How to Mine Dogecoin: Types & Importance

With every passing day, more people are becoming interested in cryptocurrency, and particularly As the market for cryptocurrencies expands, Dogecoin. However, to understand this market completely one needs to pursue Blockchain Certification courses. Doge miners can invest, benefit from rewards, and take pleasure in being a part of this fascinating community that Dogecoin has established. But have you ever been interested in learning more about Dogecoin coin mining and its advantages? It is very advantageous to understand how to become a member of the Dogecoin community by engaging in Dogecoin mining, and there are many benefits to doing so as well. If you’re interested in Dogecoin, you need to know about the mining process and the environment.

You will be able to see the different elements and ideas related to Dogecoin algorithm mining as you read this blog.

What is Dogecoin Mining?

The process (or method) by which cryptocurrencies are created as a reward for successfully completing tasks that have been assigned to you is known as mining in the context of cryptocurrencies. As part of the transactional process, computer systems and cryptographic procedures are used to be able to solve complex problems. In return for the effort put forth by the miner, they are rewarded.

How is Dogecoin mined or obtained? However, there are some distinctions between the mining of Dogecoin and that of other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The hashing algorithm that Scrypt is the hashing algorithm that Dogecoin and Litecoin both employ.

The operating systems of Litecoin and Dogecoin are so similar that it is even possible to mine them simultaneously due to their close resemblance. It is however recommended that for mining cryptocurrencies, one must learn through the help of Blockchain Professional Certification training.

History of Dogecoin

It all began as a joke. The first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was an astounding technical advancement that allowed anyone to exchange digital cash for negligible fees and without having to seek anyone’s permission. However, since Bitcoin was open source, anyone could copy it, and at one point, everyone did, which caused clones like Litecoin and Peercoin to appear everywhere.

Product manager Jackson Palmer from Adobe Inc.’s The Sydney, Australia, office created Dogecoin as a way to ridicule the enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies. Following encouragement and interest on social media, he bought the domain name dogecoin.com.

IBM software developer Billy Markus wanted to create digital money but had trouble getting people to agree with his concepts. The software that powers a genuine Dogecoin was developed by Palmer and Markus.

Best Dogecoin Mining Hardware

Listed below are some of the best Dogecoin mining rig hardware:

What amount of dogecoin can you mine each day?

This depends entirely on the mining equipment you employ. You can mine 272.26543290 Dogecoin per day with a Dogecoin mining hashrate of 9,500.00 MH/s, a block reward of 10,000 DOGE, and a Dogecoin difficulty of 7,019,157.38.

Best Pools for Mining Dogecoin

There are a number of good Dogecoin mining pools out there, including:

  • Zpool
  • MultiPoolMiner
  • Zerg Pool
  • Prohashing
  • Alkapool

Also Read: Best Mining Pools For Bitmain Antminer L7

Types of Dogecoin Mining

There may be people who find Dogecoin mining less taxing and simpler than Bitcoin mining, but it is not for everyone. There are many different ways to mine Dogecoin, which explains why there are so many different ways to do it.

Mining Dogecoin With GPU (Graphical Processing Unit)

The odds are heavily in favor of anyone using ASIC hardware to mine cryptocurrencies now that it is readily available. Normal GPUs are unable to compete with ASICs because they have a much higher computational capacity than standard GPUs. Dogecoin mining with a GPU in these configurations is therefore no longer economically feasible as it was a few years ago. If you still wish to go ahead with the purchase of the GPU, here are some examples of some GPUs that you may find useful:

  • ASUS RX VEGA 64
  • SAPPHIRE Pulse Radeon RX 580
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX

Installing the Dogecoin mining software for GPU miners on your computer follows downloading it. If you want to mine Dogecoins, you can use CGMiner (for ASICs) or CudoMiner (for Nividia GPUs and ASICs).

You will need a number of things before the mining process can start.

  • Username for mining pool site
  • Worker name
  • Worker password
  • Port number and stratum address for the connection.

Dogecoin Mining With CPU

You can also use your computer’s CPU to mine Dogecoins, but doing so is not a financially sensible option. It is incredibly challenging to make a profit, and if you try, all you will get is an overheating computer.

In terms of CPU mining itself, if you still want to go down this path you will need Dogecoin mining software made specifically for CPUs, like CPU Miner.

Android Mining of Dogecoin

One of the upcoming cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin, can be mined using a variety of Android dogecoin mining applications, such as Doge miner. You can mine a variety of other cryptocurrencies in addition to Dogecoin using this small, straightforward app. Depending on your Android device’s capabilities, you may experience overheating when using this Dogecoin mining app to mine Dogecoins. There isn’t much profit potential with this mining technique.

Cloud Mining Dogecoin

A hand-off method for mining Dogecoin is to invest in a mining operation via Dogecoin cloud mining. You rent hardware from a large data center rather than owning any of it. You can join particular cloud mining pools that utilize Scrypt-based mining for a monthly fee. You can join two pools: Genesis Mining and NiceHash.

For those who are not interested in committing to the hardware and management required for mining, The best option is dogecoin cloud mining. These contracts’ nearly universal time-locking is one drawback. If you sign a one-year contract with a cloud miner, your return on investment might suddenly decrease if the price of Doge falls below your mining and electricity costs.

There are numerous sellers who offer hashing power for sale. However, since many cloud mining pools restrict access to information about their businesses, it can be challenging to decide whether a cloud mining contract is worthwhile. Additionally, there are sites that offer free dogecoin mining.

Solo Mining

Where can one mine Dogecoin? Solo mining is the process of a single person independently validating blocks of transactions. This type of mining not only necessitates significant computer investments, but it also uses a lot of electricity.

Pool Mining

Pool mining has a number of benefits over solo mining. To develop this system, a number of side-gig miners collaborate. A mining pool is a collection of users who pool their resources to share the energy requirements for Dogecoin mining and increase computing power.

Difference Between Solo and Pool Mining of Dogecoin

Listed below are the major difference between solo and pool mining of Dogecoin:

Solo MiningPool Mining
Solo mining is the practice of mining without joining a mining pool using one’s own equipment.For the purpose of adding blocks together, pool mining combines the hashing power of several miners.
This method is best used by mining farms because it is challenging for smaller operations to be profitable. Individually attempting this is not financially viable.The best strategy is this, especially for a novice doge miner trying to increase their earnings. Rewards are distributed among the participants each time the pool is verified.
The network already has hashing power, including ASICs, which adds to the intense competition.With the help of pool mining, which combines your mining abilities with those of other miners, you will be able to compete with larger mining operations.

How to Mine for Dogecoin? [Step-by-Step]

Before you start mining Dogecoin, it’s crucial to decide which mining method and equipment will be most effective.

Read more: How To Use BITMAIN ANTMINER L7 On Mining Pools

Requirement of Mining Equipment

  • A Dogecoin Wallet
  • Windows OS, Mac OS, or any Linux system
  • A mining pool address

Steps to Mine Dogecoin

  1. Start Mining Doge with an ASIC Miner

First of all, you need to make sure your ASIC is connected to the power supply unit, and that power supply unit needs to be connected to an electrical source in order for it to operate properly.

The Ethernet connector on the ASIC must be connected to the Ethernet cable in order for you to connect to the internet.

  1. Find Out Dogecoin Mining Rigs on Your Network

You can try Advanced IP Scanner, which is available online, if you’re looking for a free IP scanner. Once downloaded, the program needs to be run. When you receive it, you will observe something comparable. It is crucial to confirm that the DHCP server’s or router’s IP range corresponds to the IP range of your local network. The scan page will be displayed after you click the Scan button.

  1. Search for Antminer

After the scan is finished, you can look for Antminer. You can use the service by double clicking on it, which will launch the AntMiner page in your browser.

  1. Sign in with Your Username and Password

The username and password for the login will both need to be “Root”, which will be the default login for the account. Once you’ve entered both credentials, it will take a few seconds for your Antminer account to be logged in.

  1. Dogecoin Mining by Joining a Pool

The next action that needs to be taken is to sign up for a mining pool. One of the key deciding elements in a hash algorithm is regarded as the hash rate.

  1. Configuring the Miner and Starting Mining

When configuring the mining software, on the dogecoin miner configuration tab, enter the addresses of the pools you’ve chosen. In the section that says “worker”, you must enter the address of your You should now begin mining Dogecoins after saving your changes, according to Dogecoin top wallets.

Dogecoin Mining Profitability

Making an investment in dogecoin mining won’t instantly turn you into a millionaire. This business does not generate revenue. Since the cost of electricity and equipment is so high, it is not a good idea to go solo mining for you because any profits you make will be much greater than the cost of electricity and hardware.

Additionally, even if you decide to mine Dogecoin, the fact that it is undervalued in comparison to other cryptocurrencies can significantly lower your earnings.

Pros of Dogecoin Mining

  • Dogecoin mining uses considerably less computational power when compared to Bitcoin mining.
  • Nowadays, a lot more types of organizations can mine dogecoin.
  • The most recent adjustment to the Dogecoin mining rewards was made in February 2018 and now stands at 10,000 DOGE.

Cons of Mining Dogecoin

  • DOGE is based on an inflationary model due to the 5% inflation rate in Dogecoin mining.
  • For transactions to be confirmed quickly, Dogecoin blocks are usually set at 1-minute intervals.
  • Dogecoin mining is also less appealing due to mining limits and the abundance of Dogecoin purchasing options.

Importance of Dogecoin Miners

A problem known as “double spending” plagued digital coins before blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The end result of this process is duplicate coins. The process can be compared to sending files over your computer to someone.

When a file is sent, it is essentially copied and sent to the recipient. Ideal would be to cut the file before sending.

Digital coins function similarly when you send money to a recipient; both your balance and the recipient’s balance are immediately updated. In some instances, though, the person might not be sincere and merely duplicate the desired amount for himself before sending it, which would result in a duplicate. This is what is meant when someone spends twice.

The ledgers are instantly updated once coins are transferred to another party. In this scenario, the sender’s wallet will show a decreasing amount of coins while the recipient’s wallet will show an increasing amount. Spending twice has been stopped.

Dogecoin’s blockchain network consists of collections of transactions, each of which carries information about the transaction’s time. In addition to updating their records, other doge miner on the network receive the data once a block has been mined.

Doing so stops fraudulent transactions from being approved, which in turn prevents transaction duplication.

Dogecoin holds the honor of being the first altcoin to become well-known. Dogecoin mining can be enjoyable for many members of the DOGE community and a chance to gain some mining experience, despite the fact that it is not as profitable as mining other cryptocurrencies.

Which Mining Method is the Best for You?

Your choice will be influenced by a number of variables, including how much money you are willing to put up front and whether you want to own a Dogecoin mining rig. There are several factors that will influence it, including:

  • the sum you invested.
  • Mining with or without a rig
  • What kind of mining equipment do you use for Dogecoin?

Dogecoin mining uses GPUs and the cloud. ASIC mining is currently more profitable than CPU mining, which is no longer as profitable.

However, it is thought that one of the simplest ways to mine Dogecoin is through mining pools. When you use a pool to mine Dogecoin, your payouts will be less erratic. You get smaller, more frequent payouts after a block is cracked as opposed to a single, large payment. The best option is always to select a Dogecoin mining pool with dependable terms and affordable fees.

Filecoin Tokenomics: What hidden behind an Advancing Economy

Since the distributed storage network Filecoin released three major project updates in 2023 (FVM, data computing, and retrieval market) last week, FIL has continuously broken its own “ceiling” in the past week. The latest price of FIL has exceeded 9 USDT, 24 The hourly increase reached 21.35%. Next, Odaily Planet Daily will take everyone to understand the impact of the Filecoin token economy on token holders and the future ecology.


Introduction to Filecoin


Launched in October 2020, the Filecoin network introduces an incentive layer to the IPFS protocol and enables open data services. Today, the Filecoin network is known primarily as storage as an open service. However, an earlier article summarizing the direction of the network laid out a larger vision for Filecoin, also including “an infrastructure for storing, distributing, and transforming data.”
Filecoin’s “main plan” to execute this vision begins with accumulating massive hardware resources (storage capacity and computing power). This is important because the only way Web3 infrastructure can credibly replace (or even not only compete with) traditional cloud storage is if it can operate at orders of magnitude and scale beyond current offerings. While no Web3 protocol has achieved this yet, some progress has been made.
Furthermore, in order to drive long-term demand for network resources (capacity, retrieval and computing power), it is crucial to guide the network with efficient data and develop software and tools to enable computing and composable services on top of data. Ultimately demand for these services will be the foundation of a robust economy on top of the Filecoin blockchain.
Filecoin’s token economy was designed with this long-term vision in mind and helps incentivize rapid growth and development of the network. To date, the network has a committed storage capacity of over 16 EiB, with an explosion in the ecosystem driving demand for network resources. This growth and continued success is due to the efforts of the Filecoin community, an interconnected network of storage clients, developers, storage providers (SPs), ecosystem partners, and token holders.

Read more about what Filecoin is.

