The first Bitcoin wallet. Bitcoin wallet Armory: registration, pros and cons. Using special processors

Bitcoin, the most popular digital currency, continues to intrigue ordinary people. In the wake of the rising value of this currency, many are trying to figure out how to mine Bitcoin (bitcoin mining) and is it worth doing it at all?! The project decided to figure it out.

To answer the question clearly, Is it worth mining bitcoins?, there are two components to consider:

1. The cost of selling mined bitcoins on the exchange and the possibility of withdrawing money (earning bitcoins).
2. The complexity of the Bitcoin mining process and requests for equipment.

Let's consider the first component. Bitcoin price on the market.

To find out the price at which you can sell bitcoins, just go to the website of the popular exchange MtGox. As you can see, since January 2014, the price of one bitcoin has been quite high, about 800-900 US dollars. And on January 26-27, the market closed at a price of more than $1,000 per 1 BTC. But since the beginning of February, perhaps due to a bad news background (the Russian Central Bank has officially recognized Bitcoin as an illegal “surrogate”; a number of other countries have also banned payments in Bitcoin) or due to the increased volume of sales on the market, the value of Bitcoin has crept down. However, even today the price of 1 BTC remains quite high – about $300.

Can I withdraw this money to my account? Yes, with the help bank transfer(before this you will need to undergo verification, that is, provide your passport and documents confirming your place of residence). In short, the market is liquid, you need to mine bitcoins!

Now let's look at the second component. Namely, how to mine bitcoins and how difficult is it?

To answer this question, let's look at the Bitcoin mining process itself. Don't try to fully understand the economics of Bitcoin because it is very difficult. However, the basic process can be understood. It happens roughly as follows...

• A user generates a request to transfer a certain amount of bitcoins to another user.
• This request enters the Bitcoin network until users (miners) accept it for processing.
• During the processing or mining of Bitcoins, transactions are packaged into blocks of data, which randomly headers are assigned.
• Miners compete to find a one-time code for the header, chosen at random and used to safe transfer main password. After this, miners receive the letter digital code(hash), which must have value and a certain level of complexity. Obtaining a hash is one of the most difficult stages.
• Every hash accepted by the Bitcoin network is rewarded with Bitcoins. Previously it was 50 BTC, today it is 25 BTC. Further, this figure will decrease as the number of miners in the Bitcoin network increases. It takes about 10 minutes to process a transaction (in fact, every 10 minutes a new block). A successful transaction is irreversible.
• The hash value is then added to the header of the next block, creating a chain of blocks that serves as a kind of public ledger of all transactions ever made on the Bitcoin network.

Thus, with the help of the Bitcoin network and miners, the anonymity of the transaction, its authorization and irreversibility are ensured. And Bitcoin itself operates as an array of public ledger entries. In this case, each entry in the registry represents a hash with a specific place in the block.

Well, the computer power of the people who take part in mining goes to:

• securing transactions;
• support for crypto-resistance of the Bitcoin network;
• and also, obviously, for the calculation of new blocks, that is, in fact, they are burned in vain.

Now let's get down to business. And let's try mining bitcoins.

Step #1

First you need get a wallet. You can download and install on your computer, for example, MultiBit for Windows. Is it possible to start online wallet, for example, on the Coinbase website. As you like, our choice is an online wallet. Simply because it is easier to register and more convenient to use on different computers.

Do you want to know your wallet address? In Xapo, for example, you need to click on the My Address button, there will be a number and a QR code, if necessary.

Register with Xapo and receive free symbolic 5000 Satoshi(1 bit = 100 satoshi, and 1 bitcoin = 1 million bits) you can right here.

Once you register your Bitcoin wallet, go to your account settings and create new address, for example, like this: 161un41Bv7edfcq5HbD78zKjbXw3FJCmjb. This address is a direct way to send some amount of bitcoins to your wallet.

Step #2

IN this moment the only way to get a minimum amount of bitcoins is participation in the pool, where all miners work together to find a solution to obtain hashes. You need to join one of these pools. One popular pool is Slush's pool (BitcoinCz), one of the first to operate continuously since December 2010 and has a long history of consistent and accurate payments. In principle, the pool site contains enough detailed instructions upon starting work with the pool.

