Any views expressed below are the personal views of the author and should not form the basis for making investment decisions, nor be construed as a recommendation or advice to engage in investment transactions.
Over the years of working in the stock and cryptocurrency markets, I’ve developed one important rule for myself. No action should affect the quality of my sleep. If I feel that the desired asset makes me worry more than I'm used to, I probably won't buy it. It has nothing to do with its potential or the opinion of the press, it depends solely on my inner ability to harmonize myself with this asset.
Until recently, I contradicted myself only once by buying Bitcoin mining hardware, or simply put, a farm, with friends. Initially, this project made me concerned about miner delivery time (more than six months!), and the unclear prospects of their use in terms of maintenance, maintainability and final operational cost. To be honest, I have regretted letting myself be carried away by this seeming adventure more than once. However, it didn't turn out so bad in the end. The miners arrived in excellent condition, we managed to quickly connect them and put them into operation. When we saw the first profit, I must say, it was a satisfying feeling, but diluted with some anxiety, because my sleep, initially disturbed by expectations, was disturbed by the prospects now. Thus, my rule has already been violated twice, and that was too much for one project.
As in any good story, success gave way to a kind of fatigue and a desire for more, and the sense that our positions were firm in terms of technical reliability - by reasonable fears that sooner or later something will go wrong. Of course, Murphy's law has worked exactly as many times as we doubted the justification of our actions. Miners periodically caused problems, temporarily reducing the hashrate of our enterprise, and I kept counting the lost profits in my mind all the time, despite trying to convince myself that this was the way it should be. Perhaps it was just about me, because I haven’t been able to come to terms with the natural loss of computing power.
I admit, I’d like to forget about the technical component of our project and focus solely on calculating profitability and efficiency, but the farm reminded of itself with enviable regularity, requiring additional attention just like an infant. We began to think about finding a caring mom. To be honest, we were getting a good return even with all its whims to take care of, but after the first wave of euphoria subsided, I wanted quiet confidence that the farm was able to take care of itself. It was as if a small child we adopted had to grow up right away, get an education and start building life on his own, simultaneously providing for his parents. Perhaps I didn't have enough patience, or I had already exhausted my child-rearing capacity, but a little more than six months later, I realized that I needed to get out of the project and find myself something more low-key.
I gave it a lot of thought and realized that:
- I like to earn income in Bitcoins.
- I don't like to maintain hardware and worry about it.
As a result, I concluded that I’d prefer someone else to take care of the equipment. The WDMS exhibition in Dubai came in handy. I like to attend industry events and observe the development of the crypto industry. Over two days I have studied all the offers closely, and one of them interested me more than the others. The Minto project offered tokenized hashrate, promising sky-high profits, which, of course, inspired fears. However, after spending half a day at their booth, I was gradually inspired with a strange confidence in what these carefree guys were talking about.
Minto data centers are located somewhere in northern latitudes and specially trained people maintain them there. Rewards are paid from the total hashrate (it is currently 50 petahashes) and are distributed among token holders. I came about during an early stage, when these guys realized only 20% of the issue, which means that my income should have been 5 times higher than the estimate.
Technically, everything looked a little confusing, considering that I had only an old Huawei smartphone, but gradually, with the help of the Minto team, I managed to play a passing move that included setting up a multi-blockchain BitKeep wallet, importing tokens and exchanging USDT for BTCMT tokens in the Huobi ECO chain. This project can certainly be improved technically, because I personally found it quite difficult to figure out all the steps.
Cellphone, BitKeep and 10,000 BTCMT tokens to fall asleep happy
Nevertheless, as a test, I bought 10000 BTCMT, which was equal to acquiring a miner with a hashrate of 100 TH/s. It cost me $17,200 (1 BTCMT = $1.72), which may not seem cheap. However, after a full day, I received a miner's reward of 0.0022059713 BTC, which at the current exchange rate was a little over $140.
Well, $140 a day - and no need to maintain the equipment… is it a lot or a little?
I started to feel like my sleep was definitely getting better. I no longer had any trouble falling asleep, and blind hope no longer excited me. Everything happened naturally, and I was satisfied with the deal.
There are two additional nuances that are worth mentioning. First, as the tokens of the project are sold, the income of each holder decreases, since their share is diluted. Second, as soon as Minto sells all the tokens, the team intends to use the next pool in the project. Adding hashrate entails a corresponding increase in rewards. The listing factor looming overhead is also interesting. A limited issue is the best recipe for accelerating the price of an asset on a 1 to 2-year horizon.
As for the risks, they are certainly present. Unclear prospects of industry regulation, fears that our data centers will be shut down, as Xi did, and finally, the project itself can easily sink into oblivion, as it had happened with many others. But something tells me that I did the right thing. The risks are different, and they are everywhere, but the dream is the same, and it is always with me. It tells me how to do the right thing. It has never let me down before. I realized that I love large infrastructure-related projects. I have trust in them. Minto relies on data centers, and these guys know what they're doing. They found a hydroelectric power plant, restored its operability, and rebuilt an old aluminum plant, which collapsed during the collapse of the USSR, from ruins. We had fun with these guys in Burj Khalifa and I realized that this company is not a king for a day.
Thus, on February 1, 2022, Minto announced that 100 days had passed since the launch of staking, and published the results. The project APR for the first 100 days is 137% per annum, APY is about 200%. Since I only joined the project on the 22nd day, I showed a slightly more modest success, namely an income of $5402.75 (with daily conversion of received BTC at the current exchange rate), which is about 47%. Wouldn’t you say that it still looks very inspiring?
I got $5,400 in 78 days, having invested $17,200! My APR = 47%
If I were to point out the key aspect for me personally, it’s that in all the 78 days that I have been in the project, my dream has never let me down and I hope it won’t let me down in the future. I will try to keep you posted about my achievements, and I hope you also listen to your inner voice.
Robert Zmed, 3 Feb, 2022
P.S., 29 Aug, 2022
Well, six months have passed, and the market situation has not changed for the better. However, here’s what I’d like to point out: Minto works! Moreover, during this time, the project team launched the BTCMT token in the Binance blockchain. I think it was a major event, because BSC is much more common than HECO. As a result, BTCMT tokens exist as different coins in different blockchains. My experience in the stock market didn’t allow me to miss the opportunity to engage in arbitrage and earn good money on it!
I partially closed my position at the highs (1 BTCMT ~ $2.30), partially in the range of $1.5 - $2.1. I am completely satisfied with my deals, and I am waiting for Minto’s next offer. It was a great adventure, and it continues. I am grateful to these guys for the idea and its implementation!
Today the market is bad for everyone, but I'm staying with Minto, because Bitcoin hashrate is the best thing you can own today: when the market returns to growth, we will earn again and again! I am accumulating cheaper BTCMT in the BSC network and my mining does not stop for a second!