Filecoin Token

This global digital economy also requires a single effective currency for transactions. Since Filecoin is a permissionless marketplace with cryptographically verifiable goods, the design constraints can only be passed through the native utility token Filecoin. FIL tokens have multiple functions:
Pay for messages on the chain.
as collateral. Create economic incentives for long-term reliable data storage and secure subnetworks or shards of the blockchain as well as Interplanetary Consensus (IPC: Consensus Lab flagship project) in effect.
Burn to regulate shared resources (block space).
Unlike other storage networks, Filecoin tokens are primarily focused on incentivizing reliable service and facilitating on-chain economies. The storage market exists off-chain, but messages containing cryptographic proofs of storage are anchored on-chain. Crucially, this means that tokens can grow in value without placing undue pressure on users of the network’s various services (storage, retrieval, computation, etc.) ), token holders can still benefit from FIL consumption.

Filecoin FAQs

Token Economy for Token Holders

Token distribution of Filecoin

Filecoin’s cryptoeconomic structure helps ensure that the value accretion of participants is aligned with the long-term utility of the protocol. Therefore, the purpose of Filecoin’s initial distribution at network launch is to support a protocol that incentivizes sustainable value creation.
According to the current protocol specification, up to 2 billion FIL will be created. Of this, 70% is allocated to storage and related services (i.e. minting tokens to reward storage providers), and 20% (granted over 6 years starting October 2020) is allocated to Protocol Labs and the Filecoin Foundation to support network development , adoption and ecosystem growth. The remaining FILs are allocated to SAFT investors, beginning in October 2020, for periods ranging from 6 months to 3 years.
2 billion FIL is the maximum amount that can theoretically be minted and awarded. However, this may not be the amount of FIL that ends up in the network’s circulating supply:


The 300 million FIL held as a mining reserve requires a protocol upgrade to be mined, which means it is up to the community to decide how much should be released.
Network growth requires the use and consumption of tokens, reducing the available token supply. As of the end of September 2022, approximately 520 million FIL have been minted or awarded. Of these, roughly 70% are in circulation, as large amounts of FIL are burned (permanently removed from circulation) due to network transaction fees, or locked as collateral to secure the network and incentivize reliable storage. Token emission rates (vesting and minting) are expected to gradually decrease as the network matures, as Filecoin has a limited vesting schedule and a minting model where emissions are tied to network growth.

Token Supply: Net Inflow or Outflow

Knowing the net inflows or outflows that determine the token supply will help token holders understand the relative purchasing power of tokens.


In simple terms, minting, vesting, locking and burning contribute to the net inflow or outflow of tokens in the circulating supply. Below is the evolution of the Filecoin token supply since mainnet launch.


Currently, the network is being expanded. Token vesting from the Filecoin Foundation and Protocol Labs supports the development and growth of the ecosystem, while block rewards from storage providers reward transactions and the onboarding of storage capacity. This presents a huge opportunity for token holders to participate in the growth of the ecosystem, as they can lend money to Storage Providers (SPs), facilitate storage provider demand for FIL, and share in the resulting network rewards. In this way, token holders can retrieve token emissions while supporting network growth and advancing Filecoin’s vision.

Filecoin Ecosystem Roadmap: Implications for Token Holders

In the Filecoin ecosystem, continuous improvements in user programmability, data logging, data retrievability, scalability, and computation will be achieved over the next 3 quarters. These initiatives should positively impact token holders by supporting client needs, unlocking various network use cases, and ultimately driving usage of the token. Some of these important improvements and their potential economic impact are discussed below.

Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM)

The Filecoin Virtual Machine unlocks endless possibilities, from programmable storage primitives, to cross-chain interoperability bridges, to data-centric DAOs and Layer 2 solutions. In short, this means that smart contracts and user programmability will come to Filecoin. Expected to be released in the first half of 2023, this network upgrade should have a positive impact on token holders, as it may increase the use cases of FIL and may affect the “outflow” component of the circulating supply equation (FIL locked and burned).

Outflows in FVM and Token Supply

As long as there is an operation or utility on the network, FIL tokens will be consumed (burned) to compensate for the computing and storage resources consumed by chain messages. The introduction of smart contract functionality may increase the demand for block space, resulting in an increase in FIL burned. This token burn rate is in the hands of the community as network participants compete for on-chain resources.
Additionally, FVM protocol upgrades increase the amount of FIL committed and/or locked. Currently, the majority of FIL locked on the network comes from storage provider collateral. FVM introduces the possibility of locking up a large number of funds to support various smart contract applications. DeFi protocols are just a subset of applications that can take advantage of Filecoin’s efficient proof-of-work chain, not only increasing token consumption, but also generating new use cases for locking/locking FIL.
FVM is unique in that it brings new impetus to the Filecoin network. While today you can contract with a storage provider to store your data, with FVM, additional rules, automation, and composability with other services (e.g. DeFi) can be added. As the other components of the Filecoin roadmap (retrieval marketplace, data computation, etc.) are implemented, we hope that FVM can leverage Filecoin’s infrastructure to facilitate the implementation of more complex products, thereby promoting wider network adoption.

Filecoin Plus and Data Onboarding

Filecoin Plus (FIL+) is a practical solution to incentivize efficient use of the Filecoin network. Since it is difficult to algorithmically distinguish real useful data from generated random data, FIL+ introduces a social trust layer into the network. In the FIL+ program, clients who have passed the verification process are granted a new resource, DataCap, which they can use to conduct storage transactions with storage providers (SPs). SPs are incentivized to enter into storage agreements with customers using DataCap, as FIL+ transactions increase the amount of block rewards they receive compared to regular (non-FIL+) transactions, or by submitting storage capacity to the network. To earn these additional rewards from FIL+, storage providers offer more collateral (approximately 10x the collateral in the non-FIL+ storage sector) and lock more tokens on the network.


So far, we have seen a strong increase in data from FIL+ customers, which indicates that the number of effective global connection data (Data Onboarded: connecting offline and online data through tags, such as matching of B2B or B2C data sets.) is increasing. Increase.

From a token economics perspective, the continuation of this trend will likely increase the tokens locked on the network and reduce the circulating supply of tokens. What’s more, as the Filecoin network evolves toward its mission of storing efficient data, token consumption and utilization will grow.

Interplanetary Consensus Upgrade (IPC: ConsensusLab Flagship Project)

IPC is an upcoming network upgrade aimed at increasing the use cases that Filecoin can support while improving the scalability, throughput, and finality of the network. It is an exciting blockchain innovation. Scaling out chains via subnets (shards), IPC also has potential implications for the crypto-economy and could increase:

Due to the increased scalability and FVM utilization, the burning of FIL also reduces the gas fee for users.
The amount of FIL locked (or staked) as collateral to secure the subnet.
FIL consumption requirements for shards that support custom on-chain use cases.

Summarize

As a new type of data storage and application network, Filecoin’s mission is to create a decentralized, efficient, and robust foundation for social information. The sheer number of developments in the Filecoin ecosystem supporting this mission will have a positive impact on token holders. The purpose of the protocol’s token economy is to reward long-term participation and contribution to the network. Community participants can benefit from understanding the token economy, especially the sources of token inflows and outflows that underpin the token economy. Going forward, continued improvements to the protocol could lead to new and exciting use cases for the network and the token, potentially further driving token holder participation and actively driving the value proposition of this rapidly growing ecosystem .

How to Mine Zcash: Detailed Guide

Zcash (ZEC), which has a market cap of about $3 billion, is currently ranked 49th by total market cap. The market price of Zcash coin has increased exponentially over the past few months, despite the recent decrease in mining reward and rise in mining difficulty, making it one of the most popular cryptocurrency mining options. The Zcash repository is regularly updated, and it remains popular among blockchain developers.

This step-by-step guide on how to mine Zcash will introduce you to the fundamentals of mining and explain how Zcash mining rig is built and why Zcash mining hardware mostly consists of ASIC miner farms.

Zcash Mining Basics

Zcash uses a proof of work algorithm just like with Bitcoin mining, on top of it, ZEC mining implements the “Equihash” algorithm, that runs on ewbf miner. The Equihash algorithm was chosen because it lessens the difficulty of mining that is related to GPU or CPU hardware.

As a result, the Zcash network is ideal for new miners to join without making significant initial investments, similar to mining Ethereum in its early years. All you need to start mining Zcash is a basic GPU miner, a Zcash mining pool, and Zcash mining software like the multi-purpose Nicehash miner or the cuda zcash miner from ewbf.

Several mining farms also offer to sell you a cloud mining contract that gives you access to a predetermined Zcash cloud mining hashrate for a predetermined period of time.

What is Zcash?

This alternative coin was initially a fork of Bitcoin and was initially known as the Zerocash Protocol. The blockchain industry eventually changed the name to Zerocash and then, in 2016, to Zcash. Along with Dash and Monero, the currency is one of the original trio of privacy coins. Specifically in terms of privacy and transparency, it differs from Bitcoin.

All transactional data, including payment destination, transaction existence, and even transaction amount, is securely encrypted by the blockchain.

How to Mine Zcash

Pool Mining

Pool Mining combines individual GPU and CPU miner effort with other miners. Depending on the amount of computing power that each miner contributed to the network, the rewards of successful block verification are distributed among all miners within a pool.

Despite the fact that the reward is easily reduced in proportion to the number of miners in a pool, the likelihood of a successful block verification is high. However, most of the time, joining a mining pool requires payment. The NiceHash EQM is one of the most well-liked and straightforward products on the market.

Solo Mining

Solo mining is almost becoming obsolete in the era of profitable mining since advanced GPU technology has skyrocketed the network hash rate. Low processing power equipment cannot make any money as a result, almost. This is so that rewards are distributed evenly based on the hashing power provided by the participants, whose combined processing power ensures this.

Block Rewards

After each block has been verified, the Zcash blockchain distributes a reward worth 3,125 ZEC. Approximately every 75 seconds, a block verification will occur. If you’re a part of a mining pool, the block reward is split among the pool members according to how much computing power each member contributed to mining the block.

Best Way to Mine Zcash

When we’re talking about the best ways to mine Zcash, there’s no doubt that ASIC mining will outperform GPUs. Unlike ASIC miners, which have a fixed algorithm that cannot be changed, video cards allow you to choose to mine a variety of coins using a variety of algorithms. Now, don’t be hesitant to select an Nvidia GPU over an AMD alternative if you come across a good deal. When comparing those two, NVidia is certainly better. We’ll show you a list of the best ASICs and GPUs for mining Zcash later on in this article.

Last but not least, we advise you to join a pool if you want to maximize the benefits of mining Zcash. Mining pools combine the hash power of multiple miners, increasing their efficiency and ability to generate consistent income. Sounds great, right?

What You Need to Start Mining Zcash

If you’re mining ZEC with Zcash, you can either use your current computer or build a specialized one. Although they can be used to mine, laptops are less efficient than desktop PCs. Here are the basics you need to have covered if you want to start Zcash mining:

  • Hardware – ASIC or GPU
  • A Zcash Wallet
  • Internet Connection – min 1MB/s with preferably no Traffic Limitation
  • Enough Electrical Network Capacity for your prefered Setup

Keep reading to learn more about each detail because we have covered them all in depth in this article.

What Else You Need to Consider?

ZEC mining typically uses a lot of electricity and produces warm, humid air. You need to have prepared with at least a fan or better, an air conditioning system, to cool down your devices. More thorough details on the subject are available here.

You should also prepare a wallet; there are many GUI ones available on the market. This will allow you to use your coins and receive the Zcash mining reward. We recommend, that you visit our crypto wallets page, to make the best decision for yourself.

Make sure you carefully choose between solo mining and pool mining. We don’t recommend the first option because it’s going to take you a lot of time and it’s also a big investment. Additionally, it does not ensure immediate results. Mining in a pool combines the resources of the miners and produces a significant amount of hashing power. As a result, short-term earnings are significantly more frequent.

Another piece of advice from us: compare the features of various mining pools before choosing one.

You can move on to setting up your hardware now that you’ve decided on a wallet and a pool.

Best Choice of Zcash Mining Hardware to Buy

Bitmain has released a new cryptocurrency mining hardware, dedicated to the Equihash algorithm, which is used by the privacy-oriented Zcash. Its brand name is Antminer Z15. This is your best choice of hardware to mine Zcash at the moment. However, we are aware that it might not be simple to obtain, so there are alternate options, such as Innosilicon’s A9 ZMaster.

Setup Hardware and Software / Configuration

This section is going to present you the ultimate guide on how to setup and configurate your Bitmain Antminer Z15 is an example of a Zcash miner.

Get more information on How to Set up Antminer Z15

Let’s First Review the Steps for ASIC Miner Configuration

01. Connect Your Hardware

Connect your hardware to the electricity network and to the internet. You simply need to plug the cables into the appropriate sockets, which is fairly simple.

02. Choose a Mining Pool

Select the mining pool you want to join. Here is a list with suggested Zcash mining pools and their fees and reward systems:

Flypool

Reward system:PPLNS

Average fee:1%

F2pool

Reward system:PPS

Average fee:3%

Dwarfpool

Reward system:HBPPS

Average fee:1%

You can find out more about the Zcash mining pools on our mining pools page. More information on the rewards programs and fees is available there as well.