To start mining, this pool will be quite enough. Next, create several workers in your account if you want to run the miner on different computers. Workers will have names like . And your own passwords. Also, do not forget to add the address of the Bitcoin wallet that you received before to your account in order to receive a reward.

Step #3

Download and install the miner program on your computer. There are two ways to mine bitcoins - using a processor (CPU) or a video card (GPU) to search for solutions. GUIM iner is the simplest solution for GPU/CPU mining for Windows, accessible to most beginners. Another popular solution is 50Miner. For mining, we used a laptop with an integrated video card, so we decided to try the processor.

There is a wallet, workers in the pool have been created, the miner is running. Now let's load the kernel with calculations Intel Core i5 and let's see what we come up with. The monitoring program shows processor load at a level close to 100% and a temperature of 95 degrees.

After 2 hours of working with the GUIM iner program, we received 3 solutions. The expected reward for the current round was 0.00000015 BTC. After an hour of work, the reward estimate turned out to be scanty, and then completely dropped to zero (the success rate of the pool is about 70%). As you can see, mining on a processor, given the modest capabilities standard laptop, does not allow you to compete adequately with other network participants.

So is it worth doing?

Experts say, and we confirm, that at the moment ordinary people With only modest home computers at their disposal, Bitcoin mining is essentially closed.

This will require great amount time and resources. After all, the mining process itself is accompanied by some problems, for example, strong heating of the processor and/or video card, and increased energy consumption. As a result, at home, the cost of mining will be much higher than the market price of mined bitcoins.

A similar conclusion became obvious in 2012, when serious miners began to make money on special “farms” - computers with powerful video cards assembled specifically for mining. At the beginning of 2013, ASIC devices entered the arena, capable of replacing an entire farm of computers.

How to open a Bitcoin wallet and fill it with Bitcoins - this question worries today, if not all, then many users global network.

Cryptocurrency - what is it?

Cryptocurrency is a certain category of digital currency - a subspecies electronic money, the release and promotion of which cannot be controlled by either the state or individual citizens. Intermediary sites that transfer bitcoins or other cryptocurrency from one wallet to another or withdraw it to a bank card can set a commission at their discretion. The Bitcoin rate is unstable; anyone can watch the races.

Cryptocurrency is now legalized in many countries around the world, but there are states where the use of this category of electronic money is prohibited by law. Not a single serious bank allows you to withdraw virtual money.

How to top up a Bitcoin wallet? Using payment systems Qiwi, WebMoney, Yandex.Money and other “payments”.

Where do bitcoins come from?

The procedure for obtaining any type of cryptocurrency is called mining. Payment for simple actions taken is credited to the miner's account. As mining develops, it becomes more and more difficult to mine cryptocurrency, so many Internet entrepreneurs compare this type of activity to gold mining.

You can pay for services or purchases from a wallet in which cryptocurrency is stored only by transferring funds from one wallet of the same type to another.

When the funds spent on obtaining cryptocurrency exceed its real value, the existence of this subtype of electronic money ceases.

You can create a Bitcoin wallet (or a carrier of another type of digital currency) in order to pay bills and make financial transfers on special sites that register electronic wallets for free.

Creating a wallet for collecting bitcoins on the Blockchain.info website

How to open a Bitcoin wallet using the Blockchain service? The procedure is very simple.

Once on the site, the user should go to the tab labeled “Wallet”, and then click on the inscription “Create a new wallet”.

By specifying the address Email and having come up with a password, the potential wallet holder continues registering the Bitcoin wallet by clicking the “Continue” button, and when the window that appears opens key phrase, necessary to restore access to your account, it must be written down or printed using the “Quick Print” option.

Once again clicking on the “Continue” sign, the user finds himself on a page with an identifier, which is recommended to be rewritten or saved in a separate file.

At the end of the procedure, you must specify a password that opens the newly created Bitcoin wallet. Registration is considered complete after successful authorization on the site after clicking on the “Open wallet” button.

At the end of the procedure, the user should go to a page where all the information regarding received and spent bitcoins is written down. The address to receive this type of cryptocurrency is listed at the bottom of the page.

