A while ago, I've posted that I understood what GPUMax was all about. GPUMax was the main reason why I've put money into BTCST, because without that project, there was no way BTCST would have seen any of my coins.
During the summer, I was trying to fit GPUMax in the market and determine all the actors around it. Shortly after BTCST ceased its operations, I was finally able to fit the whole picture of GPUMax. I've shared privately what GPUMax was about (or my theory of it), and I've decided that since the project is closing, I would share it publicly.
First of all, I have to admit that if BTCST and Trendon Shavers was a scam all along, well, he's a pretty stupid guy. I don't know how much money he left on the floor, especially since he had an enormous advantage over its competitors, but the first victim of his scam was himself.
So, what could have been GPUMax?
If you consider the quantity of GPU dedicated to BTC mining, you have a pretty good calculation power. GPU have an advantage over ASIC in that they can be used for many things. Right now, we're using GPUs to calculate SHA-256(SHA-256). But hey, you can calculate vectors, integers, protein folding, gaming rendering, whatever. You simply need to use the right instructions, and your GPU is ready to go. Right now, we're using CGMiner or Phoenix to calculate some encryption. If you can access all these GPU, I don't know the calculation power you can get, but I think it's pretty high for the cost.
The cost is important because using the power of these GPU doesn't cost a lot (if you compare to making ASIC or super-computers dedicated to a task). Sure, if you're the NASA, I don't think it's that important, but if you're a small organization, small university, small school, small whatever, and you need calculation power instantly for a short while, where do you go?
That's where I think that GPUMax was in a golden position. Here's how GPUMax worked:
Mining pool -> GPUMax server -> You
Pools are in a fierce competition to gain new miners and new hashpower. You can see it with all their "features" to attract people. But GPUMax was over the melee, it didn't even had to fight. Everybody who had the possibility to use GPUMax would do it, because it was the sane thing to do. I don't know how mush hashpower GPUMax had access, but I'm pretty sure that on the flick of a switch (we got leased shares!), GPUMax could get more hashpower than Deepbit. Pools couldn't do anything for the lost hashpower, except block GPUMax, or wait for the leased shares to end.
My belief was that, during the Beta, GPUMax was tested with BTC mining only, simply because of the Beta. It was simple enough to test the servers and continue develop without pressure the GPUMax miner.
GPUMax miner?
Yeah, like CGMiner or Phoenix, but made for different types of calculations. You need to instruct your GPU what to do and if you make different types of calculations, you need a miner to support it. In theory, it's simple. You make a miner that can switch the algorithm on the fly, with a central server telling him which algorithm to use for the incoming data. Mining rigs are always connected to the Internet, so this is not a problem. It's probably a lot harder to develop in practice, but I'm sure it can be done. In the event where GPUMax 1.0 would have been released, convincing currents GPUMax users to download and use the GPUMax miner instead would have been an easy task.
The private pricing on GPUMax also was a genius idea. A good way to keep the price higher, so different miners in different countries would have mine only at profit. The customer looking to buy some calculation power would have to pay the price indicated, and if he wants more, he pay more. Little miners in high-cost country would have been able to stay in the game, instead of getting crushed like it happens whenever the price/difficulty ratio gets too high. Those little miners would mine a lot less often, but they still do it at profit.
GPUMax was already in a great market position to control the usage of all those basement GPU all around the world, especially with the ASICs coming. These GPU are not going to disappear, and it was the perfect timing to get them.
But hey, seems that Trendon Shavers is a pretty shitty businessman after all and a blind scammer too. He couldn't see the fuckin gold mine he built himself, and he tries to make a ponzi to steal what? 100k BTC + SEC + a whole community after - his reputation = not that much IMHO.
So hey, that's why I've put money into BTCST. I couldn't believe somebody was so dumb to ruin GPUMax this way. Now the window of opportunity has passed on BTC with the ASIC coming, and I don't know if it can be done again. A bunch of them are going to be sold and get out of the market. Maybe if LTC can grow enough, it could be done again, but it's a long-shot. Or somebody could buy right now GPUMax before it closes. But who's going to buy from the scammer?
GPUMax was a treasure that pirate himself dump overboard into the bottom of the ocean.