Besides the actual hardware for mining - which basically means having one of the best graphics cards - you'll need to decide on the software you want to run, and how you want to get paid. There are three primary approaches to mining, and we'll cover these in order of ease of getting started.īefore we continue, let's be clear: We're all about providing information, both good and bad. There are GPU shortages, other PC component shortages, GPU prices are in the stratosphere, and clearly there are a bunch of people who think mining is awesome. This has all happened before, and we've seen how it ends - or at least where it goes temporarily. Anyone that had the foresight to put together a big mining farm two or three years ago and then save all the Ethereum and/or Bitcoin it generated (while temporarily eating the costs) looks pretty smart today. At the same time, putting all the money straight into buying cryptocurrencies would have gotten similar results with a lot less hassle.īut what if you're trying to do the same thing right now? It will cost more, profits will be lower (or not even materialize for potentially years, if ever), and there are loads of other concerns that we'll get into.Ĭase in point: Just look at the past three years. We originally posted this article with data taken from before February 16, 2021. Since that time, we've seen record prices for Bitcoin and Ethereum come and go, multiple times. The difficulty of mining has steadily increased, and potential profits have trended downward over time. Currently, Bitcoin sits at around $38K and Ethereum is at $2,700. That's about a 30–35% drop in value since early December, 2021. Longer-term stability tends to be at lower profit levels than what we saw in early 2021. Eventually, the difficulty of finding a block increases, or the price drops, either of which will drop the rate of return, and miners stop putting lots of money into scooping up GPUs. Ethereum difficulty (opens in new tab) initially peaked in May, then declined until late June (no doubt helped by China's crackdown on mining), but has been on a steady upward climb since then and is nearly at 13,000 TH/s. Ethereum also has plans to shift to proof-of-stake (no more mining) in the first half of 2022, however, so GPU miners may soon have to look elsewhere. That brings us back to the matter at hand. Lots of people still want to know about mining, how it works, and how much they can earn doing it. We'll answer those questions as best we're able, and bring up other concerns and related information that you might not have considered. Hopefully, by the end of it all, you'll be better informed. The easiest way to get started at mining is with NiceHash. NiceHash launched in 2014, right around the time of the first major spike in cryptocoin mining (second if you want to include Bitcoin's initial "surge" to $32 per BTC in 2011). Prior to NiceHash, getting started with coin mining was more complicated - as we'll detail below. NiceHash has greatly lowered the barrier to entry, and it gets rid of some of the worries about what coin(s) to mine. You effectively lease your PC's hashing power to other users, who get to choose what to mine, and you get paid in Bitcoin.
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