How to create Bitcoin Wallet (bitcoin wallet) for Android

Before creating a Bitcoin wallet in your smartphone, its owner needs to make sure that the version of Bitcoin Wallet found on the global Web is comparable to the phone’s settings. Then a Bitcoin wallet downloaded from the Internet and installed on a smartphone will work autonomously.

If the wallet is installed correctly, the phone owner will be able to use the built-in Bitcoin Wallet applications - a calculator and currency conversion program, using which you can display the available bitcoins (BTC) in the form of any other known currency.

The keys to the Bitcoin wallet address and the address itself are stored in the phone’s memory, usually in the wallet.dat file. The phone owner has the opportunity to block access to the created wallet.dat wallet with a password.

How to create a Bitcoin wallet in the WebMoney system. Instructions for a beginner

Users of the popular payment service can create a wallet to earn bitcoins. WebMoney systems and issued formal certificate. To do this, you need to provide the site with your passport details and number mobile phone.

You are prompted to provide a mobile phone number immediately after registering a new user. At the next stage, the potential owner of the Bitcoin wallet is asked to enter personal data, after which the user who clicks on the “Continue” button will be redirected to a new page, where in the window that opens he will have to enter a digital code sent to his mobile phone number.

By clicking on the “Continue” button again and being on next page registration, the newly created owner of the wallet must come up with and set a password with which he can log into his payment account.

Once on the next page of the site with the inscription “Create a wallet,” the user can either immediately create all the wallets he needs, or first open a Bitcoin wallet (selecting the desired abbreviation from the list), and create the remaining wallets later.

Bitcoins in the WebMoney system are designated by the abbreviation WMX.

using the WM Keeper program

After opening the klassic program ("WebMoney Keeper Classic"), go to the tab with the list of wallets, then in top menu find the “Create” button, which is located in the upper left corner above the list of available wallets).

By clicking on the “Create” button, the user opens a list of wallets available for creation and selects the desired position. IN in this case this is a WMX wallet (1 WMX is equivalent to 0.001 Bitcoin). After creating a wallet, its owner will be asked to read and agree to the terms of the agreement on the creation of property rights.

The number of the created wallet is the account in which the bitcoins will be stored.

on the WebMoney website and link the address to the WMX wallet

It is necessary to understand that a Bitcoin address and an internal WMX wallet are not the same thing. A wallet created on the WebMoney website is used to pay for services and purchases.

In order for the desired bitcoins received on various sites distributing this type to end up in the WMX wallet, the holder of the electronic wallet must first obtain a Bitcoin address from WebMoney and then link it to the Bitcoin wallet.

By logging in to the replenishment service page and Bitcoin withdrawal, the address of which is indicated above, and opening the “Operations” tab, the WMX wallet holder activates the “Receive” command, after which the Bitcoin address is downloaded and activated.

From this moment on, all Bitcoin (the rate of this currency, by the way, can fluctuate hourly, since it is one of the most unstable in virtual world currencies) received on specialized sites and credited to the Bitcoin address will automatically go to the WMX wallet. After conversion, they can be easily displayed on any card.

IN Lately Investing in cryptocurrency has become very fashionable. The bottom line is that virtual fictitious banknotes, cryptocurrency, are purchased for real money.

What is cryptocurrency and is it worth getting involved with?

This is a kind of experimental currency, and a virtual one. It is not controlled by anyone: neither the state, nor banks, nor any special bodies, etc. It is available online, anywhere in the world. It can be translated. There may be no commission for the transfer, or it is too small, so the transfer is profitable.

The transfer is carried out between participants of a special p2p network. The developers claim that the cryptocurrency is very reliable. One of the most popular types of cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. Those who have been involved in this for a long time or just follow it may have noticed that in a relatively short period of time the price of Bitcoin has increased very much. And according to experts, it will grow.

Many people are concerned about the question: is it worth buying cryptocurrency? Why not when it comes to Bitcoin? This is not the first day they have existed. You can already be sure that these are not fraudulent tools. Many online stores and companies selling goods and services online accept not only regular money, but also bitcoins, which already says a lot. You should also find out how such systems work.

