Is it worth investing in HashFlare or other cloud cryptocurrency mining? This is a fraud? How much can you earn from Bitcoin mining with an investment of $150?

I saw you in the comments))
What do you think about cryptocurrency and cloud mining? Do you have experience?
This is not about the ammo1 service mentioned in the post (it does not inspire confidence due to its presence on mmgp in the HYIP section), but in general about this method of earning money. Hello!

In general, I have a positive attitude towards cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology for the reason that they can reduce the costs of buyers. For transactions with bank cards you have to pay 3-4%, and this is a lot. In the case of cryptocurrency, costs can be reduced to 1%.

As for bitcoin, the quantity of this cryptocurrency is limited, and it will be mined more and more slowly. Computing power is used for extraction (mining), but now this requires powerful hardware.

In addition to mining cryptocurrency, it can be purchased on the exchange. Thanks to speculation, the Bitcoin rate historically grew by an order of magnitude over several months, but then it could also fall significantly. In addition, there are problems with the exchanges themselves. The once very popular MtGox exchange is in bankruptcy proceedings. And tens of millions of dollars were stolen from the Hong Kong exchange BitFinex in the summer of 2016, after which the cryptocurrency rate collapsed.

By “investing” in cloud mining, you accept not only the risks of specific cryptocurrencies, but the risks of the mining service itself. When I see an ad from Hashflare offering to "invest the right way" and earn up to 190% annually, it makes me smile. The profitability, of course, can be 500%, but there is no guarantee of receiving it.

I put cloud mining services on a par with pyramids and scams. And all because they use the same human greed, but there are simply no guarantees of getting at least the invested funds. If cloud mining closes tomorrow or, for example, introduces a rule that makes it impossible to withdraw more than 10% of your earnings, you won’t be able to do anything about it. Even the inability to pay for the service using Paypal is for me a clear signal that you need to be very careful with such companies. Moreover, the Estonian company accepts money into a company account in Scotland (this is not the first time I have seen an address with a room in a Scottish office building from scammers).

I would love to participate in cryptocurrency mining if it could be done using large cloud services (Amazon, Google, Microsoft).

Even very large companies that have been working with virtual currencies for many years can disappear in an instant. For example, I found the e-Gold payment system, the currency of which was supposed to be backed by gold (the company owned the title to gold bars). The turnover of this company in its best years was approximately $2 billion, and the number of clients reached 5 million. But even such a large colossus collapsed due to the anonymity of users and the growing number of scammers using this payment system.

What can we say about an Estonian company that can disappear in the blink of an eye. Even if it has actually been supplying equipment and developing software for mining for a long time, and now its cloud mining exists in reality, and not in pictures.

All of the above, of course, does not mean that it is impossible to make money on cryptocurrency or cloud mining. But there are certainly no guarantees, and the loss can be 100% of the deposit. Of course, when you see an insane growth that can be the envy of stock market participants, the temptation arises to join the boom in cryptocurrencies. It's important to remember that the general public often starts investing right at the peak. Of course, the peak may turn out to be local, and the growth will continue. But who knows when it will stop?

Many investors who made large fortunes acted differently. They risked 5-10% of the deposit, investing in assets that would bring unlimited profits. Although, of course, there are venture investors who made their fortunes on very risky assets, investing where others were afraid.

People in the post-Soviet space have very vivid memories of MMM and the famous Lena Golubkov, so cryptocurrency for a large percentage of the population is a soap bubble that is about to burst. The populations of African countries (Zimbabwe, Kenya), Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Israel and the USA are much more optimistic in this regard. These states are experiencing a real boom and cryptomania, not being afraid to invest digital money in “farms”. In America, a sociological survey was even conducted among 1,000 people aged 26 to 40. It turned out that 11.5% of respondents are going to invest in mining in 2018, and 21% are holders of part of the funds in cryptocurrency. Why is it profitable for the population of these countries to invest in mining equipment?

Investing in a “farm” for Bitcoin mining

On December 10, 2017, the Chicago exchange, which is second on the exchange market in terms of daily turnover of funds, begins trading in Bitcoin futures. This news affected the cryptocurrency market and raised the price of BTC by almost 20% in a week. Following this, the Tokyo exchange announced its desire to launch its Bitcoin futures product, and a Swiss stock exchange magnate had previously announced the same intentions. Based on what was written above, a picture emerges that BTC has come to the cryptocurrency market for a long time. What is a positive signal and answer to the question of investing in a mining farm based on miners.

