A lot of people wonder how to mine cryptocurrency because they want to make some money. The crypto world is very unstable yet quite profitable for those who know what to do. In brief, mining is performing tasks and solving equations that may bring you a little bit of crypto. Different machines can be used for that, that’s why there are at least 4 main methods of mining. You can also mine solo or in a pool, and the latter is more recommended nowadays.
In this article, we’ll see how much time and energy one needs to mine cryptocurrency, as well as the main methods of mining. We wrote in a beginner-friendly way, suitable for everyone to understand. So how to mine new cryptocurrency?
How Long Does It Take to Mine Cryptocurrency: Time Is Money or Not?
Time is money all the time, but here the borders stretch quite far. How long does it take to mine cryptocurrency? Considering that mining contracts you may sign are usually from 2 years to lifetime, you get the idea of the time frame. If you rent a GPU mining rig (we’ll talk about this later), the first half a year to a year you’ll return the investment if signing a 2-year contract. All the other time it’s your profit.
The time also depends on the cryptocurrency that you want to mine. Most people want to mine Bitcoin because it’s the most popular and is considered the most profitable crypto. Opting for a less popular one, you may see the results faster, but the profit may also be smaller.
How Much Electricity Is Used to Mine Cryptocurrency: A Controversy
It’s a very complicated topic and the answer depends on the company you’re using, on the type of mining you choose, and many more reasons. First of all, the more people are mining, say, Bitcoin, the more power will be invested and the more difficult the puzzles and equations will become.
If you’re renting a rig, you shouldn’t worry about the power consumption since the cost for it will be deducted from the income you’re going to get.
Just to get an idea of the whole industry, though, an online tool from the University of Cambridge has shown that Bitcoin consumes 0.21% of the world’s supply. This is as a bit more than Switzerland, the whole country.
How to Mine New Cryptocurrency: The Main Types and Their Algorithms
How to mine cryptocurrency efficiently? There are multiple ways.
Cloud Mining
This is the easiest way and only way in which you don’t need equipment. You find a website of a company that rents their rigs (mining machines), sign a contract, make a payment. They take some money from your income for power and maintenance, and the rest is yours. It’s not hard to find such a company, but be ready to spare some $500 to $5000 for it.
Why “cloud”? Because in this case, you don’t own a machine that does the mining, all the technical stuff is on the side of the company you rent from.
GPU Mining
This method involved buying or constructing a GPU rig. One needs:
• A processor;
• A motherboard;
• Cooling equipment;
• Several graphics cards.
The cards are used to mine, and the investment you put into the construction will pay off quite fast. Usually, people spend about $3000 on the building. As a result, you’ll get a machine that cloud miners, for example, rent for their mining goals.
CPU Mining
This is the way how to mine cryptocurrency on PC.
There are special applications compatible with all possible operating systems (Windows, Linux, Ubuntu, mac OS, and more) and you can use them both on your PC and laptop, even on an Android cell phone or iPhone. However, it’s strongly not recommended to use this software for mining on a regular user computer. A laptop may burn up after just a couple of hours of such intense work. And considering you’re working on that laptop, have your Avast running, Skype calling, basic protocols, and more, imagine how your device will feel.
So, to know how to mine cryptocurrency using your PC, you need a powerful computer, first of all.
ASIC Mining
Application-Specific Integrated Circuits – devices that are created solemnly for one task. Miners have upgraded them to use in mining, and at the moment, it’s the most profitable of all methods to mine coins. They exceed both GPU and CPU mining by speed and efficiency. There have been issues before with certain types of crypto because of ASIC mining.
How long to wait for a profit? Usually, faster than any other method. But it’s not safe since with the new updates to the system these devices may be banned. They create unhealthy competition, gathering most of the profit. The mining is built on equality, the more miners there are, the more difficult the equations get so that everyone has an equal chance. Imagine if one miner got all the blocks and all the profit. That would break the system.
Tips on Mining
• As to the solo and pool mining, it’s better to choose the latter. How hard is it to mine cryptocurrency solo? Well, if you’re in a pool, you’ll get at least a bit of the block. If you’re solo, there may be no reward at all;
• Chainlink does not get any value from mining;
• Investing in mining will produce a better result;
• You can use VPS (virtual private server) to mine, but make sure it’s hosted by a reliable company.
Now you know how to mine for cryptocurrency and are ready to go forward and start making money!
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