This virtual currency is trusted more and more every day. However, most people who buy it to top up their Bitcoin wallets do so not to pay for purchases online, but to make money from it. Don't forget to ask how it will behave.

Any potential or current owner of bitcoins thinks about where they will store their virtual coins. He has two options for this: own computer or special online wallet, specifically for storing online coins.

An example of what a Bitcoin Wallet looks like

If you choose the first option, it means storing the keys locally on your device that are necessary for access. If you choose the second option, the owner of the bitcoins entrusts their storage to a third-party online resource. Despite the fact that the most reliable option is to store coins and access keys on own computer, many prefer modern online services offering such services, since the degree of security there is also very high and it is more convenient, for example, for those who often replenish their wallet, sell coins, etc.

When storing coins on your computer, you will need to first download special application, install it. Wallets can be “thick” or “thin”. If you use the “thick” option, you will need to download the entire block chain and upload new blocks regularly. If you choose a “thin” wallet, you do not need to download the entire block history. This is convenient and also allows you to manage your wallet on third-party services. Thick wallets are much safer and more reliable than thin ones.

If you choose a virtual Bitcoin wallet, you need to create it on a special service that offers such services. To do this, you need to choose the most reliable and proven resource with an impeccable reputation in order to trust it unconditionally. Bitcoins, though virtual currency, still has material value in real money. And you need to trust your money only to trusted services to be sure of its safety.

Review of Bitcoin Core, Bitcoin Wallet

Bitcoin Core - perfect for those who cannot decide on the application. It has high level security and privacy, works stably without interruptions. Bitcoin Core is official client BTC, and in many ways is ahead of its peers. It is resource intensive, so some smartphones or computers may be weak for this application. It is better to pay attention to this before installation, so that the application does not freeze later. It is recommended to keep the application turned on at all times. There is a Russian version, so you can open your wallet in Russian. Created in this application the wallet is considered thick.

Bitcoin Wallet- an application with which you can create a thin Bitcoin wallet designed for Android. Capable of working in offline mode. There is a built-in calculator that can convert BTC into national and any other types of currencies. You can create address book. Available Russian-language interface, which will also allow you to create a wallet in Russian.

How to open a Bitcoin wallet in Russian on Blockchain?

Blockchain service is one of the most popular services, where you can create a secure Bitcoin wallet. Here you can create a Bitcoin wallet in Russian. First you need to register there. By selecting the appropriate parameters, you can configure everything so that the registration procedure also takes place in Russian.

What does a Bitcoin wallet look like? Blockchain

After registering and activating your account, you need to log in. You need to select “Create a new wallet” or “Create a new wallet for free”. No difference. A page appears and fields where you need to enter your email address and password. Then you need to click on “Continue”. The user will see text on English language. You need to remember this text, or better yet, save it somewhere. It is needed in order to restore the page if access to it is lost.

Then you need to go to the wallet page, click “Open wallet”, entering your password and id. The wallet is ready. You need to remember his address if you need to top up, sell or buy bitcoins. You can also go to settings account and change security settings to strengthen them.

How to create a Bitcoin wallet on Yandex money?

In our country the largest domestic payment system is Yandex Money. For now, the Yandex Money service does not provide the service of creating a Bitcoin wallet.

Bitcoins can be exchanged for Yandex money if desired. There are quite a large number of exchangers if required. But it is currently impossible to open a Bitcoin wallet in the system.

Video instructions on how to make a Bitcoin wallet:

Let's consider programs for storing Bitcoins on a computer and special online services wallets. For those who do not yet know what Bitcoins are, I advise you to read the introductory articles:

And we move on to the question of the possibilities of creating a wallet for storing Bitcoins.

To store Bitcoins, you need to get a wallet address. Naturally it is virtual. There are three ways how you can create it:

• Use online wallets ( third party services);
• Download separate program to your computer;
• Hardware wallet;

Let's look at the pros and cons of each method. I would like to note that this issue should be taken seriously, because... No one will investigate the loss or theft of Bitcoins; all risks lie solely with the owner of the wallet.

