The economics of Bitcoin mining. An example of a good cryptocurrency exchanger. Advantages and disadvantages of home mining
Bitcoin mining in 2018 is a process that has been the subject of much discussion in the cryptocurrency community. With the rise in the price of BTC, network users became confident that mining virtual currency is profitable, and the purchased equipment pays for itself in a short time. But is this true?
Mining efficiency is a multifaceted parameter that takes into account not only the cost of the instrument, but also other factors - trends in the field, the attitude of government authorities towards cryptocurrency, and so on. Only with a comprehensive assessment can one say whether BTC mining will be a profitable endeavor or whether it is better to abandon it. Below we will look at how cryptocurrency is mined, what are the features of this process, and what equipment is best to use.
Prospects for Bitcoin mining in 2018 - brief analysis
In 2017, the value of Bitcoin increased by more than 20 times, which prompted many investors to purchase cryptocurrency, and miners to search for and purchase suitable equipment. This is not surprising, because in December 2017, the BTC rate reached $20 thousand, which significantly exceeded the expectations of the crypto community. Despite the recession that occurred at the beginning of 2018, interest in cryptocurrency has not decreased.
Until the beginning of April 2018 Bitcoin rate fell and even reached the level of 6.5 thousand dollars, but after that a bullish trend began, and the price confidently went up. As of April 24, 2018, the price of Bitcoin is already $9,226 per coin. This means that in just 20 days the price has increased by 50%. This growth caused another wave of excitement among investors and people aiming to personally obtain virtual money.
Bitcoin exchange rate online chart:
Bitcoin mining in 2018 has the following features:
- The block reward is 12.5 coins. Another reduction in the premium occurred in 2016. Network participants have two more years until the next reduction in the premium by 2 times to 6.25 Bitcoins.
- The difficulty of mining is growing all the time. If at the beginning of 2017 it was 317 Gigahashes per second, at the beginning of 2018 this figure reached 1.88 Terahashes per second. Despite the depreciation, the complexity continues to increase. As of April 24, 2018, this parameter is equal to 3.84 Terahashes per second. In just 4 months of 2018, the difficulty has doubled. This means that the requirements for equipment for cryptocurrency mining have also increased. The result is obvious - the equipment that is relevant in 2017 today does not give the expected result and payback. For example, farms on video cards (even modern ones) do not provide adequate profit. The only way out is to use ASIC miners, which we will discuss below.
- The cost of mining equipment has increased significantly due to growing demand. New video cards and ASICs are sold out immediately after release or are ordered in advance. For example, to create you will need at least 10 video cards, each of which costs from 300 to 1000 dollars. As for ASIC miners, one device costs 2–5 thousand dollars. You can imagine the costs a network member incurs to put together a profitable farm.
- Electricity costs. Electricity prices are rising every year. At the same time, the payback of mining depends on the region where the equipment is installed and operating. For example, in the Kamchatka Territory, 1 kWh will cost 8,174 rubles. While in the Rostov region the tariff is much lower - 3.6 rubles. Each region has individual prices for electricity, which is worth considering when starting Bitcoin mining.
- Additional costs. When purchasing equipment, the miner makes calculations at the current time (taking into account the current price, complexity and other parameters). For example, as of April 24, 2018, the average ASIC miner shows a payback period of 6–10 months. Within 1–2 months, this parameter will be adjusted downward or upward, because the difficulty of production will change, as well as the price. The miner will have two options - accept the new payback period or buy additional equipment, and these are new expenses. Consequently, the cost coverage point may move further or closer (depending on the situation in the cryptocurrency market). Experienced network participants assure that the resulting return period for the invested funds must be multiplied by at least 1.5 times.
Bitcoin mining - what is it in simple words
The theoretical part is considered the basis of any earnings. Mining virtual coins is no exception. Before you start mining Bitcoins, it is important to understand the essence of the process and its features. BTC mining is a mathematical operation that is performed by special equipment to select the hash of the next block of the blockchain chain. The more power the mining equipment has, the faster the options are sorted through, and the higher the probability of finding the required number.
