Hey everyone, I'm a bit late to this party which probably already poses a problem but I have a few questions (broad, and specific).
1. I currently have a 2600K (overclocked to 4.4Ghz), 2 GTX 580s in SLI, 8Gb ram, and a seasonic 850 gold power supply, with some SSDs. I was going to try to sell this rig in its entirety for a song but then I realised that I think I could just dump the 580s on ebay, and buy two video cards good for ethereum mining, and avoid the cost of building a new rig. Would I be crazy to do this? I was thinking of dumping the cards, maybe upgrading to 16Gb ram (ddr 3), and getting two polaris cards if AMD still commands this massive lead on currency mining.
The best way to assess if it's worth it or not is to calculate the rate of return per day. You'll need the cost of electricity, assume Ether will remain at least at that day's price level for the foreseeable future and calculate your productivity rate if you were to buy 1, 2, or 3 Polaris cards. This will give you an opportunity to compare Polaris 10 vs. GP104 vs. discounted R9 390 cards around mid-June.
For instance, let's say 3x390s mine about 1 ether per day. 1 ether is worth $8.23 USD right. You can convert it to EUR so it's easier for you to subtract the cost of electricity. Let's say a rig with 3x Polaris 10 cards has the same productivity as 3x390s will use 450W of power (120W x 3 Polaris + 90W for downclocked and undervolted 2600K rig when mining).
Assume 3 Polaris 10s make ~ 1 Ether = $8.23 USD / (EUR to USD rate: 1.13 + add prob 2.5-3% for bank fee) - (0.45 kW x EURO per kWh x 24 hours) = profit.
Let's say 0.22 Euro per kWh
http://www.energyprice.be/
i.e.,
$8.23 / (1.16 Eur to USD FX) - (0.45 kW x 0.22 Eur per kWh x 24 hours) = 4.72 Euro
Let's say Polaris 10 x 3 costs 750 Euro less 150 Euro to resell 580s = 600 Euro
Days to break even/pay off 3 Polaris 10 cards:
600 Euro / 4.72 Euro profit per day = 127 days***
*** This assumes difficulty won't double over that period, halving the reward per day.
I think there is a
strong chance it will be worth it. If we assume that Big Pascal/Vega 10 won't launch until January 31, 2017, there would be
215 days between
June 30, 2016-January 31, 2017.
That means it's probably enough to pay off for 3x Polaris 10 cards, even if difficulty doubles at some point since you'd have 88+ extra days before Big Pascal/Vega 10. Then, you may rebuild your rig around Skylake-E and those large GPUs and just sell off Polaris 10s.
If you buy Polaris 10 cards June 15th instead of June 30th, it's extra 14-15 days too, etc.
2. On taxation/sanctions - we are all from different places here, but - if I mine currency, I believe I will have to pay tax as soon as I sell the currency - it'll be considered under capital gains tax where I live. But regulation of virtual currency seems rather minimal - is this something you guys are concerned about? There have been criminal prosecutions in the USA e.g., of that teenager who posted the Bitcoin/ISIS guide. If I do not know who I am selling to, or buying from, am I at risk of circumventing UN Resolutions? Any news on virtual currency regulation?
Not necessarily.
https://www.cryptocompare.com/wallets/#/cards
You should be able to find a card that allows you to transfer the funds directly to it to use it as a plastic or virtual debit/payment card.
For example, I chose the first one for EUR:
AdvCash EUR
http://advcash.com/en/solutions/card/
How are they going to prove that 600 EUR on your "credit card" is taxable income? That's a lot of tax payer dollars that are better diverted towards tax evasion on Panama Papers.