I immediately repurchased the BTC used to purchase the erupters. Then I mined for several months. Then the price went up like mad.
Of course I profited. I just didn't profit as much as if I had bought more BTC. But it was better than sitting on my hands doing nothing. If the price of BTC had gone down it's possible I would have been able to dump my hardware and be left better off than if I had bought BTC outright.
Yes, you profited by buying more btc before the price went up. Unless you generated more btc then it cost, you did not profit from mining.Of course I profited. I just didn't profit as much as if I had bought more BTC. But it was better than sitting on my hands doing nothing. If the price of BTC had gone down it's possible I would have been able to dump my hardware and be left better off than if I had bought BTC outright.
No.
Let's say I spend 10 BTC at $200 apiece ($2000) for mining hardware. BTC balance = -10; USD balance = $0
Then I rebuy those 10 BTC at $200 apiece. BTC balance = +0; USD balance = -$2000
Notice that I'm now in the same BTC position as I was when I started, but I'm down USD. But, I have the mining hardware.
All this means is that from now on, profits are measured in USD. If the balance is -$2000, I now need to mine $2000 worth of BTC to reach 100% ROI.
Let's say I mine and hold 5 BTC. During the time I'm mining, the price goes from $200 to $1000. Those 5 BTC are now worth $5000. So, in that scenario I profit $3000.
No. If you spent that $2000 USD buying bitcoins instead of hardware, it would be worth $10k USD now. So in essence, by spending that $2k on mining hardware, you lost out on $5k profits.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/opportunitycost.asp
No matter how you look at it, investing in bitcoin is the better option at this point in time.
Btw, exit strategy means you're leaving bitcoin for good. Buying hardware to mine more bitcoin with your earnings (at a loss) is a terrible exit strategy.