In other words, Bitcoin is a chain of blocks, each of which contains a cryptographic signature created on the basis of the previous blockchain element. During the mining process, the chain is divided into several branches, but the branch that is being worked on is recognized as valid larger number miners.
Let's summarize - what is the essence of Bitcoin mining, and what is it? in simple words. We noted above that each block of the chain contains a cryptographic signature - this is what miners need to find. The network participant who solves the given problem receives a reward. In 2018 and the next two years, the premium will be equal to 12.5 coins. In 2020, this figure will be halved.
The calculation of the next block depends on the complexity of the network, which changes every 2016 blocks. On average, it takes about 10 minutes to create one element, and the difficulty increases every 2 weeks. The difficulty parameter depends on the speed at which blocks were mined in the past period of time. What does it mean? If a powerful ASIC miner with a higher hashrate appears in the hands of users, the complexity of the system increases. This is a protective reaction of the network, thanks to which the average block mining time remains unchanged.
In other words, Bitcoin mining is the creation of blocks (chain elements) or new coins. Such work is necessary for the cryptocurrency network, because it ensures confirmation of transactions, protects the Bitcoin chain from attacks, and also supports decentralization. A transaction carried out between two participants is reflected in the block after confirmation of validity. If the miner accepted the transaction and added it to the next element of the chain, the coins become available. As a rule, full validity is recognized after six blocks received (sometimes two).
It is impossible to hack the system, because to do this you will have to make a change to the entire blockchain chain, which has been formed since 2009 and is in the form of copies on tens of millions of computers in the world. This is a huge job that requires a large injection of funds and does not make economic sense.
How to mine Bitcoin - step-by-step instructions and methods
Knowing the risks of cryptocurrency mining and understanding the nuances of Bitcoin mining, you can get to work.
Deciding on a mining option
The first step is preparatory. It is important to decide on the method of mining cryptocurrency:
- Solo mining- mining coins outside the pool, using your own facilities. Just 3-4 years ago, this method of earning money gave results, but today it makes virtually no sense. The reason is the increasing difficulty of mining virtual coins and high competition from large pools. The likelihood that one miner will find the required hash is extremely low. Even when purchasing powerful equipment, the payback period reaches 2–3 years (at best).
- Work in the pool. A wiser solution is to connect to one of the servers, where thousands, or even tens of thousands of participants join together. For the cryptocurrency network, the pool is perceived as one miner, which increases the chances of creating the next block and making a profit. Earned coins are divided between participants taking into account the payment scheme used in. We will talk in more detail about choosing a service for BTC mining below.
- Cloud mining. This alternative option for people who do not have 3-5 thousand dollars to buy equipment, but dream of making a profit by mining virtual coins. Cloud services are sites representing companies producing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Employees of such organizations buy equipment, configure it, pay money for electricity and solve other related problems. Clients simply buy power and use it to mine virtual coins.
The cost of services depends on the company. For example, more than a million people participate in genesis-mining.ru. The cost of services starts from $179 per 1 Terahash per second. You can consider other options, for example, hashflare.io. Here the cost of 10 Gigahash per second will cost 60 cents. If you take 1 Terahash per second, the cost will be $600. The advantages of this solution are the possibility of remote mining (without spending money on equipment), low requirements for initial capital and the ability to earn money without special knowledge. The danger is that when working through cloud mining, you can fall for scammers. If you choose proven services, their capacity is almost always sold out. Another disadvantage is the fees that the company charges to cover expenses.
Choosing equipment
Before mining Bitcoin, it is important to decide on the equipment for work. This is relevant if the first two options are selected (solo mining or mining in a pool). Generally speaking, a network participant has four options:
- Hard drive. In 2009–2011, network participants mined Bitcoins on HDD computers. The use of this method made it possible to save costs and speed up equipment setup. With the increase in complexity, mining on HDD has lost its relevance, and the costs have ceased to pay off.
