Exclusive interview with LiLi, head of global sales at Blackminer, at the 2020 Mining Network Annual Summit - The future development of FPGA mining machines

Produced by Star Media

Organizer/Wabi.com

Editor's Note: Bitcoin has been around for more than ten years since its birth, and in the past decade, the cryptocurrency mining industry that depends on it has also achieved vigorous development and qualitative breakthroughs, with new mining technologies such as CPU, GPU, and ASIC constantly emerging. Recently, FPGA mining machines have once again become the new favorite of mining machine investors, but at the same time, market competition among mining machine manufacturers is becoming increasingly fierce.

However, among many FPGA mining machine manufacturers, a manufacturer called Blackminer has gradually emerged and is known as a pioneer in the development of FPGA mining machine 2.0, attracting the attention of a large number of FPGA mining machine investors.

Today, we had the honor to have an in-depth conversation with LiLi, the global sales director of Blackminer, on the theme of "The Future Development of FPGA Mining Machines" at the 2020 Annual Summit of Mining Network . The following is the transcript of the interview:

Star Media: As competition in graphics card mining becomes increasingly fierce, will it have any impact on the development of the FPGA mining market?

LiLi: In fact, graphics card mining reached its peak as early as 2016-2017. At that time, the rising price of Bitcoin prompted many graphics card machines to run at full capacity, resulting in large machine losses, and most of them were scrapped. On the other hand, with the correction of Bitcoin prices, starting in 2018, coupled with high machine maintenance costs and falling coin prices, the income from graphics card mining has shrunk greatly, causing a large number of miners to withdraw, which is often rumored in the circle as "miners surrender", but it has indeed reached a elimination cycle.  

Compared with the current market, although the current stock of FPGA machines and computing power are close to saturation. However, because FPGA mining machines do not have the mass production capacity like ASIC, compared with the ASIC market, FPGA can be said to be in a situation where there are more meat and fewer wolves. In addition, FPGA can continuously update algorithms, and the elimination rate will be reduced accordingly. Therefore, for miners, entering the market early can earn more profits earlier.  

But in general, graphics cards and FPGAs have their own living space. If FPGAs want to rise, they have to rely on more new algorithms and the emergence of new currencies. But at the same time, it should be noted that the entry of FPGAs also means a change in the Bitcoin mining landscape to a certain extent. The influx of a large number of new players can start with small coins and obtain higher returns. In this way, FPGAs are a good choice. I personally hold a wait-and-see and optimistic attitude towards the current market situation.  

Star Media: What maintains the income of FPGA mining machines? What are the potential risks of investing in FPGA mining machines?  

LiLi: The profit of FPGA mining machines depends on the machine algorithm and market conditions. The machine algorithm is controllable by humans, but the market conditions are uncontrollable. However, this is also a common and unavoidable problem faced by all types of mining machines.  

The second risk is that new coins are not released for a long time. Generally speaking, if new coins are not released for more than a year, it will affect the miners' income. But at present, I think this possibility is not very high. As long as the consensus of Bitcoin exists, there must be a team to imitate this consensus and find possible applications in different application scenarios. When new coins appear, there is no need to worry about the income problem.

Star Media: The mining industry has been around for more than ten years along with Bitcoin. Do you think it is "profitable" for retail investors to enter the market at this time ?

LiLi: That’s right. Judging from the timeline alone, the threshold for “traditional” ASIC mining is getting higher and higher for users, both in terms of purchase cost and subsequent benefits. However, retail investors can definitely start with FPGA mining.  

Judging from the current FPGA revenue situation, the payback period is about one year, but the uncertainty of FPGA is that the emergence of new coins will shorten the payback period. In addition, using FPGA to mine new (small) coins and then exchanging them for USDT or Bitcoin on the trading platform can also become a lower threshold option for Bitcoin believers to save the country in a roundabout way.  