The price of BTC mining devices and payback periods will add a fly in the ointment. Profitability is affected by the difficulty of Bitcoin mining, which depends on the number of network users, and it is growing exponentially. But don’t forget about the increase in the price of BTC, which has reached 1100% since the beginning of 2017.

Nowadays, Antminer S9 and S7 miners with different hashrates are mainly used for BTC mining. On average, they bring in about $20 per day, the payback period is 6-7 months. For long-term investing, this period is short; usually during business development, the return on investment starts from 1-5 years.

Investments in a Dash mining rig in 2018

The advantage of the Dash network is the constant work of developers on it. Relatively recently, an update was launched that increased the block size to 2 MB, and became seven times faster, and transaction prices were also reduced. This suggests that the cryptocurrency will develop and this is confirmed by the slow but steady increase in the price of Dash. The disadvantage of a crypto coin is that it is unstable, the price fluctuates, after which a correction occurs, rolling back the price by 15-18%. Dash's profit on ASIC is around $16, but the numbers could change if the Dash network takes another quantum leap.

Investments in a farm on video cards in 2018

Cloud mining on video cards is again in trend due to the growth of major currencies in the ratio of price for equipment and profit. For example, ETC grew by 4000% in a year in 2017 and continues to grow. The reason for this is the support of the Ethereum platform by large companies. Other Altcoins are also showing good growth, so investing in a mining “farm” on video cards in 2018 will also be profitable, as long as there are no trends indicating otherwise.

When asking a question about the return on investment in mining in 2018, you still will not hear a definite answer and will not receive 100% guarantees. In many countries, the process of legalizing cryptocoins as securities has begun, so digital money, like any product on exchanges, can go through processes of price collapse and rise.

• Subscribe to the Email newsletter from BitExpert magazine: Latest news by Email
• Collections of crypto news once a day in Telegram: BitExpert
• Insiders, forecasts for discussing important topics in our Telegram chat: BitExpert Chat
• The entire crypto news feed of the BitExpert magazine is in your Telegram: BitExpert LIVE

Found an error in the text? Select it and press CTRL+ENTER

Today we are starting an experiment, based on the results of which we will find out how much you can earn from Bitcoin mining in 2017 by investing a small amount of $150.

The purpose of the experiment: to find out how realistic it is to make money using cloud mining of bitcoins, to determine the pros and cons of this type of earnings.

To earn money, we chose the genesis-mining.com cloud service with a Russian interface. We chose the service from those that have existed on the market for a long time, and we found it to be quite stable and also convenient to use.

Bitcoin rate at the time of writing: $1,170 per 1 BTC

Registration on the resource is very simple. We will not describe it, but will start by choosing a tariff plan and investing $150.

Choose a currency and invest money in genesis-mining.com

Go to the control panel and click the yellow “Start mining now” button. Select “Unlimited bitcoin mining” at the top and use the slider on the right to set the amount you want to invest.

We chose a small investment amount of $150, thus purchasing a pool power of 1 TH/s.

We select the currency in which we will pay for the pool capacity. The service has different payment options, in our case we chose Bitcoin.

Then we are warned about a daily subscription fee of 0.00028USD/GHs per day ($0.15). We are asked to accept the terms and pay. We, as real users, do not read the terms of the agreement, but pay immediately in order to earn bitcoins faster.

After we click the pay button, a window appears containing a link to the Bitcoin wallet and a time counter for how long this link is valid (30 minutes). It is not entirely clear to us what will happen if you make a payment when the meter runs out. Therefore, we recommend opening your Bitcoin wallet in advance so that it is ready for use.

Now all that remains is to pay $150 from our wallet (0.127 BTC) and we can start earning bitcoins. More precisely, we hope so.

Then we indicate the Bitcoin wallet to which the earned money will be transferred to you:

My account -> settings -> wallets.

The minimum payout amount of mined bitcoins to your Bitcoin wallet is 0.0006 (about $0.80 at the exchange rate of $1170).

As you can see, everything is very simple, but now we are interested in the main question: how much can you earn from Bitcoin mining by investing $150?

If you also want to try mining from genesis-mining.com, join and use our promo code - Vv7B4Y.

By using it, you will receive a discount upon payment.

How much can you earn from Bitcoin mining?

Today we publish the first report: We received the first payment approximately 24 hours after the start of mining and the amount of income was 0.00027068 BTC.

($0.32 at $1170 exchange rate) On average, with an investment of $150 in cloud mining, we began to earn about 0.00027068 bitcoins per day

($0.32 at the exchange rate of $1170).

Let's calculate how much we will earn per month and per year at the rate of $1170 per Bitcoin: — 0.32 * 30 = $9.6
Earnings per month — 9.6 * 12 = $112.