- Processors. During the same period (until 2011), many miners used CPUs to mine cryptocurrency. As in the case of HDD, this method of earning money quickly became useless and has not been used for 6-7 years.
- Video cards. Until 2012–2013, a powerful GPU installed on the PC. With the advent of ASICs in 2014, this approach ceased to be profitable. Miners chose a different path - they began to assemble farms on GPUs. At first, up to 4–6 video cards were used, and in 2016–2017 their number increased to 10–16 units. This mining method suffered the same fate as previous methods. In 2018, it is still possible to mine BTC using GPU farms, but the amount of profit received is not commensurate with the costs of purchasing and setting up equipment. Even when using modern graphics cards such as GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or production efficiency will be low. In addition, the situation is not limited to the purchase of video cards - you will need a full-fledged PC, the purchase and arrangement of racks, the organization of cooling and other expenses. The final costs reach 5–7 thousand dollars (sometimes more), which forces network participants to look for other options.
- ASIC miners. The best way earn Bitcoins in 2018 - give preference to ASICs that are different high performance, lower energy consumption and reliable operation. This is a compact device designed specifically for mining virtual coins. With the growing demand for such equipment, the number of offers on the market is also growing. For example, on April 24, 2018 it costs $1,288. Its power reaches 14 TX/sec. If you calculate the profit on the specified date, it will be $210 per month. This means that the ASIC’s payback will occur in 7 months. Even taking into account the growing complexity, the ASIC miner will pay for itself within a year. In addition to the mentioned ASIC miner, you can consider other options - Canaan AvalonMiner 821 (12.1 TH/sec) or Ebang Ebit E 10.1 Miner (18 TH/sec).
Let's start a wallet
The next stage that needs to be completed is to select and create a wallet to store the earned cryptocurrency. Here it is important to take into account the ultimate goals of cryptocurrency mining. If the task is to accumulate and store BTC coins for a long time, paper or hardware storage is suitable. If the received Bitcoins will be spent or exchanged for other virtual money, an online, mobile or local wallet will be more suitable. From a standpoint of reliability and convenience best options Electrum () and Bitcoin Core ().
Choosing a pool
Pool interface pool.viabtc.com
To reach better effect, it is important to choose the right pool for mining virtual coins. When searching for a pool, you should focus on the reliability of the site, reviews, overall hashrate and method of payment of rewards. As of April 2018, the most popular sites include:
- pool.btc.com;
- antpool.com;
- pool.viabtc.com.
Registration in the pool
Fields to be filled in when registering on the pool.viabtc.com site
Before you mine Bitcoins, you need to register in the selected one. Each site has different approaches, but general meaning boils down to indicating mailbox and password, followed by confirmation via a letter sent by e-mail. After activation, the user receives login information and can start earning cryptocurrency.
Enter payment information
Example of a Bitcoin wallet address
The next step is to indicate the information where the money should be transferred. For example, after registering with slushpool.com, you need to go to the settings section and add a Bitcoin wallet (specify the key for making payments). In many pools, you need to set a parameter at what number of accumulated coins to make payments. Here you should not ask for a large amount - it is better to withdraw money immediately, not trusting online services. On the other hand, you need to take into account the commission that is charged for the transaction.
We provide security
Mining pools are most often targeted by hackers. In order not to be left without money, it is important to make sure that the pool you are using has SSL encryption. The easiest way is to look at the icon in address bar browser. The inscription “https” in front of the main domain indicates the presence of such a protocol. Additionally, many pools offer 2-factor authentication. If it is provided, it is important to activate it. In this case, it will be more difficult to hack the miner’s account.
Choosing a program for mining Bitcoin
CGMiner program in working mode
The next stage is choosing a mining program. This special software, “tailored” specifically for the extraction of virtual money. When mining using ASICs, additional software may not be required (if it is included). It’s another matter when a video card farm is used to earn Bitcoin. Here you can use the following options - CGMiner, BFGMiner, MultiMiner and others. The advantages of these programs are the ability to mine on ASICs and video cards, ease of setup and the ability to use different strategies for mining virtual coins.