03. Access Your Miner

Enter the miner’s IP address or hostname in your browser. The default username for all Antminers is “root”, with default password “root”. (Read your hardware manual to check for the default login credentials and how to find the IP address of your machine)

04. Setup Pool Information and Restart

Go to the Miner Configuration tab. There you can enter 3 mining pools. Then, if the first pool is empty, it will automatically direct you to the second one.

Below is the configuration example of Antminer Z15 connected to Flypool:

URL: eu1-zcash.flypool.org:3333

Worker: Your Zcash address, for example.: t1ZW4wTjMXsFvEGsCxtrzUrkBJhv5aoTRC7

Password: Leave blank

Click “Save&Apply” and your After a few minutes, Antminer ought to be operational. If you see “Accepted” share, it means you are mining.

Zcash GPU Mining Setup

1. Install Drivers

For AMD GPU Miners

Access www.AMD.com and click the “Support & Drivers” tab.’ Then click “Display Results” after entering the GPU’s specifications.’ By clicking the ensuing “Download Button,” you can download the most recent drivers.’ But click the “Previous Drivers & Software” tab if you want to download an earlier version.’ However, for modern cards, we advise using the most recent miner drivers.

For Nvidia GPU Mining

Download the most recent drivers for NVIDIA GPUs from the NVIDIA website. The highlighted search bar is where you should enter the specifics of your GPU setup. Click the search button. Green is used to highlight the button. For the newest drivers, click the top results.

Note: After installing either of the drivers, restart your computer as you would normally do after installing any computer driver, then go to the Device Manager. From here, confirm that each driver was correctly installed and is being recognized by your Windows system.

2. Get a Zcash Wallet

After earning coins, you must keep them safely. Utilizing a hardware wallet is a safe place to start. However, there are three different types of wallets: hardware, exchange, and internet. You can find the Zcash client wallet by visiting the official Zcash website. However, a hardware wallet like the Trezor or Ledger Nano S is the safest choice.

3. Download Mining Software

Go to Bitcointalk.com and download the EWFB Zcash Mining Program for Zcash. Make sure the download is coming from an official Bitcointalk thread in order to prevent malware from being downloaded. You must find the most recent version of the file that is compressed.

4. Adjust Windows Settings

Windows Sleep Mode should be disabled. Never let the computer go to sleep while mining. Put 16GB/16384MB in the system setting page. Turn off all Windows updates as they could interfere with Zcash mining software. Make sure Windows Defender does not classify the EWFB program as malware as well.

5. Join a Pool

The majority of lone miners join mining pools to guarantee consistent profits. There are many Zcash mining pools available; we’ll try Luxor Pool.

6. Configure BAT File to Start Your Miner

Depending on the PC and GPU type you’re using, click the Windows — Nvidia Tab to create a BAT file. A miner script is displayed on the page that appears after clicking the tab. Copy this and paste it into the EWFB miner program’s “Flypool bat file” folder.

A bat file contains the instructions for starting/running the mining software. Afterward, include your Zcash wallet address on the bat file and finally save the bat file with a .bat extension.

How Much Can You Earn?

The Zcash mining reward is influenced by a number of variables.

First, the equipment and electricity supply in an area will hugely influence the amount of reward. If you’re a part of a mining pool or going it alone, that’s another crucial consideration. Cryptocompare.com provides a calculator where you can input the amount of power consumption, hash rate, and the cost of electricity per hour. Let’s take a look at how much can Antminer Z15 earn each day.

[qn_miner id=”12″ field=”desc-profitability”]

A specific profit ratio is calculated by the mining calculator for both the month and the day. To help you choose which hardware and software to buy first, we advise you to perform this calculation. Using the calculator will help you decide whether your capital investment is worthwhile considering the potential profit.

Conclusion

Mining Zcash has been popular for several years as a great alternative to Bitcoin or Ethereum mining. Like all cryptocurrencies, mining has become more demanding in terms of hardware power. However, the basic setup still remains the same. Therefore, we hope this guide helped you.

Is Kadena Worth Mining?

A new smart contract language called Pact, which has formal verification and upgradeable smart contracts, is used on the scalable public blockchain known as Kadena.

It also employs Chainweb, a recent Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus system that has a high transaction throughput at the base layer and doesn’t require any scalability or functionality solutions at the second layer.

Does Kadena’s proposed handling of blockchains make sense, despite its audacious and creative solutions?

Is Kadena Worth Mining?

Investing in kadena mining can be profitable if you have the right equipment.

Currently,  Antminer KA3 and iBeLink BM-K1 Max Blake2S Miners can be used to mine Kadena profitably if your electricity costs are less than 0.224 USD per kWh and 0.042 USD per kWh, respectively.

Although you can mine using a CPU or GPU, you’ll hardly ever be successful doing so. With the current computational difficulty of many blockchains, you’ll do better with ASIC mining. Although they are fairly expensive, they can help you recover your initial investment more quickly.

What is the Kadena Blockchain?

Kadena is a project that uses the PACT coding language for its smart contracts and is an open blockchain network created for maximum scalability. Kadena is based on Chainweb, a Proof-of-Work blockchain that combines multiple separate blockchains and makes use of them to solve challenging computational problems and verify transactions.

Together, these separate chains enable more transactions on the network, increase network scalability, and provide a secure environment for the deployment of decentralized applications.

How Does Kadena Work?

Kadena uses PACT, a smart contract language with a straightforward syntax for all users. In contrast to other smart contract languages, you can launch projects with the least amount of approvals and make changes to the contracts of already-running dApps.

The multichain architectural concept in With the aid of Kadena, it has a special method for handling millions of transactions without jeopardizing the network’s security or scalability.

Kadena a Good Project?

Kadena is an exciting project with exceptional growth potential. It uses a three-stage governance structure that gives it stability and consistent growth potential. The three levels are:

  • Account management level
  • Code level
  • organizing and leading fruitful community initiatives.

Kadena is appropriate for your involvement due to a number of factors. Let’s look at the benefits you’d enjoy:

Blockchain Technology

Kadena manages a distinctive blockchain network supported by a number of additional blockchains. Using a Proof of Work mechanism for security and validation while enabling scalability and sharing within its ecosystem, it is a leading layer-1 cryptocurrency.

Kadena uses its network of blockchains to ensure the highest throughput possible, with a potential level of over nine million transactions per day. In addition, Kadena has expanded its network chains from 10 live chains to 20.

DeFi and NFT Payments

Kadena is an excellent choice for payments and NFTs due to its effective cross-chain transfers. For example, you can use the Kuro Layer-2 technology to create fast payment options, crypto exchanges, earn protocols, and crypto-wallets.

Free Transactions

Kadena is a leader in a cryptocurrency gas station and boasts the fastest transaction speeds.

This decision will result in a significant influx of cryptocurrency users into dApps because the blockchain plans to gradually eliminate fees levied against cryptocurrency participants.

Safer Smart Contracts

Users can develop or launch their programs with no restrictions thanks to Kadena’s open platform for the creation of smart contracts. Using the PACT language of Kadena, they can accomplish this.

Using Kadena, you create your smart contract and introduce it on top of another decentralized application. The Kadena website also provides a number of step-by-step tutorials for creating smart contracts.

How Long Does It Take to Mine 1 Kadena?

As of this writing, 70 hours is the standard time it takes to mine a block of KDA. But it depends on the level of mining difficulty and the kind of mining equipment you employ.

With a network hash rate of 211.2791 PH/s and the current mining difficulty of 285.385P, it will take you between 57 and 70 hours to complete.

A block of KDA will be provided to you by the Goldshell KD6 miner in about 70 hours, whereas the iBeLinkBM-K1 Blake2S miner allows you to mine within 57 hours.

How to Mine Kadena?

Utilizing their mining client, chainweb-miner, is the suggested method for mining KDA. The Kadena network nodes receive all mining work, and block production starts. In accordance with the effort expended to mine it, the nodes then distribute the completed block back to the network.

You can mine KDA using ASICs, CPU and GPU mining by following the steps below:

1. Acquire Sturdy Mining Hardware

Kadena operates a hybrid blockchain system, but the proof of work validation mechanism necessitates high-end mining equipment. Investing in an ASIC computer will give you maximum profitability and enduring performance as mining difficulty rises.

Buy Bitmain Antminer KA3 – the Best Kadena ASIC Miner

2. Obtain a Key Pair

The chainweb-miner can help you get your Key Pair. The Key Pair gives you a public and secret key to use for Kadena mining.

You will be given an account with information before beginning the KDA mining process, and you can set up your username to use each time you need to access your mining account.

3. Open a Kadena Wallet

To keep track of your progress during the mining phase and to manage and withdraw our earnings, you need a Kadena wallet.

You will use your key pair and account, which you already have, to collect your earnings based on your mining potential. A great example of a cryptocurrency wallet for KDA mining is the Kadena node wallet.

4. Connect Your Mining Equipment

Make sure your mining software and pool are in sync. The F2Pool, which is compatible with the Bitmain Antminer KA3 mining equipment, is a great example of a mining pool you can join.

This mining pool provides you with the results of your mining records, helps you track and monitor the performance of your hardware and software, and shows you your potential profitability.

5. Begin Mining

Start your mining operation once your equipment is in place. To protect your KDA assets, be sure to keep your private key secure.

Can Kadena Be Mined Using a GPU?

Kadena is GPU-mineable. However, as PoW crypto, always choose robust mining hardware to enjoy your mining experience. ASICs are excellent for mining Kadena profitably.

The Proof of Work cryptocurrency can be mined using CPUs and GPUs on the Kadena blockchain thanks to PACT, a special language. But you should be aware that using a GPU to mine a block of KDA takes longer than doing so with ASICs.

Other Alternatives to Mine:

You can mine a variety of other cryptocurrencies. They include;

Final Thoughts

Investing in mining Kadena can be profitable, but only if you select the appropriate mining hardware and join a Kadena mining pool. You might need a few days to mine 1 KDN, but you might make more money in a pool.

7 Best Helium Miners to Earn HNT

In today’s conversations, it’s common to hear the terms helium mining, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. You can help yourself by being aware of the hardware requirements and how cryptocurrency is mined. The blockchain-based cryptocurrency Helium makes it possible to mine it with only a computer, a gateway, a mining device, and an antenna.

The cryptocurrency token, Helium (HNT), can be passively earned using the Helium Network, a relatively new and affordable option. For less than $600 CAD, you can purchase a Helium miner, set it up, and start producing HNT while you sleep.

Your site and miner must be chosen before you can begin a helium mining operation. Selecting the ideal Helium hotspot is then necessary to earn HNT properly. The Helium Network and the Best Miner to Earn HNT will be discussed in some detail in this guide.

What is the Helium Network?

In order to create open, decentralized wireless networks, the Helium blockchain network was developed. A peer-to-peer technology like the current WiFi technology is the Helium Network.

The Helium Network is different from a conventional WiFi network in a number of ways, including its open-source status, complete device-to-cloud encryption, dependability and scalability, and dedication to open collaboration. Additionally, miners of helium are paid for building and expanding the network.

Radio wave network activity validation is needed for helium mining. Proof of coverage (POC) is the term used for it. The annual electricity costs for Helium Hotspots are less than $10 CAD and they only use 5 watts of power.

What is a Helium Miner?

Helium miners can also be called “Helium hotspots.” Anyone can contribute to and take advantage of a wireless network of Internet of Things (loT) devices thanks to this diminutive router-like device. Connectivity over hundreds of kilometers is made possible by the fact that helium miners can send data for half the price of traditional cellular networks.

Helium miners can communicate over both short and long distances because they are peer-to-peer devices. It would be best to take this into account before choosing where to set up your miner. The number of other Helium miners in your area has a direct bearing on your ability to profit from it, as we’ll explain below.

How Does Helium Mining Work?

In order for helium mining to function, the Helium Network—also referred to as the people’s network—must be powered. Next, router-like devices similar to WiFi are then installed. Your router generates Proof-of-Coverage (PoC) challenges for other routers, extends the network’s data transfer range, completes PoC tasks assigned by others, and quietly keeps an eye on the PoC activities of reachable mining hotspots. In general, there are five ways to earn the most HNT from mining Helium, and they include:

  • Witness the challenge (up to 47.11%)
  • Be a PoC Challenger (up to 2.11%)
  • Network Data Transfer (up to 35%)
  • Join PoC challenge (up to 11.78%)

The percentage indicates the share of HNT mining rewards that you are eligible to receive for the chosen activity. Depending on your surroundings (and the hotspot device), you might complete one or more of these tasks.

It should be made clear that, like other types of mining, helium mining does not always result in profitable crypto mining.

Risks of Helium Mining

The benefits of mining are not assured. When you’re the only miner in a specific area, problems start to really show up. You are not allowed to take part in PoC activities or testify in that case. You need to be in the challenger position in order to consistently earn HNT.