Earnings per year 74.6% .

Now let's calculate the annual return as a percentage - 112 / 150 * 100 =

Conclusions: Under ideal conditions: by investing $150 in cloud mining, you can earn $112 in a year, practically returning the invested amount

After we return the invested amount of $150, the annual return will be about 74%. This is a very good percentage.

Let us remind you that for $150 we bought a mining power of 1 TH/s. If you buy 10 TH/s power for $1400, your income will increase 10 times and amount to $1152 per year.

In real conditions: Knowing how subject the Bitcoin exchange rate is to fluctuations, our calculated income can either fall several times or rise. The constant increase in mining difficulty will also negatively affect your income.

If the rate rises, you will not only recoup your invested money, but also make great money. If the Bitcoin rate falls by more than half, you will lose your money. Also, no one can guarantee you that our cloud mining service will not cease to exist.

It follows from this that under ideal conditions we receive 74% per annum, but we can only find out the exact amount of earnings after waiting a year, since it directly depends on the Bitcoin exchange rate and our luck.

Our opinion:

We provided you with information and showed you the real result. If you have money and you like to take risks, this will suit you, but you must decide for yourself whether it is worth doing. The main thing is to invest only an amount that you are not afraid of losing.

In this article we will publish reports on how much you can earn per month and per year, so stay tuned. Depending on further earnings results, we will be able to purchase additional pool capacity if this makes sense.

Updated 05/04/2017

We publish a schedule of income in dollars as of May 2, 2017. 20 days have passed since the start of mining, during which I managed to earn $7. Note that the bitcoin cryptocurrency rate during this time increased from $1200 to $1500 per 1 bitcoin.

First $10 dollars! Updated 05/07/2017

Today we earned our first $10 dollars from cloud mining. It took 26 days, let us remind you that we invested $150. Since the writing of this article, the Bitcoin exchange rate has begun to grow significantly. The table shows income calculated based on the increased Bitcoin exchange rate. If it had fallen, you would have earned significantly less.

We also publish payments in bitcoins below so that you can monitor the earning process.

Updated 05/14/2017

For the period from April 14, 2017 to May 14, 2017, we managed to make money from Bitcoin mining $14 dollars. See the full earnings chart for this time.

We decided to create a separate Bitcoin wallet to receive payments, so as not to be confused with the Bitcoins that we receive from other sources. We will transfer the earned bitcoins there and in the future we will show the results of earnings on it by posting screenshots.

Updated 05/28/2017, earned 0.01249327 BTC($27 at the rate of $2232 for 1 bitcoin)

Updated 06/15/2017, working $50 ( 0.01870485 BTC at the rate of $2644 for 1 bitcoin)

08/24/2017 — Results for 4 months.

At the moment, the cost of 1 Bitcoin = $4309. In 4 months we fully returned the invested amount of $150! And now we’re starting to earn money) How, this method is a great option for passive income. If you also want to try, then come here and while Bitcoin is growing, you can still earn money.

Updated10/13/2017 — Bitcoin rate $5750

Our wallet account has $300, while Bitcoin is growing, everything is fine))

Updated11/02/2017 — Bitcoin rate $7000

We have $400 in our wallet account (0.05661009) , Bitcoin is growing, look further)

UpdatedNovember 26, 2017 — Bitcoin rate $9000

On our wallet account $560 ( 0.06187362). We remind you that on April 14, 2017, we invested $150 in cloud mining by purchasing a pool power of 1 TH/s, when the Bitcoin rate was $1170.

Updated12/07/2017 — Bitcoin rate $15147

On our wallet account $1028.80 ( 0.06399948 BTC ). , we have invested $150 in cloud mining by purchasing pool power in 1 TH/s

Results

This experiment was conducted to test how much you can earn from Bitcoin mining with a small investment. In the end, thanks to the growth of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, we managed to make some money.

We showed an example of how you can make money on cloud mining. Now Bitcoin has become very expensive and buying it is quite problematic from a financial point of view, so you can turn your attention to other cryptocurrencies and simply do the same thing as we did.

We withdrew and cashed out the amount of $1,000 dollars from the wallet at the rate of $19,000 per bitcoin. You can read where it is profitable to buy and sell Bitcoin in our

We continue to earn bitcoins in this pool because we bought power there and so far it is enough to pay the pool commission.

When the complexity of the Bitcoin system increases to the point where our purchased power is not enough for us, we will stop making a profit and write down how much we were able to earn from start to finish.

Follow our results, the article will be constantly updated. Write your opinion on this matter in the comments.