Last steps
The preparation work is almost done. It remains to take the last steps:
- We configure the pool, specify the username and password, and then select the equipment used (if required).
- We keep the mining process under control, evaluate the hashrate, and look for problems with the connection.
- We optimize the process. Some ASICs and video cards have the ability to overclock. If you have the necessary knowledge, do this work.
- Evaluate production efficiency. The first conclusions can be drawn in approximately 20–30 days. If necessary, you can change the pool or increase the power of the equipment used.
- Monitor the heating of the equipment. The mining process involves round-the-clock operation of ASICs or video cards. To avoid overheating and failure of expensive equipment, it is necessary to control the temperature and ensure additional cooling, if required.
Network users looking for a way making money on the Internet, you have probably at least once come across articles or videos telling in simple language, how to get a high income without investments on a machine with withdrawal, simply by installing a program for mining bitcoins on your PC. Moreover, these articles and videos are not at all an attempt by scammers to lure gullible citizens into their networks. Expert opinions confirm that cryptocurrency mining really brings high profits. And although from time to time news appears in the official media that the use of digital currencies in the Russian Federation will soon be banned, this is unlikely to happen in reality - the state simply does not have the ability to block access to cryptocurrency exchanges and services cloud mining. This means that for those who want to try this method of earning money, it will be useful to know what mining is and where to start mining coins. We’ll also try to figure out whether it’s realistic to mine bitcoins on a home PC in 2018.
Cryptocurrency mining 2018 - what is it and how profitable is it?
Cryptocurrencies, unlike fiat (state) money, are not printed on a machine by order of the Central Bank, but are mined by network users themselves. The process of extracting (creating) new coins is called mining. Anyone can mine virtual coins, and to do this they don’t even need to leave their personal data - most cryptocurrency systems allow users to remain anonymous.
The answer to the question, cryptocurrency mining 2018, what is it and why is it needed, in simple language, will be as follows: these are the actions of a network user aimed at creating new digital coins of his choice electronic currency. The purpose of mining is to earn virtual money, which can be accumulated, used as a means for financial settlements on the network, or sold on the exchange for dollars/euros/rubles/any other currency.
The technical side of cryptocurrency mining
Since cryptocurrency mining is carried out in virtual space, it is obvious that the process of creating new coins represents the generation of a unique digital code these monetary units. All data on created financial units is automatically immediately entered into the blockchain - a virtual archive of the cryptocurrency system, where information about all transactions is stored unchanged.
In most cryptocurrency systems, including bitcoin, there is a limit on the coins that can be mined and a limit on the number of financial units that can be created in a certain period of time. Therefore, the more users are engaged in mining a certain currency, the more difficult the process of generating new money becomes.
The cryptocurrency mining algorithm itself, from a technical point of view, looks like this:
- Specialized software, using the power of the computer hardware, solves a problem defined by the cryptocurrency system.
- When a solution to this problem is found, the result is a block of digital data that satisfies all the requirements of the system.
- The block generated by the program is recorded in the blockchain database, and the miner (group of miners) who created it receives a certain number of coins as a reward.
As soon as new coins are credited to cryptocurrency wallets miners, data about these transactions will be reflected in the blockchain. Of course, in this open archive It is not the original codes that are stored, but the encrypted codes of the coins.
Prospects for coin mining in 2018
Today, there are more than 200 cryptocurrencies in the virtual space, differing in both rate and liquidity. The most popular ones now are bitcoins, ether, litecoins and ripples. The rates of these currencies are growing steadily, and the demand for them is high not only on specialized exchanges, but also on currency and stock exchanges.
Cryptocurrency mining in 2018 is enough in a promising way earnings, since highly liquid digital currencies are available at the moment are interested not only regular users networks, but also large investment companies. Already on the real estate market different countries, and at international auctions you can find objects and lots offered for sale for bitcoins. And probably, in the future, cryptocurrencies will be on a par with fiat money.
