it's important to keep in mind that exchanges were not part of the original design, they emerged later, they are a deficit to the potential of the concept, in their current form.

Listen to me, I'm only going to write this once:

There. Is. NO. Guarantee. That. Mining. Results. In. Bitcoins.

That is why a pool is best. Buying equipment and calculating what you'll make has two very big flaws.

One: no guarantees. Bitcoins are awarded without regard to work put in. There is no way to predict when or if you'll receive a block.

Two: Difficulty increases with every 2016 blocks mined, and it increases BASED ON THE TIME IT TOOK TO MINE THEM. If 1000 guys go get get big rigs and start mining, the difficulty increases exponentially and now your rig is worthless unless bitcoins keep flying up in price.

Smart people aggregate computing power from wherever they can at no cost to themselves and charge a transaction fee. That is why on many blog posts yu'll see the kind blogger recommending the "best" pool to the readers. People - HE IS JUST LIKE YOU! He is an affiliate sending a hit to a pool where, if the hit signs up, he receives a commission.

So, GFY Bitcoin concern has traffic in the bag, there are several experts here. To run the pool, you need open source pool software like pushpool, eloipool or p2pool.

I'll read that again tomorrow when i'm sober.

Read it now before it's too late! :Oh crap

Don't get poolhurt man :winkwink:

Haha ya next week i'll be pool hatin'

Bitcoin mining is independent of market price. Even though mtgox is the defacto exchange, there is no central authority controlling the release of currency. The difficulty level changes to regulate how often coins are generated, nothing to do with its USD value.

Well Bitcoin is over $100 now, looks like we are back in business, I'm down to create a pool. I think if we put all our heads together we can pull this off, we're a bunch of talented fools with nothing to loose. I even reg www.bitcoinbandits.com just to fuck around and share info on trading and when shit is gonna go down.

Dude I am so onboard - sign me up

I'm in for GFY bitcoin mining, may need some help though. Haven't built a machine for yonks. I just need some some tips :) I'll join the pool for sure, and help of course.

keep in mind difficulty is going to explode, it always follows price

also all ATI cards are going to be sold out, the ones that are any good for mining... till asics en mass come on board

There is a company that is going to be producing a small USB powered ASIC board for the general public. Hopefully it will help keep things less centralized.

Why don't you guys create a pool to mine Litecoins, worth a punt if Mt Gox starts trading Litecoins in the next month

Im on it pool.ltcme.com trying to find someone to set one up

Yup, I stand corrected :thumbsup