Some miners told me that when FPGA mining machines are saturated like ASIC, their income will be affected. In fact, this worry is a bit premature. Because if you believe in and recognize the concept behind it, the mining industry will not disappear, and the currency will not disappear. Then, entering the market early will naturally bring you income earlier. If you use high-quality algorithms as a purchase standard, it is recommended to track, research, and start early. If you are a novice who is not familiar with the industry, it is recommended to choose the entry-level version of a single chip and practice first.

Star Media: Compared with "cumbersome" physical mining machines, do you think cloud mining is a better experience and can it be a long-term investment?

LiLi: Okay, whether cloud mining provides a better experience can actually be divided into two categories of people. To meet the needs of these two categories of people, Blackminer has actively provided two solutions to users since its launch - the machines can be entrusted to us for hosting and managed in the cloud, or you can ask us to ship them and manage them yourself.

For retail investors who do not have professional and qualified mining sites, cloud mining provides a better experience. This is because general mining machines are noisy and have high environmental requirements. Hosting in a professional site is not only quiet for users, but also better for the machine itself.

Another type of user likes to do hands-on operations. In particular, FPGA mining machines need to constantly update algorithms and upgrade firmware, and there are many possibilities for modification. Many users not only regard mining as an investment method, but also participate as a hobby and of course they think they are better at operating it themselves.

Star Media: What advice can you give to new miners when they are buying FPGA mining machines?

LiLi: We know that FPGA miners are comparable to GPU miners in terms of algorithms and algorithm flexibility. However, the former has much higher performance than GPU miners. Compared with ASIC miners, FPGA miners can accommodate more algorithms, and the algorithms can be continuously updated and optimized. Therefore, for users who are preparing to enter the mining circle, we recommend that you consider FPGA miners.

When purchasing, new miners can consider the following three points to avoid pitfalls:

1. Try to choose some big brands and some manufacturers with good reputation, because big platforms have standardized processes in terms of product quality and after-sales service. To a certain extent, product quality can be guaranteed. On the other hand, even if the machine has defects, there is no need to worry about after-sales problems.

2. Is the operability of the machine user-friendly? Although they are all called FPGA mining machines, their operability may be very different. For future firmware and algorithm upgrades, machines that are not user-friendly will increase the hidden cost of use.

3. Look at the machine's algorithm. Behind each brand, there should be an excellent algorithm team supporting it. Some FPGA mining machines on the market only provide hardware, and the algorithm needs to be paid for later. This should be considered according to the needs of users.

When new miners choose our Blackminer machines, we usually recommend the entry-level mini+. Users can DIY cooling devices according to their own preferences and enter the FPGA mining field at a low cost. For chip versions, we mainly recommend F1-ultra. Next, we will continue to focus on algorithm optimization and upgrades, as well as hardware improvements. Our goal is to meet the different needs of different users as much as possible.

Star Media: Will Blackminer's future market development direction be more inclined towards small coin mining?

LiLi: It can be said that FPGA mining machines are praised by many miners in the circle as a powerful tool for "new" small mining coins. We know that HNS and Trb are currently the two main currencies mined by FPGA, and the current returns are also very considerable. In the future, we will continue to firmly walk on the road of new listings. Friends and institutions with projects are welcome to contact us.

There are many FPGA manufacturers on the market . Although Blackminer has not achieved a monopoly, on a global scale, Blackminer has a large user base because it provides more algorithms, simple hardware operation, and high cost performance.

But I think this situation is a good one for both us and the miners. The market will be more benign if no one party monopolizes it, so we can improve our technology, enhance our services, better serve users, and achieve healthy development of the entire FPGA mining ecosystem.  

Editor’s Summary:

In general, for new miners, FPGA mining machines with lower entry barriers can be selected . At the same time, compared with other mainstream currencies, the future growth space of FPGA mining machines focusing on "small currencies" may be much higher than that of traditional mining machines, and the future market is worth paying attention to in the long term.