After reading some more it seems like at least the Avalon ASIC is using some pretty old technology like the TSMC 110nm process in a wire bonded QFP package. Is this some kind of multiproject wafer (MPW) run like MOSIS?
Topic: Wouldn't BFL stand to make more money if they just used their ASICs themselves? (Read 608 times)
March 14, 2013, 07:59:14 AM
March 13, 2013, 04:24:55 AM
If you have good a money making scheme you keep it to yourself and become an investor
If you have a bad money making scheme you sell it to others, write a book about it etc.
The up-front cost of making an ASIC is pretty high these days. The software tools you need during development are high, e.g. Synopsys VCS, Design Compiler, PrimeTime, HSPICE, ASIC routers, ATPG tools etc). The NRE for a recent ASIC process is also high, probably $20M+
Also I read somewhere else on the forum that this was a TSMC process (although a somewhat older 40nm process) which makes me puzzled as it's usually pretty hard to get access to TSMC unless you're big like AMD, NVidia, Altera, Xilinx, Marvell, etc.
Or is this a Altera HardCopy III device (40nm manufactured by TSMC) which is an ASIC , but with a lower NRE, but still with significant cost and power savings with respect to the equivalent Stratix III?
If you have a bad money making scheme you sell it to others, write a book about it etc.
The up-front cost of making an ASIC is pretty high these days. The software tools you need during development are high, e.g. Synopsys VCS, Design Compiler, PrimeTime, HSPICE, ASIC routers, ATPG tools etc). The NRE for a recent ASIC process is also high, probably $20M+
Also I read somewhere else on the forum that this was a TSMC process (although a somewhat older 40nm process) which makes me puzzled as it's usually pretty hard to get access to TSMC unless you're big like AMD, NVidia, Altera, Xilinx, Marvell, etc.
Or is this a Altera HardCopy III device (40nm manufactured by TSMC) which is an ASIC , but with a lower NRE, but still with significant cost and power savings with respect to the equivalent Stratix III?
March 13, 2013, 12:02:39 AM
Quote
It seems like controlling these machines under a single entity would yield more profits.
I heard they do have a large Bitcoin farm, but I suspect they don't have the money to develop ASIC alone.
Also when you become the market, there is nobody left to sell to, and it ends badly.
Example the Hunt Bros. who cornered the silver market.
March 12, 2013, 11:37:58 PM
It seems like controlling these machines under a single entity would yield more profits.
Short term, maybe. However, once that is publicly known, it would kill bitcoin if they didn't immediately distribute the machines to the general population. And if bitcoin died, they wouldn't be able to recoup the costs to make the ASICs to begin with since that requires a good bit of time. That is why you don't need to be too concerned about someone unfairly using ASICs for economic reasons. Non-economic, however... 
March 02, 2013, 03:29:16 AM
All I know is I'm glad I didn't pre-order Jalapeno when I first heard about it. I've decided to just wait and see what happens.... If what the company offers is legit then I will support them for sure.
February 28, 2013, 05:13:18 PM
Actually as they took Bitcoins from people preordering last summer, just having kept them and then sell them when they foreclose, would yeild the largest profits.
According to their contract they are only obliged to pay back the Dollar value of the order at the time of ordering, so they can keep 4/5 of there sale for doing nothing, completely legal.
According to their contract they are only obliged to pay back the Dollar value of the order at the time of ordering, so they can keep 4/5 of there sale for doing nothing, completely legal.
As i recall they use Bitpay as a middle man.
They never received BTC directly (this should tell you something about trust!) only hard dollars (bitpay converts BTC to $ for merchants directly so that they don't have to deal with high price influences). On their invoice the price was written in $ and converted to BTC via Bitpay!
So demanding back the equal amount of BTC from BFL that you paid for then, is impossible because they don't have them! If you want these back you have to deal with bitpay. And i don't think that they still have these preorder funds or will give you the equal amount @ current market rate!.
A Customer paid 1,3K € to BFL gets back exactly the same money converted to BTC @ current market rate.
THIS IS FAIR, OK and not a fraud!
BTT: Seriously .... this question was answered so many times before.... Just use the search bar on top!
February 25, 2013, 06:41:45 PM
It seems like controlling these machines under a single entity would yield more profits.
February 25, 2013, 06:38:21 PM
Actually as they took Bitcoins from people preordering last summer, just having kept them and then sell them when they foreclose, would yeild the largest profits.
According to their contract they are only obliged to pay back the Dollar value of the order at the time of ordering, so they can keep 4/5 of there sale for doing nothing, completely legal.
According to their contract they are only obliged to pay back the Dollar value of the order at the time of ordering, so they can keep 4/5 of there sale for doing nothing, completely legal.
February 25, 2013, 06:32:47 PM
Go to the search-bar and type your question in there: Surprise!
February 25, 2013, 06:31:23 PM
It seems like controlling these machines under a single entity would yield more profits.
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