Where to start mining (extraction) cryptocurrency coins in 2018
For users who decide to try this method of earning money, such as cryptocurrency mining 2018, where to start is not always clear. What software to install, whether or not it is necessary to buy additional equipment, how much electricity and PC power will be spent on mining digital coins - all these questions inevitably arise for novice miners.
In fact, cryptocurrency mining is quite simple from a technical point of view. The main thing is to intelligently assess the power of your hardware and select effective software. But the first thing a beginner in the field of coin mining should do is decide which cryptocurrency he will mine. The fact is that mining the most popular digital money in 2018 requires very large capacities, but lesser-known and new currencies are much easier to mine.
When the decision is made which coins to mine, the miner has 2 steps left to take:
- Create a coin wallet to store mined coins (for bitcoin - on blockchain.info or other trustworthy services; for ether - on myetherwallet.com, etc.)
- Install a miner program on your PC that will carry out calculations to create new blocks. When choosing software, you need to take into account that some miners are “tailored” to use the power of the processor, and some work on video cards.
Nowadays, most miners use programs such as CCMiner, 50Miner, Ufasoft Miner, CGMiner and DiabloMiner. It is important that this software is designed to mine several coins at once, so if in the future the user decides to mine other coins, he will not even need to reinstall the program.
Real ways to mine cryptocurrency in 2018
In order to make money by mining coins, it is not enough just to know where to start mining cryptocurrency in 2018. The main thing is to wisely assess the power of your PC and the opportunity to purchase specialized equipment(powerful video cards or ASICs).
Today there are 3 real ways cryptocurrency mining. These methods are the following:
- Creating a mining farm at home. For a farm to make a good profit, it must consist of powerful, specialized equipment. Miners specializing in the mining of bitcoins, litecoins and ether create farms with several gaming or specialized video cards at once, or buy 1-3 powerful ASIC miners.
- Cryptocurrency mining in a pool (cloud mining). The essence of cloud mining is that users pool their power for collective mining. Now more than 90% of bitcoins are mined by pools, not by solo miners.
- Using Bitcoin faucets. There are resources on the network that distribute satoshis (the smallest unit in the bitcoin system) for performing some simple actions. By registering on several such resources, you can collect several thousand Satoshi per day.
Mining cryptocurrency bitcoins on a home PC: is it realistic in 2018
The Bitcoin rate in 2018 remains at the level of $3500-3700, but several times on Forex it has already exceeded the mark of 1 to 4000 against the dollar. Therefore, it is not surprising that Bitcoin is of the greatest interest to novice miners. But unfortunately, today mining Bitcoin cryptocurrency on a home PC is impossible.
More than a million users around the world are now engaged in bitcoin mining, most of them are members of large pools and use very powerful specialized equipment. Therefore, the power of your home PC will be insufficient to solve the tasks assigned by the btc system and generate new blocks.
The idea that in our time a computer can be turned into a means of extracting money from nothing is very attractive. However, of course, this is not as simple as it may seem, and the mining industry is becoming increasingly competitive and complex.
Despite this, anyone interested can still start mining cryptocurrency, and with operating margins declining, there is the potential to make decent money. It all comes down to the cheapness of resources, in the case of mining, these resources are electricity. The difference in electricity prices in the world means that the production of one Bitcoin in specific country may be many times more profitable than another.
How to calculate?
The infographic below shows a list of countries and the approximate cost of mining one Bitcoin in US dollars. The calculation was made by Elite Fixtures by averaging the amount of electricity required to mine one Bitcoin on three different farms - AntMiner S7, AntMiner S9 and Avalon 6.
Electricity prices were taken from official government sources and local utility companies, as well as reports from the International Energy Agency and IBTimes.
Where should you mine?
Thus, it becomes clear that in some countries mining does make sense. Best place for this - Venezuela: average costs are about $530 per bitcoin.
With Bitcoin's current price around $7,000, South American miners have the potential to make huge profits. Given the current economic and political situation in Venezuela, it is not surprising that many Venezuelans have become actively involved in Bitcoin mining.
Where can you not even try?