These organizations produce PoC challenges, also referred to as beacons or challenges, for other hotspots. Then, in front of a nearby Witness, The Beacon accepts and completes the PoC challenge. All actions that result in rewards are completely automatic and arbitrary, you should be aware of this. Additionally, you don’t need to lift a finger once your smartphone is turned on.

What Are the Best Helium Hotspot Miners to Earn HNT?

The initial batch of miners was produced by Helium, Inc. They subsequently gave some corporations permission to follow suit. Check that the manufacturer of the helium miner is listed on the website’s official list of helium miner manufacturers before you buy it. We’ll discuss some of the best helium miners for HNT now that you’ve learned enough about them to be useful.

1. SenseCAP M1 Indoor Hotspot Miner




It is a LoRaWAN indoor gateway that performs well and is already set up to work. You can easily connect to The People’s Network with the SenseCAP M1 in just a few simple steps and minutes, and it allows you to create LoRa applications for a low cost. Miles of wireless network coverage and a high data transfer rate are provided by the SenseCAP M1 for LoRa/LoRaWAN devices. It allows you to benefit from the advantages of the Helium community while also supporting the infrastructure of The People’s Network.

  • Frequency Support: US915, EU868, AU915, KR920, AS923, IN865, RU864

2. Nebra ROCK Pi Miner




This new HNT miner is among the best available in the area. Using a smartphone will make setup quick and easy. It uses very little energy. It uses the same amount of energy (15W) as a broadband router. Nebraska ROCK Pi offers two plans: Basic (free) and Advanced. The advanced tier’s remote administration, which also includes device performance and stats, stands in for the basic plan’s auto-updating feature.

  • Frequency Support: US915, EU 868, AU915, KR920, AS923

3. Mntd.

One of RAKwireless’s Special editions is MNTD Helium Miners. It is easily accessible and has the most RAM. It is adequate to handle any blockchain issues that may arise in the future. Since every second counts, be especially prepared. This is one of the high-quality HNT miners in the market. It stands out thanks to a number of distinctive characteristics.

  • Frequency Support: US915, EU868, AU915, KR920, AS923

4. Bobcat Miner 300



For the HNT (Helium) coin, a top-tier miner hotspot is the Bobcat Miner 300. In 2021, it was the most popular and widely used miner. The Helium project connects individual hotspots with a LoRaWAN antenna to create a mesh network for external devices. Utilizing the Helium app on your iOS or Android smartphone, the setup is complete. This miner is the US 915 MHz version and is only meant for use in North America.

Additionally, this is a Bobcat Miner 300 with 2GB RAM, which is a more recent model. Included in the contents of the box are the Bobcat Miner 300 2GB 915MHz, 4dbi antenna with base, power adapter, and mounting screws.

  • Frequency Support: US915, AU915, KR920, AS923, EU868

5. Browan MerryIOT Hotspot Miner



The MerryIoT Hotspot Miner by Browan has 32 GB of eMMC fast flash storage and 4 GB of RAM, which complies with the most recent hardware requirements for mining HNT. Despite the fact that Browan Merryiot has an internal antenna, an external one can extend the range. Further distinguishing features include its eMMC storage, which denotes ultra-fast beacon discovery.

  • Frequency Support: US915, EU868, AS923, AU915

6. Milesight LoRaWAN Hotspot




The UG65 Helium hotspot Miner from Milesight is a helium-based variation of their UG65 LoRaWAN gateway. It is semi-industrial production grade, has an IP65 enclosure, and can function in conditions with humidity levels as high as 95% and temperatures between -40 and +70 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • Frequency Support: US915, EU868, AU915, KR920, AS923, AS923-2, KR920, IN865, RU864, CN470

7. Mimiq FinestraMiner



FinestraMiner is a high-quality Helium-compatible hotspot that gives you wireless network coverage to the Helium 5G network (People’s Network). Helium network is the world’s fast-growing and biggest LoRaWAN network. With FinestraMiner, you can link a number of loT devices to long-range wireless networks. It has a range of more than 10 miles.

  • Frequency Support: US915, EU868
  • Soon to be Supported: RU864, IN865, AU915, KR920, AS923

How Much Does a Helium Miner Cost?

However, Helium hotspot miner costs in the range of $400 – $1100 based on the region. The native cryptocurrency of the Helium company, HNT, is thus mineable at the Helium Hotspot and is listed on top crypto exchanges like Binance, Kucoin, Gate.io, FTX, and Crypto.com. HNT is also tradeable on the cryptocurrency market.

Helium partners with Internet providers which means; helium miners work on WIFI and this is one of the reasons a lot of people are getting themselves involved in becoming “the people’s network.”

Summary

The Helium Network is a fantastic way to passively earn the HNT cryptocurrency. Helium mining equipment costs have begun to decline. The reason for this is that the supply change has now caught up to the demand.

We strongly advise conducting your own research and deciding which Helium hotspot manufacturer to support. The sale of hotspots miners has been prohibited or blacklisted for a number of companies. You want a business that will support and update its products going forward. We considered this when compiling this list, among other things.

What is Cryptocurrency & How Does It Work? 2023 Guide

Cryptocurrency, also known as crypto-currency or crypto, refers to any type of virtual or digital currency that uses cryptography to protect transactions. Cryptocurrencies use a decentralized system to track transactions and create new units rather than a central authority to issue or regulate them.

Key Takeaways

  • A cryptocurrency is a type of digital asset that relies on a network distributed across numerous computers. They are able to exist independently of governmental and other central authorities thanks to their decentralized structure.
  • Some experts believe blockchain and related technologies will disrupt many industries, including finance and law.
  • The benefits of cryptocurrencies include less expensive and quicker money transfers as well as decentralized systems that do not crash at a single point of failure.
  • The drawbacks of cryptocurrencies include their unstable prices, high energy requirements for mining, and use in illegal activities.

What is Cryptocurrency?

With cryptocurrency, transactions are verified digitally without the help of banks. It is a peer-to-peer system that enables anyone, anywhere to send and receive payments. Cryptocurrency payments only exist as digital entries to an online database that describe specific transactions, as opposed to being carried around as physical money and used for exchange in the real world. When you transfer cryptocurrency funds, the transactions are recorded in a public ledger. Digital wallets are used to store cryptocurrency.

The fact that it uses encryption to confirm transactions is how cryptocurrency got its name. This means that the storage, transmission, and recording of cryptocurrency data to public ledgers all involve sophisticated coding. Security and safety are the goals of encryption.

Founded in 2009 and still the most well-known cryptocurrency today, Bitcoin was the original. A large portion of cryptocurrency interest is in trading for financial gain, with speculators occasionally driving prices skyward.

How Does Cryptocurrency Work?

Blockchain, a distributed public ledger that is updated and maintained by currency holders, is the technology that underlies cryptocurrencies.

The process of “mining,” which involves using computer power to solve challenging mathematical problems in order to produce coins, is how cryptocurrency units are produced. Additionally, users have the option of purchasing the currencies from brokers, storing them in cryptographic wallets, and then using them to make purchases.

If you own cryptocurrency, you don’t own anything tangible. What you possess is a key that enables you to transfer a record or a unit of measurement between people without the help of a reliable third party.

Despite the fact that Bitcoin has been around since 2009, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology applications are still at an early stage in terms of financial development, and more applications are anticipated in the future. In the future, the technology might be used to trade bonds, stocks, and other financial assets.

Cryptocurrency Examples

Numerous cryptocurrencies are available. Some of the best known include:

Bitcoin:

The first cryptocurrency and still the most widely traded was Bitcoin, which was established in 2009. The creator of the currency is widely thought to be Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym for a person or group whose true identity is still unknown.

Buy Antminer S19 – Best Bitcoin ASIC Miner

Ethereum Classic:

A fork in the Ethereum blockchain led to the creation of Ethereum Classic. ETC was developed as a result of an ideological and technical split within the community, similar to many other blockchain forks.

Following the fork, the blockchains for ETC and ETH contained identical older blocks, but their later blocks diverged. Although Ethereum and Ethereum Classic once had a similar history, they are now two distinct cryptocurrencies.

Buy Antminer E9 – Best ETC ASIC Miner

Litecoin:

This currency is most comparable to bitcoin, but it has moved more quickly to develop new innovations, such as faster payments and processes to allow for more transactions.

Bitmain Antminer L7 – Best Litecoin ASIC Miner

Ripple:

A distributed ledger system called Ripple was created in 2012. Ripple is a tool that can be used to track more than just cryptocurrency transactions. Its creators have collaborated with numerous banks and financial institutions.

Non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies are collectively known as “altcoins” to distinguish them from the original.

How to Buy Cryptocurrency

You might be wondering how to purchase cryptocurrencies securely. Typically, there are three steps. These are:

Step 1: Choosing a platform

Choosing a platform to use is the first step. Generally, you can choose between a traditional broker or dedicated cryptocurrency exchange:

  • Traditional brokers. These are online brokers that provide methods for purchasing and selling cryptocurrencies as well as other financial assets like stocks, bonds, and ETFs. These platforms typically have lower trading fees but fewer crypto features.
  • exchanges for cryptocurrencies. There are numerous cryptocurrency exchanges to pick from, and they all provide access to a variety of cryptocurrencies, wallet storage, interest-bearing account options, and other features. A lot of exchanges levy asset-based fees.

When contrasting various platforms, take into account which cryptocurrencies are offered, the fees they levied, the security features they had, the storage and withdrawal options they provided, and any educational resources.

Step 2: Funding your account

You must fund your account in order to start trading after selecting your trading platform. The majority of cryptocurrency exchanges let users buy cryptocurrency using fiat (i.e., government-issued) currencies such as the Depending on the platform, users can use their debit or credit cards to purchase US Dollar, British Pound, or Euro.

Credit card purchases of cryptocurrencies are frowned upon, and some exchanges do not support them. Additionally, some credit card companies do not support cryptocurrency transactions. This is due to the fact that cryptocurrencies are very erratic, making it unwise to risk incurring debt for some assets or possibly having to pay expensive credit card transaction fees.

Additionally, ACH and wire transfers are accepted on some platforms. Depending on the platform, different payment methods are accepted, and deposits and withdrawals take longer. As well, different payment methods have different processing times for deposits.

Costs are a crucial aspect to take into account. These may include trading fees in addition to possible deposit and withdrawal transaction fees. It is important to do your research up front because fees will differ depending on the platform and payment method used.

Step 3: Placing an order

Using the web or mobile platforms of your broker or exchange, you can place an order. If you are planning to buy cryptocurrencies, you can do so by selecting “buy,” choosing the order type, entering the amount of cryptocurrencies you want to purchase, and confirming the order. The same process applies to “sell” orders.

There are additional ways to invest in cryptocurrencies. These include payment platforms like PayPal, Cash App, and Venmo that let users purchase, sell, or hold cryptocurrencies. In addition, there are the following investment vehicles:

  • Bitcoin trusts: With a standard brokerage account, you can purchase shares of Bitcoin trusts. These products offer retail investors access to cryptocurrencies via the stock market.
  • Bitcoin mutual funds: ETFs and mutual funds that invest in bitcoin are available.
  • Blockchain stocks or ETFs: Through blockchain businesses that are experts in the technology underlying cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrencies transactions, you can also indirectly invest in the cryptocurrency market. As an alternative, you can purchase the stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of businesses that utilize blockchain technology.

What’s best for you will depend on your risk tolerance and investment objectives.

How to Store Cryptocurrency

Once you’ve bought cryptocurrency, you need to store it securely to prevent theft or hacks. The private keys to your cryptocurrencies are typically stored in crypto wallets, which can be actual hardware or online software. You can easily store directly through the platform thanks to the wallet services offered by some exchanges. However, not all brokers or exchanges will automatically offer you wallet services.

There are different wallet providers to choose from. The terms “hot wallet” and “cold wallet” are used:

  • Hot wallet storage: “hot wallets” refer to crypto storage that uses online software to protect the private keys to your assets.
  • Cold wallet storage: Unlike hot wallets, which use online computing systems to securely store your private keys, cold wallets (also referred to as hardware wallets) use offline electronic devices.

Typically, hot wallets don’t impose fees, whereas cold wallets do.

What Can You Buy With Cryptocurrency?

A computer, a cup of coffee, or even expensive items like real estate could all be purchased using Bitcoin when it was first introduced as a means of daily transactions. Although more institutions are accepting cryptocurrencies, large transactions involving them are still uncommon, and that hasn’t quite happened yet. But you can still use cryptocurrency to purchase a huge range of goods from e-commerce websites. Here are some examples:

Technology and e-commerce sites:

A number of tech-related businesses, including newegg.com, AT&T, and Microsoft, accept cryptocurrency on their websites. A platform for online shopping called Overstock was one of the first to accept Bitcoin. It’s accepted by Home Depot, Rakuten, and Shopify as well.

Luxury goods:

Some upscale stores accept cryptocurrency as payment. Rolex, Patek Philippe, and other expensive watches are available through the online luxury store Bitdials in exchange for Bitcoin, for instance.

Cars:

Some auto dealers already accept cryptocurrency as payment, ranging from high-end luxury dealers to mass-market brands.

