AMA: I work at a company called Kaboomracks selling Bitcoin miners \ stacker news ~AMA

AMA: I work at a company called Kaboomracks selling Bitcoin miners

8054 sats \ 71 comments \ @KaboomracksAlex 26 Mar AMA

I have about 2.5 years of experience in the space. This is my first halving on the mining side of things. I got interested in Bitcoin in 2018 and have been obsessed since.

I know a lot about the mining hardware itself, and am learning a lot more about the mining ecosystem. I'm not a macro thinkboy, or technical thinkboy, so prepare for midwit answers if you ask technical questions.

One thing that makes me passionate about mining on a small scale is how much it teaches people about energy and electricity. Many people do not think about it before plugging in their first S9.

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509 sats \ 4 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 26 Mar

What's one thing you would change about the bitcoin mining hardware industry if you could?

73 sats \ 3 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

I would like to see distribution of where mining hardware is produced, including the computer chips. I think it's something that's coming, and the more valuable Bitcoin is, the more we will see this.

Having most of the chip production in Taiwan is a liability for the industry in my opinion.

81 sats \ 2 replies \ @Nickfost 26 Mar

Why can't companies produce things in third-world countries like Canada or Japan?

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

I have a much higher confidence in Japan than Canada. The only thing Canadians know how to build are igloos.

15 sats \ 0 replies \ @Nickfost 26 Mar

I think syrup

434 sats \ 2 replies \ @Car 26 Mar

What is it about Stacker News you appreciate the most besides the sats?

Also what is your favorite taco?

692 sats \ 1 reply \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

I like you Car so I want to support things you're involved with.

I really like the quality of engagement on here. It is substantially better than Twitter. I see people putting more thought into the things they post and say, you do not have a character limit so you can expand on your thoughts.

130 sats \ 0 replies \ @Car 26 Mar

Awe, thanks brother! Same def a great vibe here, unlike anything else on the web.

372 sats \ 1 reply \ @nickfostphone 26 Mar

What do you think about pool distribution?

How do we get more pools away from #1 Chinese-owned and #2 finance thinkboy pools backed by the deep state?

Pools 3,4,5,6 are irrelevant in today’s distribution; how do we fix it?

41 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

Pools are what keep me up at night. I always try to shill smaller pools that I know are not selling their hashrate to Chinese pools.

Right now my two favorite are Lincoin Ocean

Both of these pools appear to be part of the solution. I really hope there's a lot more transparency in the pool side of mining in the future.

289 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 26 Mar

What's something you believe about bitcoin mining that hardly anyone agrees with you on?

120 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

I think it's better for most people to buy Bitcoin than to mine. I also think that buying Bitcoin is a lot better option than mining stocks. I don't think either of those are very controversial.

One that is is that I want to see hashrate distribute more globally and not continue to be deployed in North America at a rapid pace.

289 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 26 Mar

I know a lot about the mining hardware itself.

What's something we'd all be surprised to learn about mining hardware?

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

It's all made in China and there is high failure rates that are a headache.

281 sats \ 1 reply \ @TheWildHustle 26 Mar

Wen Bitaxe on Kaboomracks?

75 sats \ 0 replies \ @nickfostphone 26 Mar

Soon

281 sats \ 6 replies \ @grayruby 26 Mar

What are your thoughts on potential mining integration into HVAC, industrial machinery and maybe eventually household appliances?

75 sats \ 2 replies \ @Nickfost 26 Mar

Bitmain made a residential heater that wasn't well received. https://blog.bitmain.com/en/antminer-r4-apw5-silent-bitcoin-miner-home-use/

70 sats \ 1 reply \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

Canaan has one that they will be selling here pretty soon as well.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Nickfost 26 Mar

30 sats \ 2 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

I don't think we will see ASIC chips integrated into normal heading hardware because it won't be cost effective.

I heat my home with miners in the winter. I have one running now. A lot of people have done really interesting things heating their homes with miners which is definitely a growing trend.

40 sats \ 0 replies \ @Nickfost 26 Mar

I really like this topic, the hashtub is one of my favorite projects,

25 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 26 Mar

Ok thanks

294 sats \ 1 reply \ @0xbitcoiner 26 Mar

I was browsing your website and got the impression that your racks are targeted at large-scale miners. Do you have any solutions for small/micro miners?

