Is http://mining.thegenesisblock.com/ the best calc to use at this point? I see a bunch of them out there and this seems to be the only one that is either very accurate or is the least favorable.
It's very pessimistic, it takes into account the compunded exponential rise in hashrate, rather than a fixed rate over time, that's why it's become popular. It's not accurate though, nothing can be unless it can foresee the Bitcoin SP, and related price fluctuations.
What do you mean? Isn't the rise exponential?
Yes but the SP isn't fixed, is it? Although we can assume within a standard deviation there is some accuracy without a significant newsworthy change occurring to impact it either positively, or negatively.
What's SP?
Sorry you use it in trading, it means 'stock price', or 'sale price'. I was referring to the BTC/USD exchange price.
But if the miner is only profitable (in USD) if the exchange rate increases then you are better off buying BTC upfront. I don't see the point of calculations assuming a variable exchange rate.
Perhaps but you have to attribute the value of the currency to something familiar until such point it is recognised by it's own merit. Currently you pay for your electricity in some forum of fiat, and the bits of the coin (satoshis) you profit with a day will at somepoint be dictated by the electricity cost to accumulate them and of course the overall price you paid to get there via the mining device of choice.
