Anyone considering getting into cryptocurrency mining should familiarize themselves with the mining device required and the benefits of mining pools based on the exact token they decide to mine. To succeed in this endeavor, it is very important to first understand its goals and limitations.
On this page, we will introduce you to the best cryptocurrency to mine in 2021 and also tell you about the different platforms you can use to mine them. We will also talk about the profitability aspect of cryptocurrency mining and the advantages and disadvantages of this cryptocurrency acquisition route.
Our list of the best cryptocurrencies to mine
Here is a list of 10 cryptocurrencies that are definitely worth considering by anyone interested in cryptocurrency mining. 1. Bitcoin
If you have the capital and are willing to make the effort, Bitcoin (BTC) continues to be the number one choice of cryptocurrency miners around the world. Its price hovered around $35,000/BTC at the time of writing. In fact, not so long ago (in January 2021), BTC hit an all-time high of $42,000. Also be aware that the current reward for BTC mining is 6.25 BTC per block, which will be reduced to 3.125 BTC in four years. Mining Bitcoin is also much more difficult and resource-intensive than mining new cryptocurrencies on the market.2. Ethereum
Known for being at the forefront of innovation in the cryptocurrency industry thanks to its “smart contracts” and “dApps”, Ethereum or Ether is an extremely popular cryptocurrency that can still be mined (but not for long). At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency’s market capitalization stood at around $171 billion. The current mining reward is 2 ETH per block. The network uses the Ethash hash function and can be mined using CPU and GPU devices. Please note that although this network has switched to Ethereum 2.0 (ETH 2.0), resulting in a consensus algorithm change from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS), miners still have at least two years to continue mining Ethereum. The current ETH network will not have switched to the PoS blockchain until Phase 1.5 of ETH 2.0. 3. ZCash
The year 2016 saw the launch of several major cryptocurrencies, including Zcash (ZEC). Considering that the development company ZCash is focused on privacy, it stands out as an excellent cryptocurrency to mine. However, it is not easy to mine the ZEC despite its ASIC-resistant design. Nevertheless, the token is an ideal mining opportunity for people who want to take a long-term approach. The current reward is 2.5 ZEC/block and the token’s money supply is 21 million tokens, all to be mined by 2032. Mining ZCash requires more RAM due to its Equihash.4 algorithm. Grin
Grin (GRIN) was born in 2019 and, unlike other cryptocurrencies, it is not associated with a maximum monetary supply. Since it uses Cuckoo-like mining for its ASIC resistance, it allows easy mining with CPU and GPU devices for conventional cryptocurrency users, without requiring significant investments. The hash function used is MimbleWimble and the current reward for mining this token is 60 GRIN per block.5. Monero
This is another popular ASIC-resistant cryptocurrency that values the importance of fairness when it comes to mining. With a market cap of around $3 billion, Monero (XMR) continues to be among the most profitable cryptocurrencies you can mine. The current reward for mining this token is 2.15 XMR per block and the total number of blocks that should be provided is 2,272,762. The network uses the CryptoNightR hash function and you can mine it using CPU and GPU devices.6. Ravencoin
Launched only a few years ago in 2018, Ravencoin (RVN) is the result of a Bitcoin hard fork. This cryptocurrency has gained popularity thanks to its special features like its mobile cryptocurrency wallet (with seed phrases), messaging and RVN voting. In addition, it trades quite actively on all major crypto exchanges, which makes it extremely liquid by nature. It is an attractive cryptocurrency for miners because of its KawPow protocol and X16R hash function. The reward for Ravencoin block mining is 5,000 RVN per block as of now.7. Litecoin
Litecoin (LTC), which is one of the best hard forks in Bitcoin, has great appeal as well as solid fundamentals. It is among the top 10 cryptocurrencies in several lists and for good reason. The LTC uses the Scrypt protocol and is one of the first tokens to be mined with a GPU. As can be seen, the hash function used is Scrypt and until August 2023, all Litecoin miners will be rewarded with 12.5 LTC for each block mined. As of January 2021, a total of 66.8 million LTCs had already been mined out of a maximum of 84 million.8. Dash
Dash (DASH) is a hard fork of Litecoin and was born in January 2014. It has a market capitalization of approximately $1.07 billion and is known for enabling fast and secure trading worldwide through PrivateSend and InstantSend options. The hashing algorithm used is X11, a creation of Dash founder Evan Duffield. There are a total of 9.96 million DASH in circulation at the moment and the current reward for mining each block is 2.88 DASH.9. Dogecoin
What started as a joke has become a serious token. Dogecoin (DOGE) has indeed quickly gained popularity to become one of the best known and most adopted cryptocurrencies in no time! It was first launched in December 2013 as another of Litecoin’s forks. DOGE is mainly used to give “tips” to Reddit and Twitter content creators and can be mined using CPU or GPU devices. It uses the Scrypt protocol and has no limit on the total amount of tokens. The reward per block is currently 10,000 DOGE.10. Bitcoin Gold
Launched in 2017, another bitcoin hard fork, Bitcoin Gold (BTG), is popular with miners. The difference with Bitcoin is that it uses Equihash instead of the PoW algorithm. The idea was to democratize Bitcoin mining and ban the use of specialized mining equipment. This cryptocurrency has been designed specifically to be mined with GPU devices and can be considered a great option for anyone looking for a profitable cryptocurrency to mine this year. The reward per block is 6.25 tokens and there are about 18.6 million BTG in circulation today.
What is cryptocurrency mining?
Simply put, cryptocurrency mining is the process of solving complex mathematical equations in order to validate different crypto-transactions on a specific network. For every new cryptocurrency mined, the people who participated in its mining are rewarded with a fraction of that currency. Contrary to popular belief, mining a cryptocurrency does not involve the creation of a new token, but the release of a token from the global supply.
The majority of crypto-products on the market today have a limited number of tokens that will be released over the years, increasing their value as they become rarer. The main reason for the existence of cryptocurrency mining is to solve the biggest problem associated with these currencies, namely double spending.
Cryptocurrencies can be mined using three distinct types of computing devices – CPU (Central Processing Unit), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit or Graphics Cards) or ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) depending on the size of the investment you are willing to make.