146 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

Yes we do a lot of work with small scale miners. Many of our minimum order requirements are only 1 unit.

242 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b 26 Mar

Is it a fantasy to expect bitcoin miners to be put in every heating device?

349 sats \ 1 reply \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

Yeah I think it's a fantasy. It's not really cost effective. It makes a lot of sense for weirdos like me to repurpose older machines as heaters than it does to make specific products.

The only way this would make sense would be if it was cheaper to manufacture a mining heater than a traditional heater.

30 sats \ 0 replies \ @kevin 26 Mar

not really cost effective. It makes a lot of sense for weirdos like me to repurpose older machines as heaters than it does to make specific products. The only way this would make sense would be if it was cheaper to manufacture a mining heater than a traditio

...and if you could make them more effective than regular old heat pumps (which is impossible)

219 sats \ 1 reply \ @Ge 26 Mar

Show us your racks!!!

40 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

You first

164 sats \ 3 replies \ @kr 26 Mar

which country will have the most bitcoin mining hashrate in 2030?

485 sats \ 2 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

I don't know which country has the most energy but that's likely the answer to that question. The United States has a good shot depending on whether the politicians try to mess up our industry or not.

25 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr 26 Mar

if you were a politician in the US and your task was to mess up Bitcoin, what is the most effective way you could do that?

224 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

The 3 letter regulatory agencies are more of an attack vector than elected politicians. Most of the battles are going to be fought in courts instead of voting.

Force everyone to KYC when buying mining hardware would be a big one.

The EIA survey that recently got paused was a good one.

Going after the pools to KYC customers is another huge one.

I'm kind of afraid to say a whole lot because I don't want to give anyone ideas but it's very important to be thinking adversarially right now.

140 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr 26 Mar

One thing that makes me passionate about mining on a small scale is how much it teaches people about energy and electricity

what are the biggest energy lessons you see small miners learning while getting started?

145 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

How important it is to have reliable electricity.
just the basics of how it works. What a substation is, what a transformer is, watts, volts, amps.
How a lot of energy policies that raise the cost of electricity are super problematic. (Most people don't really understand cause and effect in regards to this.)

125 sats \ 3 replies \ @k00b 26 Mar

How do you expect mining hardware to evolve over the next 5 years?

396 sats \ 2 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

Power density is going to be the biggest one. The machines will keep consuming more electricity and will be less like toaster ovens.

I'm not sold on hydro and immersion yet, so will be interesting to see if those cooling methods gain more marketshare.

291 sats \ 1 reply \ @freetx 26 Mar

immersion

Could you explain why you have reservations about immersion?

From a laymans PoV, it looks like an obviously good solution for transferring heat effectively. Is the problem that it introduces other problems for the rigs?

45 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

From what I've seen, usually the simplest solutions are best for mining. Limiting initial capital expenditure is a good one.

There are definitely reasons to deploy immersion but the upfront costs are expensive.

Most miners put into immersion are under warranty with Bitmain and dunking them voids the warranty which is an issue. Bitmain can have a significant failure rate in the first 30 days with sometimes around a 6% DOA rate. Taking advantage of the warranty versus paying to repair machines yourself can be useful.

There are some manufacturers making immersion ready equipment which I imagine would not cause the warranty to be voided if they were dunked, and that is pretty interesting.

87 sats \ 1 reply \ @Coinsreporter 26 Mar

What's one advice that you would give someone when he buys his first mining hardware?

256 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

Buy from a reputable seller or someone you personally know. Start small and don't break the bank to figure out if you like it before yoloing into a hosting contract or buying a bunch of equipment to deploy.

1055 sats \ 1 reply \ @StoneCodlHodl 26 Mar

Just a review. I only recommend Kaboomracks. I'm not a Bulk purchaser by ANY means. I have placed orders for only two miners thus far. Alex treated me like his favorite customer, answered all my newbie questions, super responsive on the order and shipping statuses. These guys are the standard of how every online merchant should run. Thanks again Alex!

35 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

I'm glad you had a great experience!

40 sats \ 1 reply \ @BitcoinIsTheFuture 26 Mar

What’s your strategic vision for growth and next steps?

20 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

For the company?