In many countries of Western Europe (Germany, Denmark, etc.) mining is a very expensive pleasure. In some regions the loss will be $4,000 or more.
IN lately mining is heard by many people, however, most of the population does not know what it is this process. Wikipedia states that mining is literally translated as extraction, in particular of minerals. But now this term is applied to the process of mining various types of cryptocurrencies (electronic money). It is necessary to understand what mining is and what features it has.
Process Description
This method of earning money as cryptocurrency mining has been very popular lately. It is associated not only with finance, but also with programming, as well as with computer components (processor, video card).
In 2008, a group of developers explained the principles of virtual payment system cryptocurrencies, and after just one year a new electronic currency was generated - the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, which was used to pay for real goods.
Bitcoin cryptocurrency is a special digital code. Its quantity is limited, and the number of transactions is known in advance. It is important to note that the mining and movement of cryptocurrency is not regulated by the state, thus a Bitcoin miner can mine in unlimited quantities.
How mining works is the process of extracting a limited amount of digital code by selecting several options. You can do this type of income yourself. To do this, you need to purchase special equipment for mining virtual coins. You can also work in a team, when several users unite in the system, connect their equipment to it, and after mining cryptocurrencies, divide them among themselves.
The difficulty of mining Bitcoin cryptocurrency is that you need to purchase expensive equipment. With the development of popularity of this type of income, the necessary computer equipment increased in price due to mining. In addition, the user will receive huge electricity bills. To increase profitability, some people create entire mining farms consisting of several computers
Operating principles
In order to start mining cryptocurrency well, you need to know the basic rules of this activity. But it should be noted that it is quite difficult to join the mining system, since many users join pools and work together to mine.
Mining basics:
- This type of cryptocurrency mining is not regulated by any government, so the system cannot be subordinated or blocked.
- All completed transactions are anonymous. That is, the user may not indicate his personal data and indicate the purpose of purchasing, mining or using the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
- The amount of electronic cryptocurrency is limited, since mining operates on the basis of initial algorithms. Therefore, it is impossible to mine more cryptocurrency than is included in the settings.
- Once a cryptocurrency transaction is made, it cannot be canceled, and all information about the transaction is stored in a special database.
- Mining is only possible if you have a computer. Earned coins can be used to pay for goods, services, and also exchanged for real cash.
Required equipment
To mine cryptocurrency, investments are required. The user needs to purchase expensive special ASIC equipment for mining. But there is more cheap option– buy all mining components separately.
A specialized mining system is quite difficult to find, and it is also very expensive. Therefore, most users use the second method for mining.
To mine bitcoins you need to purchase the following items:
- Powerful video card.
- Motherboard.
- Hard drive.
- CPU.
- Cooling system.
- Special extenders for installing multiple video cards.
A special client program must be installed on the assembled mining equipment. Software for mining depends on the type and power of the computer. The application works according to established algorithms in automatic mode. You also need to have a special wallet, which is a sequence of letters and numbers. It will store the earned virtual funds in the form of cryptocurrency.
Many people are interested in what determines the speed of cryptocurrency mining. This is influenced by the power of the equipment and the speed with which it is able to make decisions, as well as the speed of the Internet connection for mining.
When all the mining equipment is configured, you can start making money. Just turn it on special program and mine cryptocurrency. To begin with, it is recommended to team up with a group of miners who combine the power of their computers to effectively mine cryptocurrency.
Except professional equipment, the Minin market offers specially assembled computers for cryptocurrency mining. According to the developers, this technique allows you to speed up the process of mining virtual money several times. But behind such manufacturers there are often scammers who want to make a profit due to the increased demand for specialized equipment.
Litecoins
Due to the fact that the number of bitcoins is limited, over time it becomes more and more difficult to mine them, and more expensive equipment is required. As a result, a new virtual cryptocurrency was developed - litecoins.
The principle of its earnings is practically no different from the mining of other types of cryptocurrency, but there are some differences:
- The entire mining process does not depend on the video card, but on the power of the processor and the amount of memory. Therefore, the initial investment will be less, since there is enough regular computer for mining.