Insurance:

AXA, a Swiss insurer, announced in April 2021 that it had started accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for all of its insurance lines, with the exception of life insurance (due to regulatory issues). The US-based home and auto insurance broker Premier Shield Insurance also accepts Bitcoin for premium payments.

Use a cryptocurrency debit card, like BitPay in the US, to make purchases at businesses that don’t accept cryptocurrency directly.

Cryptocurrency Fraud and Cryptocurrency Scams

Sadly, there has been an increase in cryptocurrency crime. Cryptocurrency scams include:

Fake websites: Bogus websites with fake testimonials and cryptocurrency jargon promise enormous, guaranteed returns as long as you keep investing.

Virtual Ponzi schemes: Cryptocurrency scammers advertise fictitious investment opportunities in digital currencies and give the appearance of huge returns by paying off existing investors with funds from new investors. Before the perpetrators of one scam, BitClub Network, were charged in December 2019, they raised more than $700 million.

“Celebrity” endorsements: A virtual currency investment is promised to be multiplied by con artists posing as billionaires or well-known figures online, but they steal the money you send instead of doing as they say. They might spread rumors that a well-known investor is supporting a particular cryptocurrency using messaging apps or chat rooms. The con artists sell their holdings after they have induced investors to purchase and raised the price, which causes the value of the currency to fall.

Romance scams: The FBI issues a warning about a pattern in which con artists convince people they meet on dating apps or social media to invest in or trade in virtual currencies. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre fielded more than 1,800 reports of crypto-focused romance scams in the first seven months of 2021, with losses reaching $133 million.

Otherwise, scammers may set up fake exchanges or assume the identity of legitimate virtual currency traders in order to defraud people out of their money. False sales pitches for cryptocurrency-based individual retirement accounts constitute yet another crypto scam. Then there is straightforward cryptocurrency hacking, in which thieves enter the digital wallets where people store their virtual currency to take it.

Is Cryptocurrency Safe?

Blockchain technology is typically used to create cryptocurrencies. Blockchain describes the way transactions are recorded into “blocks” and time stamped. A digital ledger of cryptocurrency transactions is created as a result, which is difficult for hackers to alter despite being a fairly complicated, technical process.

Furthermore, two-factor authentication is necessary for transactions. To begin a transaction, for instance, you might be required to enter a username and password. You may then be required to enter an authentication code that was texted to your personal cell phone.

Although there are security measures in place, that does not mean cryptocurrencies cannot be hacked. Bitcoin start-ups have suffered significant losses as a result of several costly hacks. As two of the largest cryptocurrency hacks of 2018, hackers stole $534 million from Coincheck and $195 million from BitGrail.

Contrary to money backed by the government, the value of virtual currencies is solely determined by supply and demand. Due to these erratic swings, investors may experience sizeable gains or losses. Additionally, compared to traditional financial products like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, cryptocurrency investments are subject to much less regulatory protection.

Four Tips to Invest in Cryptocurrency Safely

All investments have risk, according to Consumer Reports, but some experts think that cryptocurrency is one of the riskier investment options available today. These recommendations can assist you in making informed decisions if you intend to invest in cryptocurrencies.

Research exchanges:

Learn about cryptocurrency exchanges before making an investment. Over 500 exchanges are available for selection, according to estimates. Before making a decision, do some homework, read reviews, and consult with more seasoned investors.

Know how to store your digital currency:

When purchasing cryptocurrencies, you must store them. You may store it in a digital wallet or on an exchange. The benefits, technical requirements, and security of each type of wallet vary. Similar to exchanges, you should research your storage options before making an investment.

Diversify your investments:

Any sound investment strategy must incorporate diversification, and investing in cryptocurrencies is no exception. For instance, don’t invest all of your funds in Bitcoin just because you are familiar with the name. There are thousands of options, and it’s better to spread your investment across several currencies.

Prepare for volatility:

Because of the market’s extreme volatility, be ready for ups and downs. There will be sharp changes in price. Cryptocurrency might not be a wise choice for you if your investment portfolio or mental health can’t handle that.

Although cryptocurrency is currently very popular, keep in mind that it is still very new and is very speculative. Be ready for challenges when investing in something new. If you plan to participate, do your research, and invest conservatively to start.

Using a comprehensive antivirus is one of the best ways to stay safe while browsing the internet. You are protected by Kaspersky Internet Security from malware infections, spyware, data theft, and online payment security using bank-grade encryption.

10 Best ASIC Miners for Mining Cryptocurrency in 2023

Review and compare the best ASIC Miners for mining Cryptocurrency and select the best ASIC miner for mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies:

Given their high level of efficiency, Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) devices, or rigs, as they are known when assembled during mining, are the most effective for mining cryptocurrencies. They were designed especially for mining.

Since each ASIC is designed specifically to mine a particular algorithm, you can find them for that algorithm. This implies that all ASICs designed for mining Bitcoin can also mine all other cryptocurrencies that employ algorithms similar to those of Bitcoin.

This tutorial covers the top ASICs on the market today and how to use them to mine cryptocurrencies. We rank the top Application-Specific Integrated Circuit miners that you can use to mine Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies using the SHA-256 and ETHASH algorithms.

What Are ASICs

Application-Specific Integrated Circuits are made with a specific purpose in mind. Microprocessors designed and optimized for mining Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, and other cryptocurrencies that employ proof-of-work algorithms are included in ASICs used in mining.

This device has a circuit made up of several microprocessors. Today, that circuit, which consists of over 100 million logic gates, is crammed into circuit chips that are enclosed in casings. Each of these devices has ports or outlets that can connect to a power source, a computer, and the Internet.

It is possible to connect multiple ASICs together to mine with higher hash rates because we can connect ASIC to a computer using USB or other methods and USB hubs or other interconnections.

After accomplishing this, you can use a computer program to find its IP address, make a wallet, turn it into a mining pool, manage the ASICs, and configure the mining pool.

They are designed for a particular application, as the name suggests. They have more computer processing power than a personal computer’s Central Processing Units, also known as CPUs. Additionally, they outperform GPUs, which are also primarily found in gaming computers.

Fact Check:

  • Over the period of 2020 to 2024, the mining hardware market will expand by USD 2.80 billion at a CAGR of over 7%.
  • ASIC mining hardware will be sold at more retail locations, which are constantly springing up, which will fuel growth.

Mining hardware market:

Pro-Tips:

  • Before making a purchase, make sure the top ASIC miners and cryptocurrencies you want to mine are profitable using online profitability calculators. Price differences between manufacturers and new versus used products also exist for devices.
  • Verify additional details such as power usage, heat dissipation, noise, and reviews of the top ASIC miners.
  • Reliability and profitability are also impacted by maintenance. Better technology is constantly being developed, so it is always a good idea to estimate a device’s lifespan when purchasing it and later decide when to dispose of it before or when it becomes unprofitable.
  • In order to mine any cryptocurrency profitably, mining pools should be taken into account.

List of Top ASIC Cryptocurrency Miners

Here is the list of the best ASIC miners for mining cryptocurrency:

  1. Antminer S19 Pro
  2. WhatsMiner M30S++
  3. AvalonMiner 1246
  4. Whatsminer M32
  5. AvalonMiner 1166 Pro
  6. Ebang EBIT E11++
  7. Dragonmint T1
  8. Innosilicon A10pro
  9. ASCIminer 8 Nano
  10. Bitmain Antminer S17

Comparison of the Best ASIC Miners

NameWeightHash ratePriceOur rating
Antminer S19 Pro15,500 g110 Th/s$2,8605/5
WhatsMiner M30S++10,500 g112TH/s±5%$3,9995/5
AVALONminer 124612,800 g90Th/s$3,8904.8/5
WhatsMiner M3210,500 g68TH/s +/- 5$3,5574.5/5
AvalonMiner 1166 Pro12,800 g81TH/s$3,0004.5/5

Top ASIC Cryptocurrency Miners review:

#1) Antminer S19 Pro

Source: buyantminers19.com

Antminer S19 Pro – Best for most profitable The mining of cryptocurrencies using the SHA-256 algorithm using an ASIC.

The most profitable ASIC miner for Bitcoin and the SHA-256 algorithm at the moment is the Antminer S19 Pro. It is a popular option among businesses and individuals mining Bitcoin because it is produced by Bitmain, a top manufacturer of mining hardware.

Few devices are likely to outperform this equipment’s 29.7 J/TH efficiency offer. The device is made with a second-generation, next-generation 5nm chip specifically designed for SHA-256 mining.

It is without a doubt the most cost-effective and productive mining device on the market right now when compared to the other devices on this list. Despite being heavier, it also outperforms the S19, the other S19 Series product.

If you’re wondering how much money one can make using this ASIC Bitcoin mining equipment, you can anticipate a daily profit of about $12 at a $0.1/kilowatt electricity cost.

You anticipate this machine to use just $7.80 per day while earning $37.23 at this power cost. The annual profit is now $10,741.95. A 195 percent annual return is expected. A 186-day payback period is included with the device.

Weight: 15,500 g
Noise Level: 75db
Temperature: 5 – 45 °C
Maximum Hash rate: 110 Th
Power consumption: 3250 W (±5%)
Price: $2,860

#2) WhatsMiner M30S++

Source: buywhatsminer.com

Best for high efficient Bitcoin mining.

Whatsminer M30++ is one of the few top Bitcoin ASIC miners that can manage a power efficiency of 31J/TH (joules per Tera hash). It measures about 16.875″ length by 5.75″ width by 8.8125″ height. During testing, it was discovered that the device’s power consumption, power efficiency, and hash rates did not vary when it was in use by significant amounts. The algorithm used for mining Bitcoin and more than ten other cryptocurrencies is SHA-256.

It is more effective than the Whatsminer M30S+. It is made by MicroBT, a company with headquarters in Shenzhen, and comes with a plastic construction, a 6-month warranty, and a 135-day payback period. It uses LAN to connect to the computer.

Weight: 10,500 g
Noise Level: 75db
Temperature: -5 – 35 °C
Maximum Hash rate: 112TH/s±5%
Power consumption: 3472 watts+/- 10%
Price: $3,999

#3) AVALONminer 1246

Best for reliable and managed ASIC mining.

Canaan, a reputable producer of Bitcoin mining equipment, created the ASIC mining device, which uses a lot of power. With this miner, you can mine Bitcoin and other SHA-256 algorithm coins with a 38J/TH power efficiency.

A reliable integrated design was used to create the Avalonminer 1246. The power source is an AC 285V, 16A, 50Hz–60Hz supply. It easily fits, even in a cabinet, thanks to its dimensions of 331 mm X 195 mm X 292 mm.

For improved cooling, the device also includes 12038 cooler master fans that can withstand high temperatures. Two 7-blade fans are mounted on the front to draw in air, and the integration of the fans prevents dust from building up on the dashboard.

This further reduces the possibility of short-circuiting the device while using it. If the machine malfunctions and the hash rate is changed, the device has an auto alert feature that will notify you. It will shut down automatically.

The device also has a built-in chip that uses clever algorithms to analyze the hash rate and identify instances of hash rate fluctuations.

Weight: 12,800 g
Noise Level: 75db
Temperature: -5 – 35 °C
Maximum Hash rate: 90Th/s
Power consumption: 3420W
Price: $3,890

#4) WhatsMiner M32

Source: buywhatsminer.com

Best for non-profitable mining of cryptographic coins using the SHA-256 algorithm.

Although WhatsMiner M32 has shown little profitability, it is capable of efficiently mining SHA-256 algorithms at a rate of 0.054 j/Gh. Thus, it can be used for the ASIC mining of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin BSV, Peercoin, eMark, Unbreakable, Joulecoin, Curecoin, and Acoin. The dimensions are 230 x 350 x 490mm.

Although it has two fans to help with cooling, the noise level prevents application in residential areas.

When mining with this equipment, at a profitability rating of $0.42 per day, you anticipate a monthly loss of $12.47. It can be connected to SlushPool, NiceHash, Poolin, AntPool, ViaBTC, and pretty much any other mining pool that supports ASIC mining of the SHA-256 algorithm.

Weight: 10,500 g
Noise Level: 75db
Temperature: -5 – 35 °C
Maximum Hash rate: 68TH/s +/- 5
Power consumption: 3312 watts +/- 10%
Price: $3,557

#5) AvalonMiner 1166 Pro

Best for high hash rate mining.

It is possible to mine SHA-256 currencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, and others using AvalonMiner 1166 Pro. When compared to most of the devices on this list, it was released in August 2020 and manages a significantly higher hash rate and power consumption.

Given that it is produced by Canaan, a leader in mining hardware and one of China’s National high-tech enterprises, it is a well-known Bitcoin ASIC mining machine.

The device, which has a 16 nm size and an efficiency of 0.042 j/Gh, is still a profitable piece of Bitcoin ASIC mining hardware as of today. Additionally, it has four cooling fans. Depending on the electricity costs at your location, expect this device to give off $2.77 per day, and $83.10 per month, and $1,011.05 per year.