Cryptocurrency mining is the gold mine of the 21st century. This is what we will talk about in the article. Cryptocurrency is a financial instrument that is an encrypted record of transactions between system participants. Virtual currencies are growing rapidly, so it is more profitable not to purchase them on the exchange, but to mine them yourself, using a mining farm, using computing power.

A cryptocurrency mining farm is a computer with 4-6, and sometimes more, video cards. The number of connected video cards affects the overall computing power of the computer. By using a special program that distributes user transaction records, the farmer benefits BlockChain. In simple words, a person rents out video card resources and receives cryptocurrency in return. The mined coins are transferred to the miner’s crypto wallet.

You can mine Bitcoin, Ethereum, ZCash and other altcoins using serial video cards from NVidia, AMD and Intel. We recommend purchasing hardware with a warranty period of 3-6 months. Use this period by maximizing your video cards. New models P106-100 and P104-100 are already on sale. Their warranty period of 3-6 months will provide protection against unexpected costs associated with equipment breakdown.

The role of miners in the BlockChain system

The BlockChain system consists of thousands of blocks. A block is a database with transaction records located on the user’s computer. BlockChain will not be able to transfer cryptocurrency between users without miners - cryptocurrency miners.

Miners receive financial rewards for processing transactions on computers. Diggers ensure the functionality of the cryptocurrency in its existing form.

Stages of cryptocurrency mining

1. Buying 4-6 video cards with high-speed coolers and a high performance-to-mining speed ratio. Consider the amount of video memory, choose a card with high computing power. Ethereum mining requires a video memory of 2GB. In 2018, the optimal solution will be cards with volume 4-6 G.B..
2. Acquiring a powerful power supply 1-2kW. There are 2 options: purchasing a server unit or two regular ones to distribute the load. Installing conventional power supplies will require synchronization using a special cable.
3. Purchasing a shelf or independently constructing a structure similar to a server rack. This will be the frame of the farm. Structures for trusses are sold in online stores for $30-50. You cannot take plastic ones - there is a risk of melting.
4. Video cards are connected to a personal computer using special 6pin or Molex risers - the choice is yours.
5. We recommend installing Windows 10 for higher farm performance. The next step will be to download and configure the software (miner, utility for squeezing out the entire resource of the video card) and start mining cryptocurrency.

We have simplified the process of creating a farm. More detailed instructions for creating a farm are presented in another article.

Mining bitcoins and altcoins

There is no point in mining the top cryptocurrency Bitcoin, the complexity of the calculations is high, and the saturation of the network reduces profits in proportion to the number of miners. Using GPU, alternative currencies are mined - Ethereum, Monero, Zcash and others. Methods for mining Bitcoin cryptocurrency:

• Cloud mining services HashFlare and GenesisMining. The most cost-effective way to mine cryptocurrency in 2017. It does not require the purchase of hardware, pays for itself in 2-3 months, and there is no need for constant monitoring of the cryptocurrency mining process.
• ASIC chip mining equipment created for the purpose of Bitcoin mining. An expensive solution with a long payback.
• Mining alternative coins using a video card with instant conversion to Bitcoin on the NiceHash project website. This is a solution with an average payback period; profits in Bitcoin are accrued instantly.

What's inside the farm: components

1. SDD hard drive. The advantage is stability and performance;
2. CPU;
3. Video cards, preferably 4-6 pieces, more possible;
4. Motherboard;
5. Powerful power supply 1-2kW, better with a margin of 30-40% maximum farm consumption;
6. Raisers (one per video card);
7. RAM - from 4 GB;
8. USB WatchDog;
9. Monitor emulator.

It is possible without 8 and 9 points. USB WatchDog serves to increase the stability of the farm and protects against short circuits. The monitor emulator allows the user to start the farm remotely through the TeamViewer program. The software must be set to automatic launch mode.

Creating a cryptocurrency wallet

To do this, you will need to go to the official website of the cryptocurrency whose wallet you want to create and register in the system. You will be prompted to download a client with transaction records; for this you will need 100GB disk memory. Once you install the application, it will take several hours until the data is downloaded to your PC.

The wallet will be automatically created, BlockChain will assign the user an individual key/wallet to receive digital currency through mining. Registration is no more complicated than for cloud mining services, which allow you to earn money with a small initial investment.

Self-assembled farm

Detailed assembly instructions are presented in 2 videos. The video shows the process of creating a farm, starting with the purchase of hardware and ending with its launch. A must-read for novice miners to avoid overheating of video cards and failure of the entire mining farm.