- Over time, production new currency can be made easier, so there is no need to spend money on increasing the power of the equipment.
Advantages and disadvantages of mining
Before you start earning cryptocurrency this way, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the pros and cons of mining.
Advantages:
- The amount of money earned does not depend on personal intervention. That is, the user just needs to configure the equipment, install special software, turn it on and wait for the cryptocurrency to be mined.
- Production directly depends on the power of the computer.
- Mining - programs do not contain viruses, as they are constantly checked, therefore this method earning money will not harm your computer.
- You can participate in affiliate program pool, that is, invite friends and then receive a certain percentage of cryptocurrency income.
- You can withdraw any amount of money.
However, the system also has some disadvantages:
- Over time, the process of mining Bitcoin cryptocurrency becomes more complicated, so constant investments are required to update and improve equipment.
- There are no exact rules for exchanging electronic cryptocurrency.
- Cryptocurrency influences the global financial market.
There are other nuances of this type of earnings that you need to carefully read before joining the system.
There is another option - you can purchase virtual cryptocurrency. You don't need to buy expensive computer components for this.
Possible risks
Investors should understand that such type of activity as cryptocurrency mining is associated with certain risks:
- Cryptocurrencies have no physical value. Therefore, the value of cryptocurrency can increase significantly or decrease to almost zero at any time.
- Mining the cryptocurrency Bitcoin is an expensive and complex process. First of all it is required professional computer. Beginners are not recommended to engage in independent mining.
Therefore, an investor can purchase expensive equipment for mining, earn a certain amount virtual funds and recoup your costs, but at one point the demand for cryptocurrency may drop sharply, as a result of which the income will be canceled.
- To maximize your earnings, you need to reduce the cost of purchasing equipment and electricity for cryptocurrency mining.
- To mine, you need to connect several video cards and use a powerful cooling system.
- If possible, purchase special equipment for mining cryptocurrency. You just need to connect it and wait for the bitcoins to accumulate.
- Novice miners can forget about independently mining electronic currency, as this will be unprofitable. First, you should try your hand at other types of virtual cryptocurrency.
- Solo mining will only be profitable if the cost of one bitcoin exceeds $5,000.
- When mining another cryptocurrency, it is recommended to immediately exchange it for bitcoins, otherwise electronic money may depreciate over time.
- Some Internet users offer mining installed on cloud service. This method allows you to earn money faster. However, this option for obtaining electronic money is most often offered by scammers. Therefore you need to be careful.
- Experts do not recommend developing your own virtual currency. After the advent of Bitcoin, there were many attempts to introduce various cryptocurrencies into mining, but they were not in demand.
Before mining virtual cryptocurrency, you need to carefully study all the features of this activity. Not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance.
Mining pools
To earn cryptocurrency, novice miners are not recommended to start independent activities. To understand all the principles of electronic currency mining, you should join a pool, where a group of miners gathers who have united all their computers. Thanks to working together You can perform more complex algorithms, which means you can mine more bitcoins, which are then distributed among all participants.
The choice of pool must be approached with the utmost seriousness. You need to find out about the commission, methods of withdrawing money, the duration of the work of this team and other nuances. Otherwise, there is a risk of becoming a victim of scammers.
Earning cryptocurrency
All users who decide to start mining are, first of all, interested in how profitable it is to engage in this type of income. Even experts cannot give an exact answer. Many people have made a fortune mining electronic currency, while others have gone completely broke. After all, the extraction process depends on many factors, most of which are simply impossible to predict.
In addition, the state is concerned about the presence of such virtual currency. This is explained by the fact that cryptocurrency is used for trafficking in drugs, weapons, and also for money laundering. Moreover, an additional independent currency could lead to a global economic crisis.
These problems can be solved through government regulation. But in this case, it will not be possible to maintain the main advantages of electronic money.
Most experts note that investing in cryptocurrency is risky. Therefore, each person decides for himself whether he should engage in this type of income like mining or not.
