Topic: BlockBurner LLC - Crucible FPGA Scrypt Miner - Announcement Aug-19 (Read 42424 times)

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=368468.new#new There you go.

but since you did... how's your litecoin miner coming along jasinlee?

This project was shut down by Operatr, no need to necro this thread.

I don't believe these need to be faster or cheaper than GPU's
Simply need to use less electricity.

Even if they are more expensive they'd have the advantage of chaining many together without needing to build new pc's to house them in.

Of course they'd still need to be in the same ballpark price, if they're grossly expensive nobody would go for it.
It seems a difficult feat to make an inexpensive Scrypt miner

The problem there is the assumption that markets are both rational and not self fulfilling .

But they not rational and very self fulfilling .

Thus I believe the ASIC market has just begun , and SCrypt or a derivative will be its master.

Thus the market will balance , as honesty is repaid and  the equation balanced.

Thanks! It's one of those things that we just wouldn't know until it was tried, but the journey continues 

Nothing is wrong with zipties and milk crates, aside looking like a fire waiting for a place to happen


I think given current market valuation it will be some time before there are Scrypt ASICs, but who knows. It is possible that Scrypt coins could go a different path than Bitcoin did entirely, as Litecoin would not get the benefits of ASIC the same way Bitcoin has. If FPGAs are unable to give ROI, it is anyone's guess where it goes from here as Litecoin and Bitcoin become fully divergent into their own established mining networks.


Much appreciated!

 I leave any releases of the code up to Zalfrin as I did not develop it, last I knew he was working on the blockmix.

Hopefully your implementation can be improved upon, though ultimately this is why the viability of FPGA for the future of Scrypt mining is being called into question, either way good work 



I am pretty sure our implementation was farther along than yours. Why you insist on crapping up this thread with your negatons is beyond me.

 I did everything I said I would, have taken no funding from anyone, have not lied or misled anyone, and at least tried to get something together that improves the Scrypt network. I fail to see what your issue with us has been exactly beyond trying to get attention for yourself.

__

Moving onward I have begun the hunt for funding the construction of a proper farm and supporting infrastructure. So far BlockBurner does have a few local investors that I believe can be expanded without too much effort.

I've been working up a proper action plan and crushing ROI figures, hopefully this in combination with showing the business is generating income between a growing asset fund and re-built GPU miner (parts are inbound to build a more optimal setup) will grease the wheels to more investors and funding sources. Starting off the primary directive will be based in Scrypt mining and moving into SHA in time.

I will do what I can with what I have to start this from the ground up, which unfortunately isn't much in reality. Though I think many my age know this struggle well in having way more ambition than working capital to see those aspirations come to life as victims of central banks and criminal run governments. Though BlockBurner has failed in its first effort I am not deterred in being a part of this new industry, as I have never felt more at home in it. This is not just a business to me, in a way it is really my protest against a banking system that has destroyed the lives of many, including my own. I don't care if I ever make a dime as long as I can say I helped bury a system of rampant corruption and exploitation using our digital steam shovels. Plus, bitcoin is simply too damn cool to not be a part of

I'm also taking local action with MBEX to be the Bitcoin social hub of my area. I am looking forward to conducting our first ever meeting to introduce my town to Bitcoin and begin running information campaigns in the very near future. The best place to start the revolution is in your backyard  The first initiative that makes sense is the establishment of the first Bitcoin ATM.

Though I won't ask for it, if anyone has been following BlockBurner and would be interested in being an investor to this new direction, please PM me. 

Unto the breach

Operatr

I just reread that entire thread and I find your assessment to be unsubstantiated.  The OP in that thread freely admits to a mistake in his thinking and at the end he offers to return any funds.  You seem awfully judgmental in your assessment of others.  In the case of Nova! I think your indictment is unfounded.


edit:
And now you co-accuser (mtrlt) has been called a scammer himself:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/what-happened-to-mtrlt-did-he-just-scam-us-of-75-btc-279096

We do not know where they are in development, no need to rag on the man.

Actually, I suspect your implementation is probably further along than BlockBurner's implementation was.

Thanks for the update Operatr, and best wishes for your future endeavors.

I was not much impressed by Alpha-Tech's report, though I do agree with its overall findings. FPGA scrypt is not going to be significantly more cost-effective than the current GPU miners, though good luck to jasinlee over at the litecoin formum in his efforts.

If anyone is interested in open source code for litecoin scrypt using internal block ram (ie the existing LX150 bitcoin mining boards) I have some prototype code at https://github.com/kramble/FPGA-Litecoin-Miner ... its only giving around 5kHash/sec, which is pretty pathetic, but I hope to be able to push it up to 10-20kHash/sec with a lot more work. Not much, but perhaps an alternative to scrapping your rigs once they are only mining bitcoin dust.

Its perhaps a little cheeky to ask you at this stage, Operatr, but do you have any plans to open source the work you have done so far?

Probably a smart move considering now as stated before that there are lots of ASIC companies in the field.


why does this matter:

1. BTC was a first of a first, it set the stage for ASIC in the market.

2. ASIC companies have sprung up .

3. ASIC (real companies) (not just scammers)

4. They will want to produce ASICs for profit as they have the specs and the tools set up now.

5. sCrypt ASIC will give a power/energy saving and thus the equation will be shifted to ship rather than mine.

6. companies like BFL will have killed their market in the future for Scrypt , so while they may have made a mint on BTC (with BTC) that could disappear if BTC goes under , and they now have a reputation of ripping people off.