Now let's select the equipment to create a farm.

motherboards

Basic rules for choosing a motherboard for cryptocurrency mining:

1. Choose the average price tag. The motherboard does not play a special role, the main thing is the presence of a large number of closely located ports. Motherboards are created specifically for mining, for example, ASRosk BTC or from the Biostar brand. Popular boards are ASUS Prime. Boards from this line are selling like hot cakes. Fortunately, there are plenty of analogues on the market.
2. Number of PCI-E x16, PCI-Express x1 and M.2 ports.

For effective mining, you need to configure the hardware. Disable unused devices in the BIOS, for example, USB 2.0/3.0 and sound. In the Standard SMOS Features section, switch the Halt on item to No Errors. After configuration, the farm will start immediately, without checking for errors. Configure HDD S.M.A.R.T by disabling this function. Find and activate AC Back if the feature was previously disabled. The farm will start up at the moment the current is supplied.

Windows needs to be loaded from a flash drive. Some boards require additional settings. Such boards include ASUS Prime H270-P. Enable 4G Decoding. If this feature is not available, update the BIOS and try again.

Mining risers

Video cards are switched through adapters - risers. These are universal devices that connect to PCI-Ex16 and PCI-E x1 ports. Buy only USB 3.0 risers with a long cable, approx. 50-70 cm.

There are several versions of risers, with differences in connectors. Below we will present a list of devices, choose any of them you like. When connecting power to the system for cryptocurrency mining, keep in mind that risers can draw up to 80W. With PCI-E x16 slots you need to be extremely careful; look at the position of the key on the connector so as not to place it on the wrong side.

To connect an additional card to the M2 port, you will have to purchase a special adapter.

CPU

The processor is almost irrelevant. Mining on a processor is not relevant in 2017. You can buy the cheapest and easiest one for the farm based on the motherboard socket. You shouldn’t take very weak hardware; the processor must be able to handle Windows 10 and the miner itself.

Video cards for mining

The main element of a cryptocurrency mining farm. Stores are empty, demand for video cards is high, prices are rising. It is required to carry out calculations, finding out the rate of payback of the card using a profit and payback calculator. There are services online that provide information about video cards online.

High payback will allow you to recoup the costs of creating a farm and start receiving net income. The costs are recovered in 5-7 months; if the video cards overheat and start to burn during aggressive use, the payback time is extended.

Cards from different manufacturers allow you to mine different cryptocurrencies. For example, Ethemeum is mined on AMD video cards, and the Zcash cryptocurrency is mined on Nvidia.

• GTX 1050ti;
• GTX 1080 and 1080ti;
• GTX 1060;
• GTX 1070.

• RX 580;
• RX 470;
• RX 480;
• RX 570.

AMD cards require BIOS firmware to improve farm profitability. Buy a monitor emulator to increase the stability of mining Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies.

There is no point in showing off by purchasing expensive video cards for 50,000 RUR; cards costing 25,000 RUR are enough. The main thing is a powerful cooling system.

Power supplies for farms

For farms mining cryptocurrency, it is necessary to purchase reliable power supplies with certificate 80+. Buy 2 at once, there is no need to save money on them. To prevent the unit from overloading, it is necessary to keep 100-200 W in reserve.

By connecting 2 power supplies at once you distribute the load evenly. Use the add2psu relay to chain them together. The system will turn the power supplies on and off at the same time. Place the Molex relay from the master, and 24 pin from the slave power supply.

Setting up the operating system and pool

Update the drivers, set the swap file to 20GB. Install Afterburner on your PC to speed up your video cards. Download TeamWeaver for remote access to the farm and HWiNFO64 to monitor the Bitcoin or altcoin mining process. Now download the mining program - miner. Select a pool and connect to it.

Mine Zcash by right-clicking on the start file. The startup file may have a different name; it is renamed. Enter the address of your cryptocurrency wallet, name the farm as you wish, and enter your email address.

Mining will begin after saving and running the file start. Set the miner to autostart. Monitor the process and mining statistics on your screen by entering the wallet address into the search bar. The electronic key is individual, do not share it and it will remain secret.

Maybe it’s more profitable to buy a ready-made farm?

Buying a turnkey farm is more expensive than assembling it yourself. Having looked at the market prices for farms, it becomes clear that the price tag ranges from 50,000 to 400,000 rubles. When purchasing a ready-made mining system, you should prepare for a long payback period, up to a year.

Understand the hardware and start creating your farm. Self-assembly is a budget version of classic mining. Buy video cards and other necessary equipment, set up the system and in the future receive a percentage of profit that exceeds the bank rate.

There is an alternative option for earning virtual currency - investing in Hash Rate. We suggest considering this mining method below.