But first, a few words about what a Bitcoin wallet is

1. What is a Bitcoin wallet

Bitcoin, like other cryptocurrencies, is stored only in the virtual world in the form of a chain of blocks (Blockchain technology). Anyone can view transactions on the network, see what balance is in which wallet. This information is open to everyone. However, it is impossible to determine who exactly owns the wallet address.

A Bitcoin wallet consists of two parts:

• Public key. This is the Bitcoin wallet address, it is not secret. Represents a 32-34 character sequence Latin letters and numbers. All addresses always begin with the number "1" or "3".
• Private key (also called secret, private). Represents more long sequence letters and numbers of the Latin alphabet. It cannot be shared with anyone because it is access to the wallet.

A transaction on the Bitcoin network means that crypto coins are sent from one wallet address to another. The speed of transaction execution is equal to the speed at which a new block is released in the Blockchain (on average 10 minutes).

A small fee is charged for the transaction. May vary depending on network load. Its value is determined by the sender. During periods when there is no excitement in the cryptocurrency market, it stays in the range from 3,000 to 50,000 Satoshi. Moreover, the commission does not depend on the transfer amount. You can transfer $10, $10,000, or $1 billion and still pay the same fee.

2. Creating a Bitcoin wallet in Internet services

There are many sites that are ready to provide services for creating and maintaining an online Bitcoin wallet. They are called "crypto wallets". The service takes care of all the safety of funds. This has good advantages, since you don’t have to think about the security of your computer, and the reliability of the service is usually much higher than a simple computer.

I advise you to use the most reliable and proven services to minimize risks and not be deceived. Below are the best online wallets for storing Bitcoins

In addition to these online wallets, there is also the option to store your Bitcoins simply on crypto exchanges. They are very reliable and allow you to trade with minimal commissions. Here is a list of the most reliable:

The convenience of exchanges is that you can exchange cryptocurrency into fiat or other currency at any time. If the money is in a “cold” wallet, then this cannot be done.

3. Bitcoin wallet programs

You can download programs for the Bitcoin wallet on the official website bitcoin.org. Here you will be offered a choice of many wallets supported by the community: Bitcoin Core, MultiBit, Armory And Electrum:

There you can briefly get acquainted with the capabilities of each of them.

In my opinion, the simplest and easiest Bitcoin wallet for the average user is MultiBit ( a new version began to be called MultiBit HD). I'm still a supporter old version, as it supports multiple wallets and is easier to use. Below we will look at installing and configuring the Multibit wallet

Let's look at how it can be installed and configured:

3.1. Installing MultiBit:

1. Download MultiBit from the page https://bitcoin.org/ru/choose-your-wallet

2. Start the installation by double-clicking on the downloaded .exe file. Since MultiBit requires a Java package to work, if it is not available on your computer, you will be automatically prompted to download it:

Click “OK”, you will be redirected to the Java website, where you need to click “download Java”, and then “agree and start the free installation”:

After Java installations, run the MultiBit installer again:

That's it, the MultiBit program is installed.

3.2. Multibit instructions

Now launch your wallet. Please note that it is already Russified. Here you can easily create new Bitcoin wallet addresses. The wallet addresses will be different and completely anonymous. You can create a lot of them.

After creating a wallet, you can start transferring funds to them (don’t make a mistake with the wallet address, the transfer cannot be canceled in any way). To create a new wallet address, you need to click “new wallet”, a window will open in front of you where you need to set the name and storage address of the wallet on your computer:

You can create as many wallets as you like. All information about wallets is stored in files with the wallet extension (the name of the wallet corresponds to the name of the file with the addition .wallet). I advise you to protect your wallet from hacking and theft by setting a password for your wallet files. To do this, select a wallet, then click “File” -> “Add password”. Come up with some complex password, install it. The main thing is not to forget your password later, otherwise it will be impossible to recover it. This protection isn't super reliable, but it's at least something.