7. although retards still order from them ? so you know...

8. but as a real ASIC market rises , sCrypt will be where it is at.

price etc will all balance it self and find fair value.

New day, new opportunity.  Thanks for sharing and good luck in your alternate direction(s)!  Will stay tuned to see how things develop.

Awww what's wrong with ziptied GPUs in a milkcrate!?   

Good luck on your future endeavors.  Sorry that the FPGA Scrypt Miner wasn't able to come to fruition.  Many of us doubted that it would, but it was good to follow your journey.

Announcement

Today our embedded developer Cheshyr officially has resigned from BlockBurner due to personal reasons. I personally thank Cheshyr for his effort and support of the project since BlockBurner's formation and wish him the best in his own endeavors, as should we all.

Quite frankly some of this was due to a certain lack of development progress, and I myself had begun to question this.

As it appears, FPGA may not be an effective solution for Scrypt mining, as the proof from Alpha Technologies explains. This document did raise in us serious questions about viability as we approached our own proof. Though FPGA's can certainly hash in Scrypt, the question is more in cost and efficiency of the resulting hardware. Our early projections pointed toward needing a device with multiple FPGAs to hash at a reasonable rate, though the cost of this would destroy ROI with the current valuation of Scrypt coins like Litecoin. So, while it can be done, it is not seeming worthwhile to do at this point in time.

Scrypt is a very different animal compared to SHA, and at this juncture we may see Litecoin mining evolve on a unique path to Bitcoin moving to Gen 3 and Gen 4 devices, which overall is probably a good thing as it moves toward its own unique economy of specialized Scrypt hardware and becomes fully divergent to Bitcoin mining in no longer parts of the same mining networks.

As of this moment, this project is standing still while the remaining members decide if it is still worthwhile to pursue.

What does that mean for BlockBurner?

Though the project we began with is nearing death, this is not the end.

Disappointing as this announcement may be, I do not consider it a waste of effort by any degree. As one of the first to begin trying to create a Generation 3 scrypt mining device, we have still helped to guide the industry where it needs to go by possibly eliminating an unreasonable hardware option. In a business we are literally making up as we go along, this is to be expected as new technology and solutions are investigated and ultimately put into practice or scrapped as unworkable or "not good enough". Hopefully on that note, BlockBurner remains a part of crypto-currency history, and I am proud of our accomplishments despite not delivering the product we had hoped to.

Regardless of where it goes from here, I still thank our followers for your support so far, the response has been mind blowing.

Where it goes from here

As BlockBurner is fully established legally and socially as is, I intend to begin moving it another direction. The mining world is rife with opportunity.

I have been laying down the ground work and crunching the numbers to move primarily into mining itself

Initial motives being researched-

• Mining of Bitcoin and Litecoin, possibly others as seen fit
• Hosting of mining devices for third parties
• Release of BlockBurner bond IPOs for hardware funding and operational expenditures. This would possibly include IPOs for core mining as well as specialized private pools.
• Operating investment funds in the form of combined mining bonds (it is not unusual in the traditional business world for companies to take ownership or stocks of other companies). I hold personal mining bonds that will be invested into BlockBurner officially to get started. This fund has in 3 weeks returned about 10% of the initial investment so far, and not all of them are generating returns just yet as their farms come online pending hardware shipments between August-November.
• Resale of mining equipment as a distributor
• Creation of production GPU based Scrypt miners based on existing hardware (in other words, industrial GPU rigs utilizing proper server hardware, possibly smaller units with the same features and redundancy). Since the hardware is already out there, the barrier to entry would be low aside sheer cost for the initial hardware. Whatever is built for our own mining operation may also be sold as complete units (not doing the breadrack with GPUs ziptied to it thing, this is not an acceptable setup to me)
• Other ideas to be determined

For those who would whine about mining ROI these days, I believe diversification of services is the key to a successful mining business.


Overall I find myself more comfortable with this direction personally, as noted FPGA and hardware dev is not my area of expertise professionally. However, operating and constructing large computer infrastructure in a datacenter setting is something I have much experience with, along with business consulting and strategy when it comes to doing business on the Internet. To that, mining would be right at home with my own tech skill sets, aspiring to create a highly secure and redundant mining farm along with other offerings to diversify the core business. Much of this is simply a matter of connecting with funding sources that I am also actively engaged in. Currently BlockBurner would have 3 main backers locally including myself, and will be seeking additional local investors.

Additionally, I have established an organization in my home state called Montana Bitcoin Exchange, or MBEX, as a local driver to spur the Bitcoin economy locally which can only be good for BlockBurner at the local level as what is the first business of its kind and scope here as far as I am aware, and a launch platform for local investors to take part in the business and push local adoption of digital currencies overall.

So, BlockBurner will live on, but likely in a different form completely or at least working toward fleshing out other aspects of the business along with hardware development.


Again thank you all for your continued support as the gears are shifted, and sorry to disappoint those hopeful of better Scrypt hardware (though not entirely off the table just yet).


Adam Kares
Operations
BlockBurner LLC

I"m interested as well, I do have an idea: can you take bitcoin FPGA miners as part of payment or even somehow adapt them to be able to work with ltd?

Well if you got a quote for 30k then their over quoiting you their miners are 24k for their  300 to 500GH units but thats for their cm3 line that their working on for ltc scrypt then maybe but still expensive.

Count me in. Subscribed on the website.
Highly interested.

Forums look good; I'd preorder if it looked legit and if the price/performance was satisfactory

Put me down in the interested column.  Just joined the mailing list.