Investing in hash rate

Hash rate is a slang name for services for automatic (cloud) mining of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. Select a project from the list presented on our website, invest in contracts and receive profits automatically. Profit from cloud mining services comes from the part of the cloud rented by the user. This computing power works for the miner, bringing a stable income.

It is wiser for budget investors to invest in cloud mining. This is cheaper and will allow you to save money in a growing exchange asset - cryptocurrency. Automatic mining frees the user from the costs of electricity, purchasing iron for the farm, monitoring the mining process and other costs inherent in classical mining.

Turnkey farm VS self-assembled farm

Making a choice between creating a farm yourself and buying a ready-made solution is not easy. People interested in hardware want to assemble a “construction set” that generates income, other miners buy a ready-made farm so as not to bother.

Advantages of a turnkey farm:

1. No time is wasted on selecting hardware.
2. The ready-made solution has characteristics that allow you to instantly calculate the payback.
3. Farm compactness. 80% of farms are no larger than a PC system unit.
4. The equipment is configured.
5. By connecting the farm to the PC, the user begins cryptocurrency mining without any hassles with drivers and adapters.

Disadvantages of a purchased farm:

1. Payback lasts for 2-3 months.
2. Difficulty in changing parts when hardware fails.
3. There is a premium for work and brand.

The positive aspects of creating a farm with your own hands:

1. Low price.
2. The user selects reliable parts.
3. High reliability and understanding of hardware.
4. Creative assembly process.
5. Fast payback.

Disadvantages of a DIY farm:

1. The work must be done by a professional.
2. Build quality is average.
3. Waste of time.
4. Risk of burning video cards, farm and apartment.

Conclusion

The above text provided step-by-step instructions for creating a farm for mining cryptocurrency. Having studied the features of the hardware, users develop coin mining systems and even sell ready-made solutions. By purchasing a ready-made farm, a person saves time and receives a ready-made system. He plugs the system into the network and mines Bitcoins automatically, looking at the mining statistics every couple of days.

Small investments of $500-1000 should be placed in contracts for cloud cryptocurrency mining. The payback on purchased computing power is faster than on home farms, and the final income is higher.

Professional miners create farms and operate them in rented apartments. To be on the safe side, funds are invested in companies providing cloud mining services. The user buys power and earns money automatically. It’s up to you to decide which way to earn money.

Investing in mining. We calculate profitability.

Several years ago, cryptocurrency mining was carried out using computers with modest technical characteristics. The attractiveness of cryptocurrencies and the availability of mining has led to the fact that miners simply flooded the Internet. But years have passed, and the mining process has become more difficult. Mining on a PC has become impossible without 4-8 video cards. Although some miners claim that it is possible to mine cryptocurrency on a home computer.

To find out which of them is right, you should first consider some features of the mining process on a PC. But before that, let’s say frankly: novice miners, at the first stage of work, need to obtain the necessary theoretical knowledge about what cryptocurrency is, what mining methods and principles are used to earn this or that cryptocurrency, etc. Only after you clearly understand the process itself can you move on to considering the hardware.

Do not rush to immediately purchase expensive specialized equipment, investing huge amounts of money in its purchase. First you need to decide what cryptocurrency you are going to mine. After that, calculate the profitability of mining and how much it will cost to build a PC. For example, Bitcoin mining is already quite complicated. If you are going to mine cryptocurrency using a computer, it is better to pay attention to Ethereum, Dogecoin, Monero and other currencies.

If you seriously intend to mine cryptocurrency using a computer, you should first study the market and then start modifying the computer. The fact is that to mine certain cryptocurrencies, you will need to install several video cards at once, which are not possible to install on one PC.

To mine Monero, you will need to acquire top models i-core 5, i-core 7; Radeon HD 270X, 280x, 290x, or higher than those listed. The more powerful the video card is installed, the higher the mining speed and the more earnings you can count on. Obvious things, but they are often forgotten. A distinctive feature of Monero mining is the active use of AES commands for x86 processors. There are increased demands on PC memory, and mining coins on a GPU will be a useless exercise, since the income generated will not even cover the cost of electricity.

It is better to mine Bitcoins on ASIC. The best models are Antiminer S7, Antiminet S9, Antimner D3. It is worth considering that Antiminer S9 with a hashrate of 13.5 Th/S and a consumption of 1400 Watt/h will not cost less than $2500.

Mining Ethrerum is different in that there is no special equipment for it. A PC with 4 GB of RAM or higher, plus one or more AMD Radeon video cards, and at least 2 GB of memory will be sufficient.

Is it possible to mine cryptocurrency on a PC? How is the power of mining equipment measured?