3.3. A little about the security of Bitcoin wallets

Many people advise taking the security of your computer with a Bitcoin wallet very seriously. The reason for this is that if attackers steal your wallet file, your funds on it will be lost. Since no one wants such a development, it is necessary, at a minimum, to comply with the most simple rules computer safety:

• presence of antivirus;
• try not to access dubious sites on this computer;
• do not install suspicious programs;

Ideally, you need to make a special virtual machine for Bitcoin wallets and configure the appropriate rights and passwords on it.

To find out your BTC wallet address in MultiBit, click on the wallet and you will receive wallet information:

4. Bitcoin hardware wallets

Bitcoin hardware wallet is external device, on which it is stored private key. Its advantage is that this device is disconnected from the Internet and therefore somehow hackable hardware wallet will not work.

Hardware wallets cost money. The cheapest are about $150. In Russia it is difficult to find a place where you can buy it. They are not very popular. Here are the most common:

• Trezor (can be ordered")
• BTChip HW-1
• Ledger Wallet

If rumors are to be believed, all major Bitcoin holders store their Bitcoin in hardware wallets because it is the safest.

If the device breaks down or you lose access to it, you can restore it by entering 24 random phrases (so-called seed words).

5. Which wallet to choose for storing Bitcoins

Which Bitcoin wallet to choose in the end ordinary user? Adequacy, of course, suggests that it is better to rely only on yourself. Therefore, I am more in favor of the first option using software on your computer. However, with small amounts of money you can use third-party services.

Also, do not forget that thinking and worrying about computer security is an extra headache. Therefore, each of you must answer this question independently. Each of these methods has its own strong pros and cons.

I am a supporter of “light” wallets that do not require downloading the entire transaction history to your computer.

The most secure wallet is a hardware wallet, but it costs money. In addition, you still have to go and buy it specially.

Cryptocurrency, as a class of money, appeared quite recently. In 2009, Japanese programmer Satoshi Nakamoto and a group of like-minded people proposed a way to generate unique elements based on the principle of blockchain and cryptography. Blockchain implies a chain of transactions in which each link contains information about all previous blocks and the entire chain. These elements were called bitcoins ( digital coins). The crypto code, open to everyone, showed everyone a way to mine bitcoins by executing a mathematical algorithm using a computer and a powerful video card.

What is Bitcoin mining

To understand how to create Bitcoin, imagine a certain set of symbols (cryptocurrency code), for which you need to choose the same length, but completely different from it. The process of creating and mining bitcoins is called mining. Each cue ball is a chain of blocks containing information about each previously released block. For the convenience of using cryptocurrencies, wallets have been created that store bitcoin identifiers. Bitcoin mining requires the installation of modern computer equipment and special programs.

Is Bitcoin mining profitable in 2019?

The maximum Bitcoin issuance limit is 21 million coins. By mid-2017, just over 13 million had been produced. According to calculations, the limit will be reached by 2040. The complexity of calculations is growing, and along with this, mining costs are rising. The profitability of bitcoin mining is determined by the amount of investment that the miner is willing to bear. The profitability of production is influenced by a large number of factors, from the cost of equipment to the cost of energy costs. It is worth taking into account the growing demand for the use of cryptocurrencies.

Changes in mining conditions and reward levels

The creators of Bitcoin laid down a method for limiting emission by gradually reducing the reward for creating new blocks. The step for this change is the number of bitcoins taken to be 210,000 coins. After producing this number of bitcoins, the reward for new transactions is reduced by half. When mining the first 210,000 coins, the reward was 50 BTC per block. Since 2013, there has been a transition to the next stage, in which a new block is created for 25 bitcoins. Now the miner will receive a reward of 12.5 bitcoins for each block.

Cryptocurrency rates for today July 25, 2017

How to mine bitcoins

Bitcoin mining and block generation is a complex operation. Building and verifying the originality of a blockchain takes a lot of time and requires high-speed computer equipment. To solve this problem, it is possible to use the power of a simple home computer, create a farm for the mining process, or connect to services cloud mining. You can find out how to mine bitcoins in cloud services on Internet sites. Different ways production digital currencies use special programs.

Solo mining

Any miner, having built his own farm, has the opportunity to mine bitcoins alone. The essence of CPU mining is to find a new hash, or key, for a new block. The miner who solves this problem receives a reward of 12.5 BTC. But to make a profit from one alone, it is necessary to perform a huge number of comparison operations; large computing power of the equipment is required. If the probability of finding this hash is low, the effort expended in mining Bitcoin may not bring profit.

