Who is butterfly labs

The orders also include partially suspended monetary judgments. The Commission vote approving the stipulated final orders was The FTC filed the proposed orders in the U. You had to pay upfront, and then, when Butterfly Labs got around to shipping your machine, they'd send it to you. I firmly believe in the philosophy of don't charge until you ship. The idea that Butterfly Labs was willing to take money upfront, and then -- at some unspecified time in the future -- ship the computer, well, that idea did not appeal to me at all.

I did some additional research online and while some buyers indicated they liked the products from Butterfly Labs, others quite a measurable number of others were enraged that they hadn't gotten their machines after paying the full cost. More to the point, there was some time-value-of-bitcoin math that was making me more uncomfortable with the prospect. Some of the machines Butterfly Labs was producing, if their gigahash per second claims were valid, would pay for themselves within a few months.

But, if it became necessary to wait three or more months, the complexity of the bitcoin calculation would increase, and those machines would no longer generate nearly the value they would at the time of order. In effect, by the time Butterfly Labs shipped the machines, they might not be fast enough to mine enough bitcoin to recover their cost, never mind generate any profit. I fired up Excel and ran a bunch of spreadsheet simulations, using the GHS ratings provided by Butterfly Labs and factoring that against the constantly increasing difficulty of the bitcoin algorithm.

As it turned out, the numbers were good. Real good. But only if I could pay for and get the machine within about two weeks of placing the order. At that rate, it looked like I could double my money within about two months. After that, the value of the machine would plummet precipitously, almost to the point of having no value.

But Butterfly Labs wasn't delivering in two weeks, they were delivering in two to six months. I tried tracking them down and calling them, to see if there was any flexibility in their delivery schedule, but I never got a call or email returned.

By this point, my Spidey sense wasn't tingling, it was burning and yelling. It was yelling, "Run away. Run away as fast as your feets will carry you. And so, I ran away. I did not get into the bitcoin game. Frankly, with all the hijacking of wallets and criminal activity surrounding bitcoin , I'm quite glad I stayed out. But now, after the disclosure by the U.

Not only does the FTC have a bunch of complaints about Butterfly Labs, but their specific complaint that they used customer orders to mine bitcoins hits close to my spreadsheet calculations. Digital patient engagement and customized instructions ensure each test is taken in a timely and correct fashion according to protocol.

Contact us. Enabling telehealth companies to quickly and easily get started with at-home testing. Butterfly Labs. Proudly Built in Los Angeles. In June of , Butterfly Labs became one of the first pop-up companies to announce a breakthrough in mining technology: application-specific integrated circuits, or "ASICs," designed specifically to mine bitcoin 1, times faster.

At least two other companies cropped up, promising similar machines. Miners rushed to place preorders. Some became loyal to certain sellers; others hedged their bets by ordering from all three. Whoever got their machines first would reap a windfall in mining profits before the rest of the mining world caught up. Butterfly Labs promised their customers that preorders would ship as soon as possible.

But they soon became evasive, issuing a series of shifting dates. Instead, by most accounts, the first shipments started trickling out in April. While some customers received their ASICs — Wired magazine got one — many more started complaining about delayed shipments.

Some wondered if the products really existed. Others suspected Butterfly Labs had decided to use the machines to mine bitcoins for themselves. Some forum users claimed to have received their orders; others accused them of being paid by Butterfly Labs. It came out that one of the company's alleged cofounders was on probation after pleading guilty to mail fraud in a lottery scam. Soon, Butterfly Labs was arguably the most controversial company in the bitcoin world after Mt. Gox, the bitcoin exchange that filed for bankruptcy.

But while Mt. Gox was merely incompetent, Butterfly Labs may have been malicious. Plus, they were dicks. Customers who did receive their orders found they were obsolete. A Butterfly Labs representative said the delayed machines were only useful as a "room heater," according to the FTC. Despite widespread failure to deliver, Butterfly Labs began offering new products and services in an even more powerful bitcoin miner and a remote mining service.