I created a simple spreadsheet that shows the amount of time required to recoup your investment from adding an additional graphics card to the bitcoin farm:
Some assumptions, highlights, and thoughts:
- I used the formula provided on the Tarkov wiki for the rate at which bitcoins are mined, which is
0.05 + (GC - 1) / 49 * 0.15
- Right now the time to recoup the value of a 1 card farm is about 1.75 days, and the time to recoup the value of a 50 card farm is 21.8 days.
- Bitcoin value: I assume a bitcoin value of 124,245, which is the value at the time I made the sheet. Bitcoin value in Tarkov appears to be tied to the actual value of bitcoin. Bitcoin in-game is actually .2 bitcoins, as you can see by looking at the bitcoin image. At this time, .2 bitcoin is actually worth about 124,245 rubles in real life, so if bitcoin took a major dive or jump, we can expect that to be reflected in-game, and we can expect the price of graphics cards to reflect this change as well.
- Graphics card value: I assume the average value of a graphics card to be 260,000. The cost of a full 50 rack of graphics cards at this value is 13,000,000, which is about how much the T H I C C items case is on the flea market. Maybe some of you can speculate better than I can whether this is somehow tied together, i.e. you finish the Therapist quest, get the case, sell, it, and suddenly you have a full rack.
- Hideout cost: This does not factor in the cost of all of the hideout upgrades required to make the bitcoin farm. I already have the upgrades and I am really only interested in whether I should spend my hard-earned rubles on an additional card. Other redditors have made spreadsheets that cover the rest.
- Both bitcoin value and graphics card prices can be modified on the right side of the spreadsheet to provide updated values.
Conclusion: Assuming no wipe coming in the next several weeks, and not factoring in the opportunity cost of how else you could use these funds (better gear could win more raids, winning you more profit, investing elsewhere in the flea market, etc) you should invest in your bitcoin farm!