounted, though unverified, that a single tulip bulb sold for 10 times the annual income of a craftsman. One classic popular account claims a single bulb was used to purchase 12 acres of land (Mackay in Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds).

Now here is why this comparison at first seems good, but if you look at the actual existing facts, it really isn't. First of all, I do not need to point out that the era of Tulip Mania was over 350 years ago. Secondly, the circumstance of the tulip bubble is highly contested. Thompson 2006 postulated an interesting rationale for the Tulip Mania. Tulips are a seasonal flower, and as such, they traded essentially as futures contracts (contracts between growers and buyers at the time). The issue arose when the regulation was placed which allowed to pay a penalty fee of 3.5% to void the end of the contract. This entirely disrupted the payoff matrix for the future, basically allowing the buyer the right to buy at a higher price but no obligation at a lower price (now this is known as an option). The introduction of this option pricing structure to futures incentivized the holding of contracts which then is suggested to have led to the monstrous rise in price.

The second example is the Mississippi Bubble of 1718. Now this economic bubble is well documented, and there are some fantastic books written about it if you are interested. But I will give you a quick summary. In May 1716, John Law started a private bank with the majority of its capital being linked to government notes. Soon after he created a joint-stock company called Compagnie d'Occident (the Mississippi Company), the company had a monopoly over trade with the West Indies and the North American colonies. That soon after in 1718 became the Royal Bank, meaning that it was guaranteed by the king, and then absorbed all its competition for trade of China and the East Indies. The result was an agreement which stated that the national debt would be paid off by revenues from the Mississippi Company. Law exaggerated the wealth of the Mississippi Valley, namely its rich mineral deposits. The result was a mania for the joint-stock company. The company stocks and its violent appreciation demanded the issuance of more paper bank notes. By 1720, the craze had spiraled almost out of control and the French government admitted the paper notes exceeded the total value of its coinage which ultimately burst the bubble.

(Source: Francois Velde)

So what's the point? How does any of this relate to the price of Bitcoin? The answer is these two bubbles had definable and short-lived catalysts that broke some of the standard practices of finance that have evolved over the centuries. In the case of Bitcoin specifically, we haven't seen that catalyst. Perhaps the reversal of CBOE futures on the cryptocurrency will save it from the possibility of a catastrophic collapse.

Now, why did I say if these historical bubbles look like cryptocurrencies and not just Bitcoin? Well, the answer is simple: there exist other cryptocurrencies which follow similar trends as Bitcoin (obviously). After the reversal of Bitcoin futures, the price took a dive and has rocked around $14-15K, down from its $19K highs. Now whether it can muster the strength to recover remains to be seen. However, I believe there is a much more attractive opportunity which remains for investors: Ethereum.

At a glance, the two look like very similar stories. Some random virtual currency with violent growth. Yet, a closer look reveals how different Bitcoin and Ethereum are. First and foremost, they are almost entirely different: in design and purpose. Though they both use blockchain technology, Bitcoin was designed specifically as a digital currency. Yet, transaction confirmations take up to several minutes with Bitcoin, making it entirely unviable for long-term widespread use (this was one of the reasons for the Bitcoin Cash fork). For Ethereum, transaction confirmation takes several seconds.

While coded differently, Ethereum's main advantages come with its SmartContract and Distributed Applications uses. Basically, in a nutshell, Ethereum allows for various specialized peer-to-peer programs and specializations to be built into each token without any downtime. Such versatility and security will surely give it a sharp advantage in the long-term over Bitcoin.

So what exactly is a "SmartContract"? Well, it is a protocol which allows for two parties to negotiate and verify an agreement virtually without a third party. Without the third party, transaction costs are significantly reduced while security is increased. The reason for this is that the terms of the deal can be virtually embedded and verified by the blockchain itself before any funds are transferred.

To add some icing on the cake, Ethereum also is backed by a rather large non-profit which oversees the platform's advancement and development, a centralized development hub for a decentralized platform. For those investors who are still eyeing cryptocurrencies, I recommend betting on the best horse for the long-run race ahead. My bets are placed on Ethereum. Stay tuned. Happy hunting.

Disclosure: I am/we are long ETHEREUM.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Original article and pictures take static2.seekingalpha.com site

Finance ‘Guru’ James Altucher Is Launching a Cryptocurrency Exchange

Finance ‘Guru’ James Altucher Is Launching a Cryptocurrency Exchange

Lately across the web, mainstream media has been highlighting an individual named James Altucher an American author, hedge fund manager, podcaster, and financial jack-of-all-trades. These days Altucher has been riding the trend of the bitcoin phenomenon, and some people call him a “cryptocurrency guru.” This week, public records show Altucher and his colleagues plan to raise $10Mn USD to launch a digital assets trading platform.

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The Man Mainstream Media Calls the ‘Guru of Finance’ Plans to Launch a Digital Currency Exchange

It’s hard not to notice James Altucher as his picture with his eccentric hair, and his commentary on finance, is all over the web. These days Altucher’s words are tethered to the subject of cryptocurrencies. Altucher has been around the financial circuit for quite some time as a well-known author, entrepreneur, and he’s sometimes called a “guru.” This week it was revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that Altucher is backing a company called Bitzumi, Inc., which plans to launch a bitcoin exchange.

“Bitzumi is a vertically-integrated Bitcoin exchange and marketplace. Our mission is to drive growth to the cryptocurrency industry — We plan to launch our business divisions with a phased approach,” explains the firm’s SEC filing on January 4.

Initially, our primary focus will be to develop a publishing and marketing company to educate potential Bitzumi exchange/wallet consumers, and to gain name recognition — Ultimately, we intend for our primary product to be our cryptocurrency exchange and digital storage — We also plan to develop various educational and information products and newsletters focusing on the cryptocurrency industry.

James Altucher has been promoted as ‘cryptocurrency guru’ by the mainstream media.

Bitzumi Exchange Plans to Raise $10 Million and Publish a Newsletter Backed by James Altucher

The co-founder, Altucher, and his company hope to raise $10 million USD, with a minimum of $1Mn for Bitzumi’s initial phases. The first phase will be a newsletter procured by Altucher, and the firm started period already on October 9, 2017, when Bitzumi Publishing partnered with Altucher’s Agora Financial, LLC. Phase two will be the exchange and wallet system, two services that Bitzumi says will compete with the likes of large exchanges like Bitstamp. Initially, Bitzumi will offer bitcoin, litecoin, ripple, and ethereum trades.

Bitzumi’s application details that the business will also offer cryptocurrency payment processing and escrow features. Additionally, the exchange will be fully regulated working with U.S. officials from Fincen, SEC, CFTC, and the IRS. The business venture looks like it will be relying heavily on Altucher’s backing and his newsletter, but Bitzumi will be led by the chief executive officer, Scot Cohen, an executive involved with oil and gas entities. Becoming a business involved with popular digital currencies, Bitzumi aims to be positioned as an “emerging growth company” the filing emphasizes.

What do you think about James Altucher and his plans to start a cryptocurrency exchange? Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.

Images via Recode, Youtube, and the Bitzumi SEC filing.

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