Weight: 12800g
Noise Level: 75db
Temperature: -5 – 35 °C
Maximum Hash rate: 81TH/s
Power consumption: 3400 watts
Price: $3,000

#6) DragonMint T1

Best for low temperature ASIC mining.

The Halong Mining Company produces the SHA-256 compliant ASIC mining device known as the DragonMint T1. It was released in 2018 and the company collaborated with a Bitcoin Core developer for this purpose. It can mine Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, and 7 other cryptocurrencies that employ this algorithm.

The FCC, EMC, LVD, and CE power unit certification is one of the features. It features a temperature control technique to cool itself even during hefty mining sessions. The system utilizes two 240V, 1480W, 9-blade variable-revolution fans. By doing so, they guarantee that the device’s temperature doesn’t rise above 77 degrees Fahrenheit.

Weight: 6000 g
Noise Level: 75db
Temperature: 0 – 40 °C
Maximum Hash rate: 16 Th/s
Power consumption: 1,480 W
Price: $2,729

#7) Innosilicon A10 Pro

Best for Ethereum mining.

First, a better ASIC mining device than this one is the Innosilicon A10 Pro+, which hums at 750 MH/s. The device is sold by the manufacturer, Innosilicon, with a 121-day payback period. It is an Ethereum mining device that uses the Ethash algorithm. It was made available in 2020 and has dimensions of 136 x 282 x 360mm.

With a 10 A power rating, it has a LAN connection. Reviews of Ethereum ASIC mining equipment place it among the most profitable miners available. You can anticipate the machine to make a profit of about $34.78 per day, $1,043 per month, and $12,521 annually, depending on the cost of electricity. The machine’s efficiency is calculated to be 1.92j/Mh.

Weight: 8100g
Noise Level: 75db
Temperature: 0 – 40 °C
Maximum Hash rate: 500MH/s (± 5%)
Power consumption: 950w (+/- 10%).
Price: $2,580

#8) ASICminer 8 Nano

Best for residential mining.

With its long lifespan of up to 50,000 hours spent mining cryptocurrencies, the ASICminer 8 Nano is very robust. Given the extremely low noise level compared to any other machine on this list, it is arguable that the machine will continue to operate even with 35% of the fans off and can be used in residential areas.

It can mine all SHA-256-based coins because it is a SHA-256 algorithm mining device. With a cool efficiency of 0.044 J/GH plus 10%, this is feasible. The machine has dimensions of 500 x 500 x 235 millimeters. Reviews indicate that this machine can produce up to $13.87 in daily BTC mining profits. This profitability varies for other coins.

For a mining company, two people can assemble 50 miners in less than an hour. It connects via a 10-meter LAN cable and has an integrated PSU.

Weight: 27000g
Noise Level: 47db
Temperature: 10°C to 45 °C
Maximum Hash rate: 58TH/s ±10%
Power consumption: 2500W±10%
Price: $1,200

#9) Bitmain Antminer S17

Source: antminers17.com

Best for non-residential multi-crypto mining.

The Antmienr S17, created by Bitmain, is a mining device for SHA-256-based currencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin BSV. In fact, you can mine more than 40 coins with this apparatus, and it still makes money for the majority of them. With a profit ratio of 55% and an annual return rate of 126%, it outperforms some of the mining equipment on the list.

The device has 144 chips and 4 fans to prevent overheating in a 7nm chip size. The gadget measures 178 x 296 x 298mm and has three chipboards. with a payback period of 288 days; it shows While producing the product, Bitmain is confident.

You anticipate that this machine will make a profit of $12.26 when mining bitcoin at an electricity cost of $0.1 per kilowatt. Your yearly profit would be $4,474.90 in this case. In contrast to all the other devices on this list, the noise levels are excessive. Moreover, the hash rate is considerably lower.

Weight: 9500g
Noise Level: 82db
Temperature: 5°C to 45 °C
Maximum Hash rate: 53TH/s
Power consumption: 2385W
Price: $1,590.99

#10) Ebang EBIT E11++

Best for fault-protected board mining.

This Ebang device can mine with SHA-256 mining algorithms, just like Bitcoin. It was published in 2018. The newest 10-million-dollar chip in the mining board market is used in its boards. Besides the two boards that work separately, it features a fault protection kit that must be connected to the breakout boards to prevent the possibility of damaging the board powered by 2PSUs.

Even in large mines, cluster management software systems can be used to monitor the Ebang EBIT E11++ effectively. The user can quickly change IP addresses, mining pools, and numbers with the right programs. The annual return percentage is 77%, and the profit ratio is 78 percent when used properly.

The manufacturer also provides a 470-day payback period. According to research, it can profitably mine bitcoin at a rate of $2.22 per day.

Along with the cooling fan, it uses independent heat sinks with bonding technology to control temperatures. The system operates at about 0.045 j/Gh efficiency. The device produces a lot of heat when the noise level is high, which is the case here. It is best to use it in non-residential areas due to the high noise level.

Weight: 10000g
Noise Level: 75db
Temperature: 25°C
Maximum Hash rate: 44TH/S (-5%?+10%)
Power consumption: 45W/T ±10%
Price: $2,024.00

Conclusion

This tutorial covered the best or most effective ASIC miners for mining Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other SHA-256 or ETHASH-based coins. The most important factor to take into account when choosing an ASIC miner is profitability, but you should also confirm the energy efficiency, heat dissipation, and cooling potential.

Purchasing a miner that can be used to mine different coins is also advised, and all of the options on the list fall into that category flawlessly.

The majority of the items on the list, including the Antminer S19 Pro, are excellent non-residential mining options as well. The best mining rig available for profitable mining is this one, and it isn’t even the most expensive option on our list. S19 Pro operates at hash rates exceeding 100 Tera hash per second when combined with the WhatsMiner M30S++.

For home mining, we advise using ASICminer 8 Nano because all the other options are too noisy. Innosilicon A10 Pro+ is the most efficient ASIC Ethereum miner, and once Ethereum fully transitions to the proof of stake algorithm, you can also use it to mine other coins.

Frequently Asked Questions

a) a profitable ASIC mining a?

Answer: Bitcoin mining is profitable if you have inexpensive electricity and when the equipment is effective. The cost of a cryptocurrency has an impact on profitability, even though changes in the mining hash rate are unavoidably influenced by demand and pricing.

It could be successful or unsuccessful depending on the economics of a specific blockchain and coin. It can be mined profitably using a mining pool. Using online calculators, you can quickly determine whether ASIC mining for a particular cryptocurrency is profitable.

In 2021, will ASIC mining be profitable?

Answer: In 2021, ASIC bitcoin mining will be profitable. A miner could produce 6.25 coins every ten minutes as of August 2021. The transaction fees that miners received after mining a block ranged from 5% to 10% of the reward. You can use an online calculator to compute and track the profitability of Bitcoin mining in 2021.

ASIC mining: Is it superior?

Answer: In terms of cryptocurrency mining, they are indeed superior to CPUs and GPUs. They have more processing power, which enables them to process much more data in a given amount of time.

Additionally, they use less energy and are rated in terms of hashing power or hash rate (hertz per second), either Gh/s, Th/s, or Mh/s. Terra hash ratings are at the moment assigned to the highest rated items.

Which ASICs can mine Ethereum, #4?

Answer: A hash rate of up to 3GH/s can be mined using the Bitmain Antminer E9 for Ethereum. A10 Pro is another Ethereum ASIC miner. The InnoSilicon A10 ETHMaster, Antminer E3, and InnoSilicon A10 Pro, each of which has a hash rate of 190 MH/s, are also available.

Which ASIC miners for Bitcoin are the best?

Answer: With the Pro version having 110 TH/s of hashing power, the S19 is the most recent and best Bitcoin ASIC miner to date. In addition to the S19 Pro, the miner also comes in the Antminer T19 and Antminer S19 models.

How do ASIC miners operate?

Answer: These mining microprocessor circuits are program- or application-specific and designed to mine a specific blockchain algorithm in proof of work algorithms. The hashing data in each submitted transaction is compared with preset data and a golden nonce as part of the intricate calculations that miners, also known as hashers, perform.

A nonce is a number that is added to the blockchain’s encrypted or hashed block and which, when rehashed, will satisfy the restrictions on the difficulty level. It requires quick guesswork calculations using the miners to complete them before the allotted time to mine a block runs out.

The calculations demonstrate that the transactions are legitimate, secure, and meet certain requirements before being approved for the network.

Bitcoin Mining is Good for the Energy Grid and Good for the Environment

Bitcoin mining should be hailed as an effective tool for a lower emissions future, not demonized as a monkey

The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) will hold a hearing this week on digital assets and the environment. The majority of this hearing’s attention will be given to the energy consumption of Bitcoin’s proof-of-work mining.

At its simplest, Bitcoin data centers (also known as miners) use computers to secure the Bitcoin network and process transactions. For this work they are rewarded in bitcoin (BTC). Critics have highlighted the large amount of energy use of bitcoin miners and argued that governments should either clamp down on bitcoin mining or force miners to switch away from the proof-of-work protocol and operate in a less energy-intensive fashion.

Satoshi Action Fund’s CEO is Dennis Porter.

Important context is missing from this criticism, such as the fact that more energy is lost in electricity transmission and distribution than the entire Bitcoin network consumes annually. The Bitcoin network would be weakened if governments attempted to regulate Bitcoin’s energy use or change how transactions are handled. They would also obstruct energy innovation, favorable environmental outcomes, and American economic opportunity.

Bitcoin Can Drive Renewable Energy Innovation

Bitcoin has the potential to expand renewable energy generation. The reliability, cost, and use of electricity from renewable sources are currently problems in American power grids. Each of these problems is addressed by bitcoin mining.

Due to the fact that they can only generate energy when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, solar and wind energy are intermittent. Much of this energy is generated when demand is low, and if this energy is not stored in batteries it is simply wasted or “curtailed.” As of right now, California is on track to reduce 5 million megawatt hours by 2030. This consumes more energy than the bottom 36 countries put together. Bitcoin miners are prepared to buy excess power produced by wind and solar farms, increasing the revenue for renewable energy production and avoiding the need for taxpayer subsidies. A win-win.

Miners can also smooth out the intermittent generation of renewables by participating in grid-balancing services. When ratepayers and other important sectors, such as hospitals and businesses, need power, miners will not only consume any excess wind and solar generation but will also reduce their own energy consumption almost to zero. In states that permit this kind of grid participation, miners frequently cut back on their consumption, ensuring grid operators can maintain the ability to keep the lights on and power costs low.

Miners have benefits beyond renewable energy. A powerful greenhouse gas that is frequently difficult to commercialize, stranded methane, can also be used by these technologies. From oil and gas operations, abandoned wells, and landfills, methane is frequently vented or flared.

Buy Bitmain Antminer S19 – Best Bitcoin ASIC Miner

Due to the fact that bitcoin miners can work from any location, they can convert stranded methane gas into electricity and use it to mine bitcoin, which has financial and environmental benefits. Former Greenpeace activist and researcher Daniel Batten has stated that it would take “around 50 mid-large sized landfills in the U.S. fully combusting their methane … to make the entire Bitcoin network carbon negative” – a feat which is nearly impossible for any other industry to accomplish unless they do so through the purchase of carbon credits.

These use cases only show a handful of the ways that mining bitcoins can lower overall emissions while promoting the expansion of America’s energy resources. Bitcoin mining ought to be seen as a powerful tool for a future with fewer emissions, not as a source of issues.

The Perils of Proof-of-stake

Despite these benefits, many have pressured those in the Bitcoin industry to move to another way to create new blocks of transactions, specifically a mechanism known as proof-of-stake. Rather than using specialized computers, proof-of-stake relies on users locking up their cryptocurrency for a period of time in a process known as “staking.” In addition to helping to process transactions and secure the network, this enables users to earn a passive income. Even though this method uses less energy, it has additional drawbacks.

Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), recently participated in an interview where he argued that every cryptocurrency—aside from bitcoin—was a security and fell under the SEC’s purview. The interview was conducted just a few days after the SEC brought an enforcement action against the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken for allowing its U.S. customers use their Ethereum tokens – ether (ETH) – to participate in “staking” to validate the A significant fine and a cease-and-desist order were part of this enforcement action against the Ethereum network.

In addition to these steps, Gensler has separately stated that any cryptocurrency using proof-of-stake may be a security and as such come under the regulatory authority of the SEC. Those involved in the Bitcoin space can prevent these difficulties by maintaining the current proof-of-work structure.

In order to strengthen the network and America’s power generation, the Bitcoin community should stick to its current course and work to promote renewable energy, reduce methane emissions, and make use of stranded energy. The primary goal of EPW is to strike a balance between basic American needs like energy security and environmental stewardship. Using bitcoin, America can accomplish this.

In light of this, in order to ensure the U.S. leads the globe in the next wave of energy and environmental innovation.

Is Cryptocurrency Mining Still Profitable in 2023?

The Genesis Block, the initial block of the Bitcoin network, was mined on the computer’s central processing unit in 2009 by a person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. (CPU).