In this article I will talk about what cryptocurrency mining is, share my thoughts on this type of earnings, and answer the question: “Which is better, ASIC or video cards?”
Technology and essence of the BITCOIN cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin is a system for recording all transactions within its blockchain network. All information is stored on hard drives and is used for electronic wallets, like Bitcoin Core or on stock exchanges. If we transfer money to our mother or someone else in this cryptocurrency, then the role of the bank and accountant plays program code, that is, there are no third parties, and we do not pay a commission. It is impossible to deceive the system, because one transaction is monitored by many units (devices, computers) that verify the chain of transactions within the network.
If you decide to change the values in transactions inside your wallet for the purpose of fraud, then every device that is connected to the Bitcoin blockchain network will re-check your changed chain and will not accept it. The reliability of such technology is that no one will be able to deceive anyone, as, for example, banks deceive their clients. This is why in Russia the Central Bank and deputies and officials speak very negatively about cryptocurrency, about Bitcoin in particular, because it is impossible to impose taxes, it is impossible to track the transaction, and the meaning of banks is lost. If you don't need third parties to send money from New York to Moscow. Anonymity money transfers one of the main advantages of Bitcoin. Most people don't want the bank to know what they are ordering online, be it a power supply from Ali Express or Baba Inflatable. Because of this idea, Bitcoin made a splash immediately after its birth. Some created promotion companies, others tried in every possible way to ban it. Massive confusion and misinformation is due to the fact that the “Top” was looking for ways to benefit from a utopian system that a priori rejected this.
The process of data processing within the blockchain network is called Mining (from the English “ mining» - mining), many devices process a block of information and receive a monetary reward in the form of coins.
What do you need to mine bitcoins?
You definitely need start-up capital, because mining is a business in which you invest money in order to start receiving income in the future and recoup all costs.
Ways to invest in Bitcoin mining:
- Buy ASICs
- Buy video cards
- Buy power in the cloud
ASIC is a miner device that can mine coins using a specific algorithm. IN in this case consider Antminer S9, which mines the SHA-256 algorithm, Bitcoin itself is mined on it. This ASIC has a hashrate (mining speed) of about 14 TH/s, and consumes 1800 W. Plus of this device is that it is very good at mining, and can pay for itself in eight months. There are more disadvantages. And the main thing is the price - 170,000 rubles.
On top of that, it is very difficult to buy if you are not sourcing things from China. You can buy an ASIC in Russia through Avito or order it on Ali Express with delivery, but no one can guarantee that the goods will arrive. 80% of advertisements for the sale of ASICs on the Internet are scams and deception. Bad people demand full advance payment in advance and disappear, and you are left without money and without an ASIC. So you have to be very careful when purchasing. Asika has a validity period, it lasts until it comes out new version- the next generation, more energy efficient, and no one will need the old one, it will either fall in price 10 times or go to a landfill.
The difficulty of mining bitcoin increases with the complexity of the network; you can track the graph.
The payback period for a GPU farm is approximately a little over a year, without taking into account the growth of the exchange rate and the complexity of the network of the mined cryptocurrency. Nvidia 1060 take longer to pay for themselves due to the low mining speed, but they are very economical, especially if you install the farm in an apartment: less wiring load and low electricity consumption compared to AMD, but Nvidia does not support the mode Dual-mining, which allows you to mine two coins at the same time and the trick with firmware and substitution of RAM timings for boosting on the Dagger Hashimoto algorithm does not work. High hashrate means more earnings, more earnings means shorter payback period.
Bitcoin cloud mining 2017.
If you don’t have the opportunity to assemble a farm from video cards or order an ASIC from China, then all you have to do is mine Bitcoin in the cloud. I have already written more than once on my website about cloud mining services, the essence is the same - rent power, mine coins and wait for a high Bitcoin rate to display it on the card.
I'll tell you about the advantages of cloud mining. You don’t have to rummage through the wires, configure the equipment and monitor the stability of operation; your wiring will remain intact. One visit to the site per day is enough to check statistics or reinvest (if you need to increase income).