Creating a mining farm

To create a cryptocurrency generation farm, a standard computer equipment, including powerful source nutrition, motherboard, and the modules connected to it. Based on the types of these modules, farms are divided into three types:

1. Usage GPUs, in other words, video cards to create a farm is called GPU mining. The optimal price/performance ratio is video AMD cards. In the early stages of mining, these cards were widely used, but as the complexity of mining increased, problems arose with their power consumption and cooling. The prospects for their use are low. The advantage is the opportunity to sell the equipment.
2. The use of programmable logic arrays for this purpose led to the creation of the next stage - FPGA mining. Their performance is comparable to GPUs, but they consume less power and do not require cooling. These farms are widely used because they provide the opportunity to generate different cryptocurrencies.
3. Alternative way To farm bitcoins are special ASIC processors (ASIC) for calculating a block of Bitcoin. The mining performance on ASIC is 20-30 times higher than FPGA farms, but the cost is very high. This led to the need to create groups of miners, or pools, to unite financial opportunities a large number of miners for the purpose of creating or renting farms on ASIC devices.

Cloud mining

Cryptocurrency mining is possible using cloud services. Cloud mining is the rental of mining capacity from real owners of large farms through an intermediary. Suitable for this purpose home computer, laptop. After registering for a service in the cloud, carefully study how to generate bitcoins. After the contribution, the client receives his share of the power, which is measured in hashes per second. After the pool receives income, each of them receives his share, depending on his contribution to the result. The client withdraws income through an exchanger or cryptocurrency exchange.

How to earn bitcoins using a computer

Anyone has the opportunity to understand the question of how to mine Bitcoins correctly. For anyone who is going to make money on investments, it is important to maintain a positive balance between the funds spent, effort, electricity, time and the result obtained. At the initial stage, Bitcoin mining using home PCs was profitable. Now the complexity of trying out the entire number of options makes it possible to make money on the user’s computer only with the help of cloud services.

Mining on a video card

Despite all the difficulties, individual mining of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin using farms brings income. The profitability of mining using a video card for the first half of 2017 was due to a clear trend of increasing the cost of Bitcoin coins, which pulled up the prices of most forks. Bitcoin mining on a video card has led to a shortage of relatively inexpensive air- and water-cooled cards. The most popular cards are AMD Nvidia.

Using special processors

Video cards are more suitable for generating cryptocoins, but high-performance processors are also suitable. The best processor for mining in terms of price and performance is the Intel Core i7 58020K Hexa-Core at 3.3 GHz with a speed of 202 hashes/second. For mining on a processor, the most important thing is optimal ratio its operating frequency and price. The operating frequency of each processor will determine the power of your entire farm, and its price will affect the efficiency and profitability of the entire process.

How to start mining

To start earning cryptocurrencies using special equipment, you need to create a farm. The most popular miners, Avalon6 and AntMiner S7, cost about $600 and can bring a net profit of 0.1 to 0.2 BTC. To get started you need:

• buy a ready-made module, or build a farm yourself;
• download and install special program– miner;
• register in the pool of miners, indicating your capacity;
• get part of the task and get to work.

Pool selection

For optimal performance BTC mining requires a rational combination of its requirements and conditions with the power of your equipment. Power depends on the performance of the video card. The pool needs the power resources of your hardware. Consider the proportionality of the income distribution of the pool, which will pay your income corresponding to the contribution of your equipment to general process. Internet pool sites contain tables of income versus performance. The largest pool on the Bitcoin network is Antpool, which is owned by Bitmain.

Installing and launching a program for mining Bitcoins

One of the main programs for mining cryptocurrencies is CGMiner. It does not have its own shell. Operates from command line, so it is recommended for experienced programmers. GUIminer has a good graphical shell - when using it, the client works both in solo mode and when entering the pool address. During installation, it automatically determines the equipment parameters and saves the settings in a profile file. To work in the bitcoin system, you need to create a wallet address.