As the network’s computer capacity continues to increase and the market capitalization of the first cryptocurrency approaches its peak, mining has evolved from CPU mining to graphics processing unit (GPU) mining and, finally, to ASIC mining. CPU mining will therefore be essentially useless in 2022 and 2023.

However, the mining sector is still developing.

Despite occasional setbacks, the cryptocurrency industry is still growing, luring more and more newcomers to try and claim a piece of the crypto cake, especially through crypto mining, which is now feasible in a variety of ways.

Is GPU Mining Dead?

The majority of cryptocurrency enthusiasts have relied on mining with graphics cards or graphics processing units (GPUs) for a while to produce their digital assets, but Vosk believes that this method is no longer economically feasible.

The only graphics cards that currently generate more revenue than they consume in the form of electricity are four, and none of them generate more than 24 cents per day. Moreover, they cost between $600 and $2,000, leading the YouTuber to conclude that “GPU mining is completely obsolete.”

Alternatives to GPU mining

Vosk has examined a number of alternatives to GPU mining, but there are many others.

1) Hard Drive Mining

Hard drive mining, for example, using Evergreen Miner v2, a plug-and-play mining option that generates an average of $60 per month, is one of the most practical long-term cryptocurrency mining options.

Vosk recommends it for mining Chia (XCH) because it offers a mining rig that is quiet, produces little heat, and is inexpensive to operate. Prices range from $299 for a very basic Starter Kit to $2,799 for the Starter Kit Pro.

2) 5G Mining

In addition, Vosk mentions Bobcat miners like the Bobber 500 as a way to mine Helium (HNT) using 5G cellular and LoRaWAN wireless coverage, though this is not a very appealing or lucrative option given that his 18 Helium hotspot miners have only produced $1 per day.

His unpleasant interactions with Helium and NovaLabs have also turned him off, which contributes to his lack of trust in cryptocurrencies. However, he admits that “5G mining could prove to be lucrative whether people love that or hate that.”

3) ASIC Mining

The Bitmain Antminer K7, the second-most profitable miner after the Bitmain Antminer KA3 model, is another viable alternative to GPU and CPU mining that Vosk suggests, though he emphasizes that because it is a relatively new product on the market, the profit figures can change significantly.

Furthermore, he mentioned the Bitmain Antminer L7, which is available at the mining rig reseller CoinMining Central at the price of $10,725 a piece, whereas the K7 costs $5,728, slightly more expensive than on Bitmain’s website but comparably more available.

4) Equihash Mining

Furthermore, Vosk discussed Equihash mining, the algorithm that enables mining cryptocurrencies resistant to ASICs like Zcash (ZEC), which he advises taking into account despite criticism and derision of the token as “Z-trash” from many.’

Currently, there is only one miner showing up as profitable for mining Equihash cryptocurrencies – Bitmain Antminer Z15 from 2020 – which Vosk doesn’t see as very viable considering it is already three years old, and he projects many new Equihash mining devices replacing it very soon.

Crypto Mining is Still Profitable

Vosk’s final piece of advice is for viewers who already have equipment that makes a few dollars per day to keep using it, but to ultimately consider which option is best for them by running the numbers and comparing electricity rates.

Another choice is to build a crypto mining rig from the ground up, which may seem difficult to a beginner but, with some assistance, can become a fun and perhaps very rewarding activity that could pay off in the future, depending on the circumstances in the crypto field (and beyond).

However, using solar energy to mine cryptocurrency might be the best option, despite being a weaker one and with variable results, if independence from the local grid and compensating the electricity waste produced by mining Bitcoin (BTC) sound more appealing.

Key Terminologies

Cryptographic Puzzle – A decryption key is required to solve this particular type of puzzle because it uses cryptography to hide a secret message or piece of information.

Non Fungible Tokens – The ownership, provenance, and authenticity of these distinctive digital assets are confirmed using blockchain technology.

Mining Pool – It is a collective of cryptocurrency miners who pool their computing power to increase their chances of cracking cryptographic puzzles and obtaining rewards, which are then divided among the pool’s participants.

Mining Rewards – These are the rewards received by cryptocurrency miners for resolving difficult cryptographic conundrums and confirming transactions on a blockchain network, which typically take the form of freshly created coins and transaction fees.

Crypto Mining – It is a fiercely competitive, resource-intensive process that is becoming more specialized. The market is dominated by large-scale mining operations, which need specialized equipment and easy access to cheap energy.

Block Reward – It is the sum of cryptocurrency awarded to miners for successfully adding a new block to a blockchain network, and it frequently consists of freshly created coins and transaction fees.

How Does Bitcoin Mining Work? Full Guide

Bitcoin

Bitcoin mining is referred to as the method of verifying Bitcoin transactions on the blockchain and generating new Bitcoin just like a central bank printing new fiat currency.

These are the other elements involved in Bitcoin mining as well as how Bitcoins are actually mined.

Understanding Blockchain and Bitcoin

Before understanding how Bitcoins are actually mined, it is important to understand the concept of blockchain and Bitcoin.

Consider blockchain as a central ledger where all cryptocurrency transactions are kept track of. A blockchain is a specific type of digital data structure that enables the sharing of a ledger of digital transactions among a distributed network of computers. In short, a blockchain is a way of digitally documenting data on a distributed ledger.

A blockchain network, which is the foundation of Bitcoin, is made up entirely of computers and typically stores and records transactions. Only after each block has been examined and approved by miners are transactions added to the blockchain. Since the transactions are now already on the blockchain, it is no longer possible to change them after this.

Digital currencies such as Bitcoin use the distributed ledger technology, which is a unique feature of blockchain technology as it ensures no records can be altered, and thus offers a much better transparency of transactions. The Bitcoin blockchain network uses the latest cryptographic algorithm techniques of SHA-256, which is responsible for converting the data into a unique string of characters.

What is Bitcoin Mining?

The process by which new bitcoins are placed into circulation is known as bitcoin mining. It is an essential part of the development and maintenance of the blockchain ledger and is also how the network confirms new transactions. “Mining” is performed using sophisticated hardware that solves an extremely complex computational math problem. The next block of bitcoins is distributed to the first computer to solve the issue, and the cycle repeats.

Mining for cryptocurrencies is time-consuming, expensive, and only occasionally profitable. However, due to the fact that miners are compensated in cryptocurrency tokens for their efforts, mining has a magnetic draw for many investors who are interested in cryptocurrencies. This may be because entrepreneurial types see mining as pennies from heaven, like California gold prospectors in 1849. Why not do it if you have a flair for technology?

The bitcoin reward that miners receive encourages people to help with the main goal of mining, which is to legitimate and oversee Bitcoin transactions in order to ensure their validity. Because many users all over the world share these responsibilities, Bitcoin is a “decentralized” cryptocurrency, or one that does not rely on any central authority like a central bank or government to oversee its regulation.

However, before you invest the time and equipment, read this explainer to see whether mining is really for you.

Key Takeaways

  • You can earn cryptocurrency through mining without having to pay any upfront costs.
  • Bitcoin miners receive bitcoin as a reward for completing “blocks” of verified transactions, which are added to the blockchain.
  • The miner who solves a difficult hashing puzzle first receives mining rewards, and the likelihood that a participant will find the solution is correlated with their share of the network’s overall mining power.
  • To set up a mining rig, you need either an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a graphics processing unit (GPU).

Throughout, we use “Bitcoin” with a capital “B” when referring to the network or the cryptocurrency as a concept, and “bitcoin” with a small “b” when we’re referring to a quantity of individual tokens.

Why Bitcoin Needs Miners

Blockchain “mining” is a metaphor for the computational work that nodes in the network undertake in hopes of earning new tokens. Actually, miners are essentially being compensated for acting as auditors. They are doing the work of verifying the legitimacy of Bitcoin transactions. This convention is meant to keep Bitcoin users honest and was conceived by Bitcoin’s founder, Satoshi Nakamoto.1 By verifying transactions, miners are helping to prevent the “double-spending problem.”

Double spending is the illegal use of the same bitcoin by the same Bitcoin owner twice. With physical money, this isn’t a problem: When you hand someone a $20 bill to buy a bottle of booze, you no longer have it, so there’s no chance you could use it to buy lottery tickets next door. Contrary to popular belief, it is not physically possible to spend the same dollar twice. With digital currency, however, as the Investopedia dictionary explains, “there is a risk that the holder could make a copy of the digital token and send it to a merchant or another party while retaining the original.”

Let’s say you had one legitimate $20 bill and one counterfeit of that same $20. If you were to try to spend both the real bill and the fake one, someone who took the trouble of looking at both of the bills’ serial numbers would see that they were the same number, and thus one of them had to be false. An analogous task is performed by blockchain miners, who examine transactions to make sure users haven’t attempted to spend the same bitcoin twice inadvertently. The reason why this isn’t a perfect analogy is explained in more detail below.

Only 1 megabyte of transaction data can fit into a single bitcoin block. Satoshi Nakamoto set the block size limit at 1MB, but this has caused controversy because some miners think it should be increased to accommodate more data. If so, the Bitcoin network would be able to process and verify transactions more quickly.

Types of Bitcoin Mining

There are various methods and forms of mining bitcoin that each produce varying amounts of hashing power and block rewards. Here are the various ways that one can mine Bitcoin:

CPU Mining

Central processing units (CPUs), also referred to as the brain of a computer and containing all the circuitry needed to process input and output results, were used to mine Bitcoin when it was first introduced in 2009 and for the first time. Because there were few miners and Bitcoin was still in its infancy, it was simple to mine bitcoins using CPUs in the early days.

GPU Mining

GPU mining gradually entered the scene as graphics processing units (GPUs) became more and more competitive as Bitcoin’s acceptance and popularity grew over time.

GPUs based systems, which are mainly used for gaming, modern video editing, proved to be more efficient for mining with better hash rate than CPUs. 2010 saw the introduction of the initial GPU mining software. However, Bitcoin GPU mining was only used for a brief period before being replaced by ASIC hardware by 2015.

ASIC Mining

ASIC, or application-specific integrated circuit, is a type of hardware made specifically for mining cryptocurrencies. It was launched in 2012, and proved to be 200 times more powerful than basic GPU miners. However, ASIC mining rigs are very expensive, with prices ranging from $2,000 to $15,000. Buying ASIC miners might be very expensive because of variable power consumption, fluctuating electricity costs, and network challenges. The two most widely used ASIC miner brands at the moment are Bitmain Antminer and MicroBT Whatsminer.

Buy Antminer S19 – Most Profitable Bitcoin Mining Rig

The Bitmain Antminer S19 series, Bitmain Antminer S17 series, and Bitmain Antminer S9 series are just a few of the new Bitcoin mining machines that Bitmain has released.

Another excellent option for Bitcoin mining is the MicroBT Whatsminer M20, Whatsminer M30, and Whatsminer M50 series.

FPGA Mining

Field-programmable gate arrays, also known as FPGAs, are faster and more cost-effective than ASIC and GPU mining, respectively. As opposed to ASIC miners, which are designed to be locked into mining a single coin or algorithm, FPGAs are able to maintain strong hashing power. The kind of hardware technology gives flexibility to the miner to reuse the set-up if they change your mining activity for something else. Crypto enthusiasts who don’t want to spend a fortune on mining equipment should consider FPGA miners.

Cloud Mining

This is the most recent method of mining Bitcoins, where the miner can purchase a contract from a cloud mining provider who specializes in cryptocurrency mining equipment or a cloud mining service. This enables the miner to mine bitcoins without having to pay the setup costs and maintenance costs associated with mining hardware. However, one must be extremely careful when selecting a reputable cloud miner in order to avoid any scams or frauds.

Why Mine Bitcoin?

In addition to lining the pockets of miners and supporting the Bitcoin ecosystem, mining serves another vital purpose: It is the only way to release new cryptocurrency into circulation. In other words, miners are basically “minting” currency. For instance, out of a total of 21 million bitcoins, there were just under 19 million in use as of March 2022.

All of those bitcoins were created by miners, with the exception of those that were created through the genesis block, the very first block that creator Satoshi Nakamoto created. The Bitcoin network would continue to function without miners, but no new bitcoins would ever be created. However, because the rate of bitcoin “mined” is reduced over time, the final bitcoin won’t be circulated until around the year 2140. This does not mean that transactions will cease to be verified. Miners will continue to verify transactions and will be paid fees for doing so in order to keep the integrity of Bitcoin’s network.

To earn new bitcoins, you need to be the first miner to arrive at the right answer, or closest answer, to a numeric problem. Proof of work (PoW) is another name for this procedure. For this proof-of-work activity to start, mining must be started in order to start looking for the solution to the puzzle.

There isn’t really any complex math or computation involved. You may have heard that miners are solving difficult mathematical problems—that’s true but not because the math itself is hard. What they’re actually doing is trying to be the first miner to come up with a 64-digit hexadecimal number (a “hash”) that is less than or equal to the target hash. Essentially, it is speculation.

