What is a cryptocurrency?
While a real currency, like the euro, is something tangible, the value of which is controlled by governments and banks, a cryptocurrency is an immaterial cryptographic file that allows it to be exchanged in a decentralized way.
The first cryptocurrency was Bitcoin, and it started working in 2009. Since then, many other currencies have emerged, with higher or lower values, that seek to mimic BTC and offer other alternatives for digital trading, whether related to BTC or independent of it. These currencies, and all transactions, are recorded in a decentralized database, called blockchain, which cannot be modified or deleted once the transaction is recorded.
These coins do not appear out of nowhere, but must be generated using computer systems. To do this, computers must solve very complex mathematical operations using the full power of computer hardware. To avoid conflicts, and speed up the resolution of operations, teams are usually grouped into groups, or “pools”, which perform calculations at the same time and, once the operation is resolved, distribute the profits proportionally among all participants. Cryptocurrency Mining Programs
Next, let’s see what are the most common programs that we can use to mine cryptocurrencies. Not all programs are suitable for all currencies, this must be clear. And, when choosing between one or the other, we recommend you visit the following wiki where you can see the currencies compatible with each of the programs.
We should also bear in mind that antivirus programs usually detect all these programs as potential threats. This is because hackers use these programs to remotely infect computers and use them to mine your cryptocurrency accounts. Therefore, if we are going to use them, we must make sure to place it in a folder added to the list of AV exclusions to avoid problems. But never disable the antivirus. CGMiner
CGMiner is one of the oldest cryptocurrency mining programs. This program is written in C and is cross-platform, being able to install it in any operating system. Its main feature is that it is intended for use in dedicated mining systems, although we can also use it easily on any PC with a connected GPU.
It is one of the best optimized programs, because, instead of spending resources to load a graphical interface, it is designed to be controlled by commands. On first use, it will ask us to enter the URL of the pool, the mining operation, as well as our username and password. All the generated cats will go directly to the pool, and it will be he who will take care of accumulating our crypto-currencies and making the payments when we reach the minimum amount of money accumulated.
This mining program is open source, and we can download it from its repository . EasyMiner
For users who are not familiar with a console or do not feel comfortable configuring the program from the configuration files, EasyMiner was born. This mining program has a very simple and intuitive graphical interface with which we can start generating money as soon as possible.
This program includes two mining tools, CGminer (to mine Bitcoin) and CPUMiner (to mine Litecoin), which we can use simultaneously. In addition, it allows us to configure various ASIC equipment to operate and easily join mining pools.
We can download EasyMiner here and realize that cryptocurrency mining is not just the business of four geeks. BFGMiner
This program is based on CGMiner, but it is specifically designed to work with ASIC mining equipment. If we don’t know what it is, an ASIC is an integrated circuit for specific applications, or what’s the same, hardware designed to perform only a specific task optimally, in this case, mining cryptocurrencies. This software has the most interesting functions, such as the control of several groups of ASICs, the ability to easily join mining pools, or the possibility of dynamic overclocking and remote control of all equipment.
Unless we are going to mine with this type of equipment, BFGMiner is not the best program we can download and install at home. But, if we want, on its main website we can find the latest version of it . Awesome Minor
Generally, most users will use one or two computers that we have at home to operate. But what if we want to carry out an operation on a larger scale? Awesome Miner is a program that allows us not only to mine, but also to control up to 25,000 computers dedicated to mining cryptocurrencies.
The purpose of this program is to avoid having to configure and control all these computers one by one, but we can control them all remotely through a very simple and intuitive interface. With this program, we can also join a mining group with all our devices, or use them ourselves to generate the cryptocurrencies ourselves.
This program is responsible for controlling everything from hardware overclocking to the optimal and most profitable coins we can exploit. And it’s available for both Windows and Linux, so if you want to start using it, you can go here to download Awesome Miner. MultiMiner
If you want to mine cryptocurrencies, but everything seems Chinese to you, then you should try MultiMiner. It is not a mining program like the previous ones, but, like EasyMiner, it was designed as a graphical interface for BFGMiner. When running it for the first time, this allows us to see a configuration wizard from which we can start the program, register in the pool we want and start generating this additional income as soon as possible.
This program can be used both to mine using ASIC systems and to mine via the GPU of our computer. It is compatible with the main cryptocurrencies of the market, and includes the main mining algorithms so that we can choose the one we want to use.
From its website we can download MultiMiner for free . Of course, we remember that we will need additional software to start mining. Which program should I use?
In the end, all mining programs are more or less the same, with some features to differentiate them, but nothing critical. Of course, the most used, oldest and most popular program among users is CGMiner . A very complete open source program that contains everything you need to start mining simply by entering the mining pool data.
However, if we do not have a lot of experience in the field of mining or computing and we want to go slowly, the other option we can consider is MultiMiner . This program is easier to configure and launch, and allows us to control everything from a simple interface.