We are going to grow dramatically over the bull market. In the bear market we have added site buildout and hosting to our portfolio of offerings. Prior to this, we primarily focused on selling mining hardware.

I see us expanding our warehousing outside of only Arizona at some point allowing us to arbitrage rising shipping costs and port disasters.

25 sats \ 1 reply \ @BlokchainB 26 Mar

What are your thoughts on compass mining?

560 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

Hosting is difficult. It can be done well, and it can be done poorly. I think they expanded way too much in the bull market and should've only sold space they had. There are some people over there that I enjoy and interact with from time to time.

It's really important for people deploying into hosting to know that there is a ton of execution risk and that it's generally easier to just buy Bitcoin.

25 sats \ 2 replies \ @oliverweiss 26 Mar

Why should people choose you, Kaboomracks, and not the other companies? (sorry if this was asked already)

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

One part of the company culture is making customers whole if things go wrong. A lot of people don't have the means or willingness to take care of the customer.

Also we have been around for a long time (for this industry) and have a good track record of taking care of people. There are going to be so many people who get rugged by other sellers this upcoming bull market.

30 sats \ 0 replies \ @oliverweiss 26 Mar

Thanks.

25 sats \ 4 replies \ @Coinsreporter 26 Mar

Did you ever research about mining prospects in India? If yes, how do you project the future of Bitcoin mining in India?

20 sats \ 3 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

I don't know a ton about India. I know it's impossible to ship miners from the US to India but is possible to ship from China to India.

If they have a lot of energy, there will be a future of mining. I believe India is experimenting with different nuclear power options which is interesting.

Having decent import laws and processes makes a huge difference on whether mining is viable or not. Also cheap reliable electricity.

25 sats \ 2 replies \ @Coinsreporter 26 Mar

Thanks for your valuable comment. India is now moving towards solar energy with more speed. Not a single new project for nuclear energy in last two decades. Electricity is cheap but often not reliable.

25 sats \ 0 replies \ @Nickfost 26 Mar

solar will kill grid reliability.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

I swear I saw something about them developing Nuclear reactors with Thorium

30 sats \ 2 replies \ @thebullishbitcoiner 26 Mar

Yo Alex, love the content you’ve been putting out btw. Can confirm, running S9s has taught me so much about energy and electricity.

What’s the next step up from an S9 for the pleb miner?

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

Sometimes there is no second step and you should just stick with a S9.

A lot of people are doing interesting things with the S19 series by running the units with one hashboard on 120v with the Loki kit as well as using aftermarket fans to make their machines quiet. If you want to tinker and spend money on expensive fans and doo dads, this is the next step

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Nickfost 26 Mar

today its the s19jpro

15 sats \ 2 replies \ @thebullishbitcoiner 27 Mar

Does Kaboomracks have an affiliate program?

15 sats \ 1 reply \ @nickfostphone 27 Mar

We do https://kaboomracks.com/affiliate-registration/

15 sats \ 0 replies \ @thebullishbitcoiner 27 Mar

LFG thanks Nick

15 sats \ 1 reply \ @JesseJames 26 Mar

When water cooled miners? bigger radiators that are cooled by flowing water (maybe submerged near a watermill or a waterfall) Hey, it's organic!!! :-)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 26 Mar

Bitmain and Micro BT both have water cooled miners. Bitmain has been making them since the S9. They are slowly growing in popularity but air cooled is still dominating.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Ribbit 7 Apr

why don't you accept bitcoin ?

based on your payment methods page you only accept wire/cheques/other legacy kyc stuff

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 9 Apr

We do accept Bitcoin. I don't know what you mean.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @BlokchainB 27 Mar

How do you find fair pricing for an S21 miner. I am getting an offer for one but I want to see if it’s worth taking

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 9 Apr

Look at the pricing on our website. A good portion of the industry uses it as a reference point for their pricing

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @DudeJLebowski 27 Mar

How many lightbulbs does it take to change a Bitcoin miner?

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @KaboomracksAlex OP 9 Apr

At least 3

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 26 Mar freebie

Are you worried about successful collision attacks on SHA-256, as happened to SHA-1 in 2017?

What would happen to bitcoin in that case? Could bitcoin survive a hardfork that makes every ASIC for bitcoin mining obsolete?