Since there are trillions of different guesses that could be made for each of these problems, it is a matter of randomness, but it is still a very laborious task. Additionally, as more miners join the mining network, the number of potential solutions (also known as the level of mining difficulty) only grows. Miners need a lot of processing power to solve a problem first. To mine successfully, you need to have a high “hash rate,” which is measured in terms gigahashes per second (terahashes per second (TH/s) and gigahertz (GH/s).

Aside from the short-term payoff of newly minted bitcoins, being a coin miner can also give you “voting” power when changes are proposed in the Blockchain protocol. A Bitcoin Improvement Protocol (BIP) is what is used in this situation. In other words, miners have some degree of control over decisions regarding things like forking. You need to vote for these initiatives more often the more hash power you have.

How Much a Miner Earns

The rewards for Bitcoin mining are reduced by half roughly every four years.1 In 2009, when bitcoin was first being mined, one block would bring in 50 BTC. This was reduced to 25 BTC in 2012 by half. At 12.5 BTC in 2016, this had once more been cut in half. On May 11, 2020, the reward halved again to 6.25 BTC. You would have made $243,750 (6.25 x 39,000) for completing a block as of March 2022, when the price of Bitcoin was approximately $39,000 per bitcoin. Not a bad incentive to solve that complex hash problem detailed above, it might seem.

You can check the Bitcoin Clock, which continuously updates this information, to keep track of when these halvings will take place. It’s interesting to note that over the course of its history, the market price of Bitcoin has frequently tended to closely track the decline in the number of new coins put into circulation. Due to historically rising prices and increasing scarcity, the inflation rate’s decline increased the price.

Take Whatsminer M21S as an example:

[qn_miner id=”261″ field=”desc-profitability”]

The website CryptoCompare provides a helpful calculator that you can use to estimate how much bitcoin you could mine using your mining rig’s hash rate. Similar tools are available on other websites.

What You Need to Mine Bitcoins

Buy Whatsminer – A leading brand of mining hardware.

Earlier in Bitcoin’s history, it was possible for users to compete for blocks using a standard home computer, but this is no longer the case. The reason for this is that the difficulty of mining Bitcoin changes over time.

The Bitcoin network strives to have one block generated approximately every 10 minutes in order to ensure that the blockchain operates without a hitch and can process and verify transactions. However, if there are 1 million mining rigs competing to solve the hash problem, they’ll likely reach a solution faster than a scenario in which 10 mining rigs are working on the same problem. For that reason, Bitcoin is designed to evaluate and adjust the difficulty of mining every 2,016 blocks, or roughly every two weeks.1

When there is more computing power collectively working to mine for bitcoins, the difficulty level of mining increases in order to keep block production at a stable rate. The level of difficulty decreases as computing power is reduced. At today’s network size, a personal computer mining for bitcoin will almost certainly find nothing.

Mining Hardware

All of this means that miners must now make investments in high-end computer hardware like a graphics processing unit (GPU) or, more realistically, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) in order to mine effectively. These can cost anywhere from $500 to several thousand dollars. Some miners, especially Ethereum miners, purchase individual graphics cards as a cheap way to put mining operations together.

ASIC machines, which in this case are designed specifically to mine bitcoins, make up the majority of today’s bitcoin mining equipment. Today’s ASICs are many orders of magnitude more powerful than CPUs or GPUs and gain both more hashing power and energy efficiency every few months as new chips are developed and deployed. With just 27.5 joules per terahash, modern miners can produce close to 200 TH/s.

An Analogy

Let’s imagine that after telling three friends that I’m thinking of a number between one and 100, I write that number down on a piece of paper and enclose it in an envelope. My friends just have to be the first to guess any number that is less than or equal to the given number. They don’t even have to guess the exact number. They can make as many guesses as they want, with no upper limit.

Let’s say I’m considering the number 19. Because 21 > 19, if Friend A guesses 21, they lose. In the event that Friend B guesses 16 and Friend C guesses 12, they have both theoretically arrived at workable solutions because 16 19 and 12 19 respectively. There is no “extra credit” for Friend B, even though B’s response came closer to the desired outcome of 19 than did B. Now imagine that I pose the “guess what number I’m thinking of” question, but I’m not asking just three people, and I’m not imagining a number between 1 and 100. I’m thinking of a 64-digit hexadecimal number instead, and I’m asking millions of would-be miners. You can now see that it will be very challenging to make the correct guess. The system collapses if B and C give their responses at the same time.

Although there are frequently multiple correct answers in the context of Bitcoin, ultimately there can only be one. The Bitcoin network will choose which miner to honor by a simple majority of 51 percent when multiple concurrent answers are given that are equal to or less than the target number.

Usually, the miner who has worked the hardest or, to put it another way, the one who has verified the most transactions, wins. The losing block then becomes an “orphan block.” A block that is not added to the blockchain is an orphan block. Miners who successfully solve the hash problem but haven’t verified the most transactions are not rewarded with bitcoin.

The Mining Process

What is a ’64-Digit Hexadecimal Number’?

Here is an example of such a number:

0000000000000000057fcc708cf0130d95e27c5819203e9f967ac56e4df598ee

There are 64 digits in the number above. So far, comprehension isn’t too difficult. As you probably noticed, that number also includes letters from the alphabet in addition to numbers. Why is that?

To understand what these letters are doing in the middle of numbers, let’s unpack the word “hexadecimal.”

The decimal system uses factors of 100 as its base (e.g., 1% = 0.01). This, in turn, means that every digit of a multi-digit number has 100 possibilities, zero through 99. In computing, the decimal system is simplified to base 10, or zero through nine.

“Hexadecimal,” on the other hand, means base 16 because “hex” is derived from the Greek word for six, and “deca” is derived from the Greek word for 10, which has a hexadecimal system with 16 possible digit combinations. However, our numeric system only supports ten different ways to represent numbers (zero through nine). You must therefore add letters, specifically letters A, B, C, D, E, and F.

The hash’s total value, which is a 64-digit number, does not need to be determined if you are mining bitcoin. I’ll say it again: You don’t have to figure out a hash’s total value.

What Do ’64-digit Hexadecimal Numbers’ Have to Do With Bitcoin Mining?

Do you recall the analogy where the number 19 was written on a piece of paper and placed in a sealed envelope? The metaphorical unpublished number in the envelope is known as the target hash in the context of bitcoin mining.

Miners are making educated guesses about the target hash using those massive computers and numerous cooling fans. Miners make these guesses by randomly generating as many “nonces” as possible, as quickly as possible. A nonce is short for “number only used once,” and the nonce is the key to generating these 64-bit hexadecimal numbers As I keep mentioning, a nonce in Bitcoin mining is 32 bits in size, which is considerably less than the hash, which is 256 bits. The credit for finishing that block and 6.25 BTC are given to the first miner whose nonce generates a hash that is less than or equal to the target hash.

Although rolling a 16-sided die 64 times to generate random numbers theoretically could lead to the same result, why on earth would you want to do that?

The screenshot below, taken from the site Blockchain.info, might help you put all this information together at a glance. You are viewing a summary of everything that occurred during the mining of block No. 490163. The nonce that generated the “winning” hash was 731511405. The target hash is displayed at the top. The term “Relayed by AntPool” refers to the fact that this particular block was completed by One of the more popular mining pools is AntPool (more on mining pools below).

As you can see, they contributed to the Bitcoin community by validating 1,768 transactions for this block. If you really want to see all 1,768 of those transactions for this block, go to this page and scroll down to the Transactions section.

Source: Blockchain.info

How Do I Guess at the Target Hash?

A line of leading zeros appears at the start of every target hash. Although there isn’t a minimum target, the Bitcoin Protocol has set a maximum target. No target can be greater than this number:

00000000ffff0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

A hash that has at least the minimum amount of leading zeroes specified by the mining difficulty is the one that a bitcoin miner will be able to successfully mine.

Here are some examples of randomized hashes and the criteria for whether they will lead to success for the miner:

You must purchase a quick mining rig or, more realistically, join a mining pool, which is a collection of Bitcoin miners who pool their computing power and divide the generated Bitcoin, in order to find such a hash value. Mining pools are comparable to Powerball clubs whose members buy lottery tickets en masse and agree to share any winnings. Instead of individual miners, mining pools produce a disproportionately large number of blocks.

In other words, it’s literally just a numbers game. You cannot guess the pattern or make a prediction based on previous target hashes. At today’s difficulty levels, the odds of finding the winning value for a single hash is one in the tens of trillions.6 Even with a mining rig that is extremely powerful, the odds are not favorable if you are working alone.

In addition to the high cost of the expensive equipment needed to have a chance of succeeding in a hash problem, miners must also take into account the significant amount of electricity that mining rigs use to produce the vast quantities of nonces necessary to find the answer. All things considered, most individual miners are currently largely losing money when mining bitcoins. You can enter information like your hash rate and electricity costs into the helpful calculator on the website CryptoCompare to get an idea of the costs and benefits.

Source: CryptoCompare

What Are Mining Pools?

The miner who discovers a solution to the puzzle first receives the mining rewards, and the probability that a participant will be the one to discover the solution is equal to the proportion of the total mining power on the network.

A small number of participants have a very slim chance of independently finding the upcoming block. For instance, a mining card that one could purchase for a couple of thousand dollars would represent less than 0.001% of the network’s mining power. With such a small chance at finding the next block, it could be a long time before that miner finds a block, and the difficulty going up makes things even worse. The miner might never get their money back. The solution to this issue is mining pools.

Third parties manage mining pools, which assemble miner groups. Miners are able to receive a consistent supply of bitcoin from the moment they turn on their miners by cooperating in a pool and splitting the payouts among all members. On Blockchain.info, statistics on a few of the mining pools are available.

A Pickaxe Strategy for Bitcoin Mining

As mentioned above, the easiest way to acquire Bitcoin is to simply buy it on one of the many Bitcoin exchanges. Alternately, you can always leverage the “pickaxe strategy.” This is based on the adage that during the California Gold Rush of 1849, manufacturing the pickaxes used in mining was a wiser investment than panning for gold.

To put it in modern terms, invest in the companies that manufacture those pickaxes. An organization that produces tools used for Bitcoin mining would be the pickaxe’s cryptocurrency equivalent. You may consider looking into companies that make ASIC equipment or GPUs instead, for example.

Downsides of Mining

The risks associated with mining are frequently monetary and legal. As mentioned, mining involves a risk in terms of money because one might spend time and money buying mining equipment costing hundreds or thousands of dollars only to see no return on their investment. That being said, joining mining pools can help to reduce this risk. You should think twice if you want to mine but live in an area where it is illegal. It may also be a good idea to research your country’s regulation and overall sentiment toward cryptocurrency before investing in mining equipment.

A further potential danger stemming from the expansion of Bitcoin mining (and other PoW systems as well) is the rising energy consumption of the computer systems that power the mining algorithms. Though microchip efficiency has increased dramatically for ASIC chips, the growth of the network itself is outpacing technological progress. As a result, there are concerns about Bitcoin mining’s environmental impact and carbon footprint.7

However, there are initiatives to reduce this unfavorable externality, including the use of carbon offsets and the search for more environmentally friendly and cleaner energy sources for mining operations (such as geothermal or solar sources). Another approach is to switch to less energy-intensive consensus mechanisms, such as proof-of-stake (PoS), which Ethereum has adopted. However, PoS has its own set of flaws and inefficiencies, including a risk of consensus control centralization and an incentive for hoarding rather than using coins.

Because mining requires (computational) work, much like mining for gold or silver does, it can be thought of as the process of adding new bitcoins to the system. The tokens that miners discover are, of course, virtual and only exist within the blockchain’s digital ledger.

Why Do Bitcoins Need to Be Mined?

There is a chance that someone could copy, counterfeit, or use the same coin more than once because they are entirely digital records. Mining solves these problems by making it extremely expensive and resource-intensive to try to do one of these things or otherwise “hack” the network. Indeed, it is much more economical to become a miner on the network rather than to try to undermine it.

How Does Mining Confirm Transactions?

In addition to adding new Bitcoin to the market, mining is essential for validating and confirming fresh transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. This is significant because no single body, be it a bank, court, government, or anything else, decides which transactions are legitimate and which ones are not. Instead, a decentralized consensus is reached through mining using proof of work (PoW).

Why Does Mining Use So Much Electricity?

Anyone could easily run a mining program from their computer or laptop in the early days of Bitcoin. However, the difficulty of the mining algorithm increased as the network grew larger and more people became interested in mining. This is because the code for Bitcoin targets finding a new block once every 10 minutes, on average.1

The likelihood that someone will find the correct hash sooner rises as the number of miners increases, which makes it harder to achieve the original 10-minute goal. Imagine if the network’s mining capacity increased by thousands or even millions of times. There are a lot of new machines using that much energy.

The Bottom Line

Bitcoin “mining” serves a crucial function to validate and confirm new transactions to the blockchain and to prevent double-spending by bad actors. New bitcoins are also added to the system in this manner. The task involves producing proof of work (PoW), which is inherently energy-intensive and is based on a challenging puzzle. However, this energy is embodied in the value of bitcoins and the Bitcoin system, which maintains the stability, security, and reliability of this decentralized system.

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