Before you enroll
IDMC is a Member-owned cooperative that mines proof-of-work assets and shares the proceeds. That can be a beautiful thing. It can also lose you money. This page is the honest version of what could go wrong.
If any of the risks below are unacceptable to you, do not enroll.
1. You can lose your entire enrollment
Mining proceeds depend on:
- Network difficulty — more miners online means a smaller share for everyone.
- Energy costs — power prices can spike and erode margins.
- Hardware uptime — rigs break, data centers have outages.
- Market price of the mined asset — what we mine has to be worth something.
Any of these can move sharply against the Cooperative. Distributions for a given period can be zero. There is no guaranteed return on your enrollment.
2. Crypto is volatile
TXC, ISK, and other digital assets routinely move 20%+ in a single day, and tens of percent in a single week. The value of any distribution you receive — and the value of any treasury holdings you hold a pro-rata share of — can decline sharply and rapidly. Sometimes it doesn't recover.
3. Smart contract & protocol risk
The wallets, chains, bridges, and contracts the Cooperative depends on are software. Software has bugs. Bugs get exploited. A single critical exploit in an upstream protocol can result in partial or total loss of Cooperative assets, including assets earmarked for distribution to you.
4. Custody & key risk
- The Cooperative holds its treasury in multisig wallets. Multisig reduces single-key risk but does not eliminate it.
- The ISK wallet you supply (or one assigned to you) is yours to secure. If you lose your keys, we cannot recover the funds — that is the entire point of self-custody.
5. Regulatory risk
Crypto regulation is in flux worldwide. New rules in your jurisdiction may:
- Restrict your ability to participate.
- Restrict your ability to receive distributions.
- Require additional reporting or impose new tax treatment.
- Force the Cooperative to change how it operates.
You are responsible for understanding and complying with the laws of your jurisdiction, including all tax obligations on distributions you receive.
6. Operational risk
Hardware fails. Hosting providers have outages. Pinning services go down. Internet routes break. Any of these can interrupt operations, delay distributions, or, in a bad scenario, cause loss.
7. Counterparty risk
Where the Cooperative uses third parties — for energy, hosting, hardware procurement, custody, or settlement — those parties can fail, behave badly, or be compromised. We try to choose reputable ones and to spread risk. We cannot eliminate it.
8. No deposit protection
Funds sent to the Cooperative are not insured by:
- The FDIC.
- The SIPC.
- Any government deposit-guarantee program in any country.
If the Cooperative is wound down for any reason, you are an unsecured stakeholder of a DUNA, not a depositor of a bank.
9. Forward-looking statements
Anything we say about future yields, future treasury size, future protocol upgrades, future distributions, or future regulatory outcomes is a forward-looking statement — an honest best guess that may turn out to be wrong. Do not treat any of it as a promise.
10. Only what you can afford to lose
Please only enroll with funds you can afford to lose entirely without it affecting your housing, your healthcare, your retirement, or your family.
If you have any doubt, talk to a licensed financial advisor in your jurisdiction before enrolling.