Equipment power is measured in Hashes per second. Usually we talk about GigaHashes and MegaHashes.

It’s also important to understand this: you won’t be able to mine cryptocurrency without modifying your PC. Such mining will not be practical. Another question is how much money will need to be invested in such a modification. Below we give examples of two options for assembling a PC - budget and expensive. And you decide for yourself which option is best.

1. Budget. Here we turn our computer into a mining farm. This assembly option is optimal for beginners who are taking their first steps in mining and do not have the financial ability to carry out serious modifications to their PC.

Here is the assembly option we offer:

• Motherboard - Biostar H81S2. Provides the ability to connect up to 6 video cards
• Processor – INTEL Celeron (3.2 GHz)
• Hard drive – 16 GB. More is possible, however, this part of the PC is not used for mining, so it will only increase the cost of upgrading the computer, making it far from budget-friendly
• RAM – 8 GB stick
• 4-6 R9290MSI video cards
• 2 x 1000W Enhance power supplies

If you do not have the experience and necessary skills to assemble a computer for mining yourself, you can purchase ready-made options with settings that are optimal for mining a particular cryptocurrency.

1. Expensive. In this assembly option, the main emphasis is on achieving maximum power. At the same time, the miner should not forget about the importance of controlling electricity consumption and the cost of purchasing equipment. Otherwise, such modernization can literally cost a pretty penny.

The cost of a ready-made PC for mining will cost an average of 6 thousand dollars. To some, the amount will seem exorbitant, however, as the experience of other miners shows, the characteristics will allow you to recoup the costs within 5-6 months.

Now let's look at what such a computer will include:

• 6 video cards Radeon RX480 – 470, one of the best. They demonstrate high performance and power even on a weak PC. But they consume 2-3 times less electricity, thanks to which you can save on electricity consumption and power supply
• RAM – 8 GB. This is a minimum indicator, but it is quite logical that the higher it is, the better
• Powerful and new 112 Mh GPU processor
• Power supply - CoolerMaster 850W Silver, economical and reliable

As for the computer case, it is better to assemble it yourself. This will ensure efficient cooling, and at the same time reduce the cost of assembling a computer.

A computer with the above configuration is suitable for mining Eth+DEC, ZEC, ETH+SIA and other cryptocurrencies.

Regardless of which build option you choose, special attention should be paid to such parts of the PC as the video card and cooling system. After all, not only the efficiency of mining, but also the final cost of the assembly depends on them. But it will not be possible to do without modernization completely. Personal computers are not suitable for mining cryptocurrency, and therefore it is better to immediately accept the fact that you will have to invest money in it. But how much is up to you to decide.

The efficiency of cryptocurrency mining directly depends on the main indicator – the power of the video card. You can independently conduct research on which video cards are best suited for mining. You can go the simple way using the table:

The main indicator that was taken into account when comparing video cards was profit after deducting mining costs. It is important to remember that the more profit from mining a video card provides, the higher the cost.

How to calculate how much cryptocurrency you can mine on specific equipment

Mining profitability is the level of remuneration received by a user of the blockchain network for providing technical capacity to solve a number of network problems and conduct operations. The result of such work is finding a new block, for which the user receives income. Accordingly, the profitability of Monero is an indicator of the number of coins received for finding new blocks of the network.

Monero: userHash/(difficulty * 1e9) * blockReward * 3600

where Difficulty is the difficulty of the Monero network. It shows how difficult it is for a miner to find a new block and get a reward for it. You can find the value of this parameter on many sites, for example, on coinwarz.

userHash – the power of your equipment.

blockReward – reward for finding a block of the Monero network. Current information about the reward for a found block can be found at https://bitinfocharts.com/ru/monero/

1e9 - 10 to the ninth power

The Monero profitability formula shows us how many coins we will earn per hour of mining. Accordingly, the result is obtained in Monero coins, which we can later exchange for money through exchanges, exchange offices or other users interested in purchasing Monero.

The profitability of other cryptocurrencies is calculated similarly.

If you imagine the formula simply, mining profit

You can find out the rate of Monero and other cryptocurrencies on coingecko.

Profitability of equipment and methods of determination

To calculate the profitability of mining equipment, it is important to find out the hashrate and the speed of cryptocurrency mining using the selected equipment. The higher the hashrate, the faster the cryptocurrency mining. But at the same time, the cost of such equipment will be higher.

The second factor is power. The higher it is, the less profitable cryptocurrency mining will be. Since you will have to spend more money on paying bills for consumed electricity.

