I'm about to invest in some more hardware, so maybe helpful for me to explain my reasoning as it goes against what most people are saying;
1 - People are saying not to invest because payback period is ~12-14 months. In any normal business a payback period of 2-3 years is pretty decent
3 - No one seems to factor in the residual value of the components. Say you spend $2k on GPUs, your ROI shouldn't be calculated on the basis of how long it takes to mine $2k (+electric). It should be based on how long it takes you to mine how much your assets have depreciated (+electric). Given the current crazy gpu market, your equipment will have a strong resale value
4 - I don't plan to mine with my GPU's; instead I contribute to science through folding@home and get paid cryptos as a side benefit. This is actually more profitable than nicehash in my experience, but even if I only break even at least I am contributing to Stanford's research into Alzheimer's/Cancer/Parkinson's etc
1) 2-3 year payback for most gear in most businesses is AMAZINGLY GOOD.
2) Many miners can't afford to "hold in hopes of a runup" - and I don't see any reason why we SHOULD see a runup, current trend and most of the news is bearish.
This COULD change - but if I was counting on it, I'd INVEST not MINE.
3) ASIC gear has very little residual value once it becomes unprofitable to operate in Very Low Cost Electric areas - once it hits no better than break-even at 3 cent electric, don't count on getting ANYTHING back out of it.
GPU gear on the other hand retains significant value for a few years, even without the current insane shortage gouge pricing stuff.
4) Been there, done that, if I can ever get my recent Bittrex issues straightened out I *might* go back to it despite Vorshok's abusive huge farm BS, but right now I have no way to cash out one of the 2 "merged folding" coins and I can't AFFORD to go without at this time - and it's lower profitability if I can only cash out the one coin I CAN cash out.
No, that Livewire exchange is NOT an option, it's got a worse rep than Poloniex (which is saying a TON)....