My retarded highly uninformed take is that buying sats is a better financial investment for me personally. I guess distribution of hash benefits the network and further secures my sats even if just marginally. Idk. I always pretend I’m gonna run a node and buy a miner and then I never do.
Discussion
Running a pruned node is just too easy, idk why you wouldn't do it.
Maybe 5 total clicks.
The Bitaxe is an assymetric bet meanwhile supporting Open Source mining development & decentralization - no brainer if you got the funds!
My node running adventures have led me down some really interesting rabbit holes. Interesting for me anyway, since I don't have any computer/programming/linux background at all. I've learned a lot on the journey. Running a Bitaxe (or 3 😆) is fun and supporting open source development while enjoying another hobby is enough incentive for me to justify the expense to myself, lol.
But as nostr:npub1ugnq57hn8va6xqr5zywy2eunem6c624583vkt0dmv40ep7tnnxkqrr898l said, setting a node up is super easy now. My DIY Start9 just works without me having to think about it. Not like one I had going on bare metal a few years back that i kept on tinkering with.