If you are interested in generating income and are ready to invest a significant amount of money in the purchase of equipment, you can opt for Antiminer S9. Its characteristics:

• Price (average): 300,000 rubles
• Electricity consumption: 1350 watt-hour
• Hash Rate: 13.5 Th/s
• Estimated profit: 50,000 rub./month

Six months of mining - and you will reach the payback level.

The second option, Antiminer S7, will not require as much upfront costs. But mining profits will also be more modest. Characteristics:

• Price (average): 60,000 rubles
• Electricity consumption: 800 watt-hour
• Hash Rate: 4.7 Th/s
• Estimated profit: 15,000 rub./month

Payback – 4 months. Faster than with Antiminer S9, but the profit received in the future will not be so great.

The electricity tariff is also important, because each region will have its own. On average it is 1-5 rubles / kWh.

Equipment. Which is better in terms of obsolescence and usability?

You should not hope that by investing in the purchase of mining equipment once, you will ensure a lifetime profit on complete autopilot. There is also enough for children and grandchildren! This is not true, because any equipment tends to become obsolete, both physically and morally. Mining on processors is already useless; it’s not even worth considering such mining. You'll be wasting your time. The only option is ASIC hardware. It is subject to increased wear and tear when it comes to mining. The equipment has to work 24 hours a day.

The average service life of such equipment is 15 months. Afterwards you will have to replace it with a new one. Even the largest companies update their equipment twice a year, what can we say about miners.

It's better to stick with the latest versions. Here are some of them:

• Electricity consumption – 840 watt-hour
• Hash Rate – 8.5 Th/s
• The crypto algorithm used is SHA-256.
• Price (average) – 100,000 rubles

Dominator A4:

• Hash Rate – 280 Mh/s
• Electricity consumption from operating units
• The cryptographic algorithm used is Scrypt
• Price (average) – 90,000 rubles

ASIC Antminer S9:

• Electricity consumption – 1171 watt-hours
• Hash Rate – 11.84 Th/s
• The crypto algorithm used is SHA 256
• Price (average) – RUB 345,000

There is also an option to purchase ASIC miners. As a result, they allow you to mine cryptocurrency faster. An example of such a farm is CoinTerra TerraMiner IV.

Choosing a cryptocurrency: which one to focus on?

Ethereum. The Ethereum cryptocurrency, created by Vitalik Buterin, was released only on July 30, 2015. Although the Canadian-Russian programmer himself put forward the idea of ​​​​creating “ether” back in 2013. The system is based on blockchain technology.

Ethereum has gained popularity due to the presence of smart contracts that provide users with ample opportunities. As well as its versatility, which allows the use of this cryptocurrency in various areas of economic activity. In the spring of 2017, they paid $40 for one “ether.” In just one quarter, the price rose to $280, and continues to grow.

According to analysts, more than $3 billion will be invested in Ethereum in 2018.

Ripple. The system was launched in 2012, and the purpose of its creation was the security of user transactions. The growing popularity of this cryptocurrency can be explained by the fact that the scope of its use is constantly expanding. It is used by global financial organizations such as Santander, UBS and UniCredit. There is reason to believe that more and more legal entities and individuals will turn their attention to Ripple in 2018. This means that the value of the cryptocurrency will go up.

Maximum convenience is another good reason to use Ripple. With just a couple of simple mouse clicks, system users can make transfers all over the world. Although the current exchange rate is a modest $0.2440, more than $250 million has already been invested in it. However, first of all, a real investor pays attention not to the current value of a financial instrument, but to its dynamics. Ripple’s is simply amazing, because compared to the spring of 2017, the value of the cryptocurrency has increased 10 times! Market experts agree that in 2018, Ripple will remain a very attractive investment target.

Litecoin. A Bitcoin fork that appeared in October 2011. It is one of the most stable and secure cryptocurrencies in the world. It occupies a confident 4th place in the capitalization ranking. Although its founder Charles Lee created this cryptocurrency as an alternative to Bitcoin, it was not destined to become its full-fledged replacement. Although according to some indicators it is even ahead of Bitcoin. Thus, it takes only 2.5 minutes to create one Litecoin block. Bitcoin takes 4 times longer to do this.

The volume of investment in this cryptocurrency has exceeded $2 billion, and the growth dynamics of its value speaks for itself. In April 2017, one Litecoin cost $9. Closer to summer – $39. As of November 2017, the price of the cryptocurrency exceeded $76 and continues to grow.

Of course, investing in already known and popular cryptocurrencies is a simple step. But it does not always bring maximum benefits. Yes, the rate of such cryptocurrencies is unlikely to collapse in a couple of hours, but at the same time it will take a lot of money to purchase them.

100 % %