Economics: With All Things Factored In, Is Mining Better than Buying?

in #cryptocurrency7 years ago

Let me set the stage. I was lucky enough to have bought in on the major XRP pump at .03 and rode it all the way to $.33. During that rise, I made a nice 10x profit and have been buying coins ever since. I'm a HODLer by nature, and have been buying coins that I'm genuinely interested in but recently, I set up a 5 GPU Ethereum mining rig and really enjoyed the process. I love messing around with hardware like that.

Setting up this miner has got me thinking of going all in on mining, but I'm hearing a TON of divergent opinions on the topic. Thinks like PoS, DAG size, etc.

Here are my current questions:

  1. What are the economic upsides and downsides to mining vs. HODLing?

  2. Any speculation on when Ethereum will fully implement PoS?

  3. If a 6 month forecast is taken into consideration, will these answers change? Will mining ever be more efficient than HODLing?

  4. If PoS was implemented, is there another coin that will be almost as profitable in the forseeable future?

  5. Will mining specific GPUs change the mining landscape in a positive or negative way? How will that affect the economics of mining?

Thanks Steemit community for taking time to answer my questions! Hopefully this sparks a lively discussion and my goal would be to make a decision soon. I'm pretty sure I know which way I'm leaning, but maybe your discussion and ideas will put me over the edge.

Cheers!
@mattboyd