I have mining contracts with two top cloud mining sites (HashFlare and Genesis Mining), as well as a couple other lesser-known companies. This article is purely based on my experience with each of these sites including https://anon-system-review.com/, and may not hold true for every user.

Recently, HashFlare sent a mail to their customers notifying them of an end to Bitcoin mining contracts. Their mail reads:

“Dear users!

As you know, the last few months have been a difficult time for the cryptocurrency market, which has also affected the operation of our service… 

BTC mining continues being unprofitable, in light of which we would like to inform you that on 18.07.2018 we were forced to start disabling SHA hardware and today, on 20.07.2018, stop the mining service of active SHA-256 contracts in accordance with clause 5.5 of our Terms of Service, which are required to be accepted when creating a purchase and are the basis of concluding the contract.”

Few days after, they resumed their Bitcoin mining contracts.

Actions like these can make you question the profitability of cloud mining contracts. First HashFlare changed their mining contract from “lifetime” to “1 year”. Genesis Mining has also recently changed their BTC mining contracts to “5 years”.

Let’s dive straight in to answer the question…

You have two options available to you if you choose to mine cryptocurrencies. You can you build your own mining rig (hardware mining), or you can rent what is known as “Hash Rate” from a company that has a built a mining rig.

If you decide to go the hardware path, you will have to deal with the initial high cost of building a mining cost, electricity, and cooling issues. If you have this all covered, then you are good to go. Some rig owners have reported that they got a return on their investment within 6 to 15 months. That’s a fair deal, considering the fact that you still get to keep your hardware.

Cloud mining is a cheaper alternative if you don’t want to be bothered with setting up a mining rig and the initial costs of getting equipment. With as low as $30, you can buy a cloud mining contract. But the real question is “is it profitable”?

I must confess, out of 3 cloud mining contracts I purchased from 3 different companies, I have been able to get back my initial investment from only 1. The other 2 contracts are nothing to write home about. And by my calculations, by the end of the contracts, I wouldn’t have realized my initial investment. For this reason, I have a personal bias against cloud mining. This could change it Bitcoin hits the roof again.

Although the cloud is an easier alternative, you are at the mercy of these companies. What matters most to them is their profit, and you don’t expect them to keep running their mining rigs at a loss. They could also exit the market at any time, and you won’t be able to do anything about it.

As the difficulty level of mining increases, you are bound to get an even lesser payout. Keep this in mind when projecting your ROI on any cloud mining service. Nonetheless, from experience, if you need to invest in cryptocurrencies, you are the best at trading or hodling, than cloud mining.