Cryptocurrency in Malaysia
If you’ve heard of bitcoin, you would be privy to its meteoric rise in value. If you could go back to 2010 and buy $1,000 worth, it would be worth an estimated $20 million right now.
I won’t be spending too much time explaining cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin here, an awesome guide has already been created by my friends Suraya from Ringgit Oh Ringgit and Aaron from Mr-Stingy.
Instead, I’d like to talk about something I’ve recently invested in – Cloud Mining! Also, we will not limit ourselves to only Bitcoin but other currencies out there as well.
Bitcoin Mining
So first thing’s first, what does mining these currencies entail?
From my understanding and to put it in layman’s terms…
Mining – like mining for gold. You do some work, and you hope to turn up something valuable. In this case, it’s bitcoins.
Mining computers and equipment everywhere in the world are taking in and recording Bitcoin transactions from around the world. They’re making sure that everybody has enough money to complete the transactions, and then they’re adding them to the list of all the bitcoin transactions that have ever happened.
Cloud Mining
The main difference between traditional mining and cloud mining lies in who houses and maintains the mining hardware.
With traditional mining, you buy, set up and maintain the mining rigs. This requires extensive technical knowledge as well as adequate ventilation for cooling and will result in an increase in electricity costs.
On the other hand, with cloud mining, the mining rigs are housed and maintained in a facility owned by the mining company. The customer simply needs to register an account and purchase mining contracts or shares.
These mining contracts immediately start mining your cryptocurrency which is paid out to the user on a regular basis. The user does not have to concern him/herself with ordering, setting up or maintaining the mining hardware. Nor is the user required to fork out a substantial sum as initial mining investment. For as little as USD50, he/she can begin cloud mining.
A warning to everyone, cryptocurrencies in and of itself are extremely volatile and risky. Cloud mining adds to that risk because you’re placing your money with a company and trusting them to continue mining for the foreseeable future. As always, invest at your own risk!
My Investment
Just today, I’ve started venturing into cloud mining to test the waters. After some tedious research, I’ve decided to go with Genesis Mining. Why? Because they are the largest in the world.
I guess I like having a sort of safety net by investing in the biggest.
Also, with Genesis, they have regular daily payouts and low maintenance fees.
From my research, I found mining alt coins like Dash (x11) to be more profitable. I intend to keep the currency and reinvest them into more raw MINING POWER! Eventually, exchanging them to all time reigning – Bitcoin. Why? Again, because they are the largest.
Return on Investment (ROI)
I’m still waiting for the payout figures from Genesis. Updated figures will be published here for everyone that is interested.
I spent USD93.20 for that 15 MH/s of mining power. Initially, I wanted to go for the USD500 one for 100 MH/s but they’re limiting the amount to below USD100 per transaction.
Just a test run for now to familiarize myself with everything.
Risks
The main risk I’ve identified with Cloud Mining (as with everything else) is the price as well as the mining difficulty. It gets increasingly difficult to mine coins as the number of transactions goes up and more and more people get into mining.
My USD93.20 lasts for 2 years. At current rates, I expect a full ROI in a year (I’m being conservative). However, if the price of my coins drop below the threshold of which I’ll be able to make a profit, I’ll then be stuck with a 2-year mining contract making a loss.
Getting Started
Cloud Mining on Genesis
It was pretty straight forward for me, I headed over to Genesis, registered for an account. Proceeded to select my package and paid with my credit card.
If you’re using Genesis as well, please go ahead and key in the following code: KT7r1S which gives you a 3% discount on your purchase.
Storing my Coins
Because I’m mining alternative coins like Dash (x11) and Ethereum, I opted to store on a multi wallet. I use Exodus. Their UI is awesome by the way.
So after, transferring and storing my alt coins on Exodus, I’ll then move it to a more local (Malaysian friendly wallet) – Luno.
Enter my promo code: LNDVDMAGIC50. You can still enter the code after signing up. Inside your account as shown in the picture below.
End.
I know this is a move away from my usual investments in shares. However, as it is an (very risky) investment nonetheless for me, I’ve decided to put up a post on it.
I’ll probably be spending about RM5 – RM10K if all goes well with my initial investment.
I’m prepared to lose this money at the time of writing.
A big thank you to Suraya from Ringgit Oh Ringgit for showing me the ropes and answering my newbie questions.
Thank you for reading!