Creating a Bitcoin wallet

To store cryptocurrencies, appropriate wallets are used, which are downloadable applications, the choice of which depends on your computer system and the type of crypto. You need to download the wallet to your computer or smartphone and come up with a login to log in. The password in many wallets is generated automatically in the form of a crypto key. After activating the wallet, do not forget to save the main ID, which is the wallet address, for settlement purposes. To sell bitcoin, use exchange offices or crypto exchanges with higher exchange rates.

Where to mine bitcoins

Cloud mining is a good starting platform for a new cryptocurrency businessman. Having invested a small starting capital, you have the opportunity to start mining bitcoins and study this issue. As with any money business, many scammers have appeared in the cloud service, hiding under the guise cloud service hype projects. Below is a rating of cloud mining services that have good network capacity and pay fees to their participants:

• HashFlare. Start of work – June 2015. Minimum input/output 1.2 USD/ 0.00085 BTC. In addition to Bitcoin, he mines several cryptocurrencies.
• Hashing24. Start of work – June 2015. Minimum entry/withdrawal 19.95 USD/ 0.001 BTC. The power is provided by the BitFury company. Deposits and withdrawals of funds are carried out bank cards Visa/Mastercard.
• Genesis-Mining. Start of work - February 2014. Minimum input/output 30 USD/ 0.0001 BTC. For the purposes of cloud mining, the power for the SHA-256, X11, and Dagger-Hashimoto algorithms is rented. The advantage is that payments exceed costs. Entry and withdrawal are possible by bank cards and transfers.
• HashNest. Start of work – July 2014. Minimum input/output 0.001 BTC/ 0.001 BTC. Good stats ASIC S9 cards used by this service.
• Eobot. Start of work – June 2017. The minimum input/output is unlimited. On this service Various cryptocurrencies are mined, there is a faucet for the opportunity to get cryptocurrency for free.

How to calculate mining profitability

To determine the efficiency of cryptocurrency mining, use mining profitability calculators located on cloud mining sites. The initial data entered into the calculator is the complexity indicator, the cost of the block, the cost of electricity, the power of the equipment and others. The result of the calculations is the value of profit from production for a certain period of time.

Cost of equipment for bitcoin mining

Cue ball mining equipment differs in its performance and price. The most significant influence on production efficiency is the electrical power consumption. Several miners, their cost, mining power, electricity consumption, approximate monthly income, payback period are presented in the table:

Electricity and equipment cooling costs

As can be seen from the table above, energy costs affect production efficiency. The bulk of the electricity consumed goes to cooling the chips. The farm operates around the clock, so serious care must be taken about ventilation of the room, air conditioning and cooling of the microcircuits. In addition to traditional ventilation, to solve this problem it is used water cooling, similar to cooling a car engine.

Growth in the number of miners

We are currently experiencing a boom in the number of miners. Cheap video cards for mining have disappeared from sales not only in the CIS countries, but also in Europe. The difficulties of bitcoin mining and the increasing hardware requirements for this are forcing many miners to switch to other cryptocurrencies. The only positive factor supporting interest in bitcoin mining is stable growth cue ball prices on the cryptocurrency market. When the price decreases or corrects, the number of people willing to mine Bitcoin decreases.

Bitcoin mining calculator

To calculate mining efficiency, thematic sites contain automatic mining calculators. They can be used by all people who mine any cryptocurrency. The initial data for the calculation are the difficulty coefficients of cryptocurrency mining, mining speed, characteristics of the miner, pool, and others. After entering all the required data, the result is an indicator of the income of the entire mining process.

Risks and difficulties of generating cryptocurrency

With the growing complexity of mining crypto coins, the main criterion for efficiency is the ability to invest a large sum money to buy expensive but fast equipment. It becomes harder to make a profit from the process. The main risks and difficulties of mining, which must be taken into account by everyone involved in mining when drawing up a business plan, remain:

• reducing the price at which the generation of new blocks is rewarded;
• increase in the cost of equipment due to an increase in its productivity and growth in demand;
• the cost of electricity, limits on its use for specific premises;
• the likelihood of a fall in the price of Bitcoin, as often happened with financial bubbles.

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