are there any reason not to mine using cloud? it seems to be a loss on the company's part.
Only on the surface...
So far only few cloud mining services operate, some are extremely unprofitable, others
appear to be profitable but may very well be a ponzi or some form of scam.
Old rule of the road applies : if it looks too good to be true - it probably is.
(in the Bitcoin world - 1000 times that)
The term "counterparty risk" is to be taken very seriously here, conventional banks/companies are innocent, white and reliable peace doves in comparison.
The real question currently on the table rather is :
is there any reason to mine at all?As it stands now, the vast majority of folks would be
far better off waiting for the current Bitcoin price trend to bottom out and simply buy the amount they desire.
I've been mining for 5 months now, using equipment that cost me alot of money back in Nov 2013 - and barely made only a little BTC so far with it.
In the same time, I've also been buying BTC directly, which I received within a short time and ended up being
significantly cheaper than anything I could ever mine with my gear. And I mean big time cheaper.
Outside of the educational and hobbyist purpose, mining now carries
extreme risks to end up being shamelessly unprofitable, even if you spend alot of cash on high-end gear. They're all too expensive, the only guys making a killing are the hardware sellers. And what they don't immediately sell, they use to mine for themselves - causing the permanent overflow of global hashrate.
As a private, normal person,
you cannot win this mining hardware battle. So IMHO, the only way to win is not to play their game.
When it comes to the "alternative" of cloud mining, my honest advice : stay clear of them (all of them, no matter how nice they advertise) and you won't go wrong doing so.
PS.
Mining is fun at the beginning - but the ever-declining BTC output, permanent caretaking (at least need to look if everything is still up 24/7) and time will make it... dull and boring within weeks. I absolutely guarantee you it's not worth the trouble for the average guy, if you even remotely take profitability into the equation.
After all, if BitCoin is what you want - no need to take a lenghty detour through middle men who earn money with you, never knowing if your mining output will ever yield the desired amount - while you could have all you want within days without all the delays and risks (and there are
plenty of risks).