Cryptocurrency mining, or mining, has been much talked about by the mainstream media last year, especially Bitcoin mining farms. However, many beginners are still unfamiliar with the concept and struggle to discern the contours of a minor’s activity. What is mining? How does it work, and how to mine cryptocurrencies? Is it profitable to mine? Overview of the different questions related to mining.
See also: What is a cryptocurrency? What is cryptocurrency mining?
Mining is the process by which some cryptocurrencies secure their transactions. These cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technologies based on a consensus protocol called “proof of work”, or proof of work: to validate a transaction of the network, a miner must provide proof that he is performing a special job. This work consists of solving a complex mathematical problem. The miner must then find a code consisting of numbers and letters, called a hash, to generate the next block of the blockchain.
Only computer computing has the power to find this code. The mining difficulty evolves over the years depending on the number of blocks created. Over time, it is indeed more and more difficult to find the right hash to create a block.
For Bitcoin, the mining difficulty changes every 2016 blocks, i.e. every 14 days. It is now extremely difficult to mine Bitcoin, which is why most individuals have stopped mining Bitcoin and turned to other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin miners today are essentially large mining farms like Bitmain, or pools of miners. What is the point of cryptocurrency mining?
Cryptocurrency miners receive a reward in exchange for their efforts. Since mining requires computing power that is costly in hardware and energy, miners must rely on this reward to have a reason to participate in the security of the network. It is paid back in the form of payment, in the cryptocurrency that is mined. How to mine cryptocurrencies?
Several solutions are possible for those who wish to mine cryptocurrencies. Mining rigs or ASICs
It is possible to mine alone from home, by equipping yourself with the equipment adapted to the algorithm of the currency you want to mine. To mine Bitcoin, you will need to equip yourself with an ASIC. For other currencies, mining rigs will be quite sufficient.
Having your own mining rig or ASIC is ideal, since you receive all the rewards that are given to you for your work.
The disadvantage remains the initial investment which can be a brake for some people. It is also advisable to have a home equipped with renewable energies to avoid seeing your electricity bill explode.
If you feel you live in a mining-friendly location, there’s no reason not to get started, as cryptocurrency mining can be extremely profitable. The Mining du Coin shop offers you mining rigs plus and plays perfectly adapted to beginners. The installation is simple and you can mine several currencies such as Ether, Ether Classic, Zcash or Monero.
It can be difficult to mine alone for an individual. In order to make the most of your mining equipment and get regular rewards, it may be better to join a mining pool.
A mining pool is an infrastructure that allows multiple miners to pool their computing power in order to get more chances to create a block and then share the rewards in proportion to the power of each. Mining pools are very numerous to mine difficult cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin.
Some mining pools offer to rent computing power to avoid their customers having to invest in expensive hardware. In these cases, it will be necessary to subscribe to a subscription and pay by the month or by the hour according to the policy of the site. The advantage is that it is then possible to choose the cryptocurrency you want to mine and to have a wide choice, after studying the profitability of mining each cryptocurrency on whattomine.com.
Unfortunately, it is usually very unprofitable to go through cloud mining sites. It is more interesting to invest to have your own equipment and then join a pool to maximize your chances of reward.
Another problem is that it is common to come across fraudulent sites, which are actually “Ponzi schemes” or worse that never pay their customers. After testing different pool and cloud mining sites, today we recommend NiceHash, which seems to us by far to be the best. You will have the option to rent computing power using the cloud if you do not have the means to equip yourself, or to join a mining pool after equipping yourself with a rig.
See also:
- 10 Promising Cryptocurrencies
- Investing in cryptocurrencies
- Purchase of cryptocurrencies
- Cryptocurrency Trading
- Cryptocurrency Wallet
- Understanding everything at masternodes
Floriane B
Deconstructing the codes by giving back to Man what belongs to him. The libertarian ideal of cryptocurrencies is inscribed in my DNA and I could only be seduced by the sketch of this new world.