Disclosure: Mintsy provided us with a 100 gh/s contract to test the features while it is in beta mode.
Mintsy, a new cloud mining service that is part of the Cryptsy ecosystem is currently in beta invite only. We were able to get an invite and test the service as it stands so far. Mintsy has several interesting features not the least of which is proof of mining.
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When you first log into Mintsy, you will see they have a very detailed wizard that helps guide you through your options. The menus are simple and easy to access. Mintsy provides contracts for Scrypt Mining and SHA-256/Bitcoin Mining. Thier contracts are different than many on the market as they provide fixed term contracts. There is no lifetime option. Mintsy sells the contracts in 3 months and 6-month lengths that include all costs up front, so any payments you make go directly to you. This change makes it more expensive at the outset, but you do not pay fees for electricity and maintenance.
Once you have purchased a contract, you can create a worker, and either mine on their internal pools or you can mine to your external pools as well. These features allow for distribution of hash power and more control for customers of their miners.
I asked Marshall Long of Mintsy about this.
Mintsy has a simple user interface that is also feature rich. What was your guide in making the interface in a way that people new to mining could easily use it?
New people need to get into mining to decentralize the network and increase network security. Making an easy to use site is key in attracting new people into bitcoin.
Another feature is that you can point your physical miners to Minsty’s pools as well. We pointed a BFL Jalapeno at 20 gh/s and a BFL Single at 55 gh/s to Minsty and after a few mins they showed up on the dashboard. One of the interesting features is you can also rent out your hash power pointed to Mintsy giving you more options for mining income. Depressed Bitcoin value has left many cloud mining companies with issues being able to run. Long with his direct relationships in the mining industry has been able to address the issues of miner costs and electricity costs.
Lower Bitcoin and Alt-Coin values have made mining, especially cloud mining profit margins thin. What have you done differently to be able to operate profitably?
Cheap electrical rates and key partnerships with hardware manufacturers.
Mintsy uses a custom built interface that has a built in trade platform so you can buy and sell contracts that will be coming soon. This feature will allow more flexibility in how you use your contracts. The software is built to auto-detect if you hash rate is not at the contracted levels. This feature allows them to compensate customers for any loss of hash rate. Doing this goes along with their proof of hash rate that helps them provide proof they have the hash rate they sold and that it is mining. Not satisfied with just providing standard proofs they reached out to Peter Todd to take it even further.
Proof of mining is a major issue in our industry after so many scams. What options did you have to put in place to be able to provide proof of mining in a way that leaves no doubt? Also did you have to develop a way to do this while protecting your proprietary infrastructure?
We consulted with Peter Todd on this. We knew how to prove it, but Peter worked out some of the holes in our proof. That was the key. Making a bullet proof – proof. We are very excited about allowing people to see our transparency.
The Minsty Beta is showing not only attention to detail in the interface and powerful feature set but also a transparent way to do cloud mining. Adding in features like mining rig rentals and the ability to point your physical miners at Mintsy pools or even point your Minsty contract miners at external pools make it more useful than just buying a cloud contract. Now you can use your cloud-based miners to mine new coins, support altcoins. You can rent out your physical miners to others as well maximizing profits. We will keep an eye on Minsty and bring you updates on it as they continue to roll out features and progress to the final release.
What do you think of Mintsy’s transparency?
Photo Source: Mintsy
