After the advent of cryptocurrency, many people began to show interest in its production and look for answers to the question: how to start mining Ethereum (ETH)? This is not surprising, because the value of digital currency is growing daily, which means you can make good money. Let's try to understand all the intricacies of ETH mining.
How ETH appeared
Before we try to understand how to start mining Ethereum, we suggest you learn the history of its occurrence. ETH appeared four years after the debut of Bitcoin (BTC), which is currently the most expensive cryptocurrency in the world, and has become its main competitor. Ethereum is the fruit of the hard work of Canadian programmer Vitaly Buterin. As you may have guessed, Vitaly moved to Canada from Russia, so don't be surprised if you hear that it was the Russians who came up with ETH.
The talented programmer was supported by Gavin Wood, who not only was able to describe the principle of the system invented by Buterin, but also proved the possibility of its creation. Having gathered around him a whole group of enthusiasts,Vitaly was able to raise funds for the project, having received $18 million as an investment.
How to start mining Ethereum
People who set out to mine cryptocurrency collect or buy ready-made “farms” on their own. Advanced but non-professional "farms" consisting of several modern and powerful video cards can be installed at home, as they do not take up much space.
Ethereum has many implementations that are written in languages like Jawa, C++, Haskell, Go, Rust. The most common among miners is the Geth client, created using Go. Soon it will compete with the Parity client, running on the Rust engine. The demo version of Parity showed excellent results, attracting the interest of many miners.
There are also resources for cloud mining. You do not need to install expensive equipment, and the percentage of earnings directly depends on the capacities that you buy on a particular server.
But if you still decide to mine cryptocurrency on your own, you should know what is the best way to mine Ethereum. First of all, you need to download and install a client, such as Geth. Only after that will it be possible to interact with the network from the console and synchronize the blockchain.
What is blockchain
This question is often asked by people who are looking for information on how to start mining Ethereum. Blockchain is a method of transferring information from a sender to a recipient. This technology helps to break the encrypted transaction data into blocks, which,before getting from the sender to the recipient, they overcome multiple stages of verification. This method is considered one of the most reliable, as it guarantees not only the confidentiality of the data of both parties, but also leaves no history behind. This eliminates the possibility of hacking and theft of funds.
Network complexity
The principle of ETH mining is no different from BTC mining, and the complexity directly depends on supply and demand. The more people start mining cryptocurrency, the slower and more difficult the process will be. The pool plays a decisive role in mining, from which you can receive both ETH and any other digital currency. This begs the question: what is the best pool to mine Ethereum?
Today, there are a huge number of pools whose servers are located abroad. How to mine Ethereum on Dwarfpool is the easiest to figure out. There is a fairly simple interface here, which attracts not only inexperienced miners, but also advanced users.
In order to start earning, just download the Ethminer client and run it by setting the parameters suitable for the pool, for example:
ethminer.exe -F https://eth-eu.dwarfpool.com:95/1x34247s2dst324g4c12bv123jmdsa32c76h4fd12mnh8 -U
- F contains a link to the pool, as well as information about your wallet, to which the funds you earn will be transferred.
- U - tells the software to mine Ethereum using the power of a CUDA video card for this purpose. If you have a video adaptermanufactured by AMD, then the value of the parameter will contain the letter G.
Each pool has its own setting, but the principle of their operation is almost identical.
Register
Now we know where to mine Ethereum, but before starting the process, we need to go through a simple registration. The procedure itself is practically the same as the one you encountered when registering on other resources. First of all, you will be asked to enter a valid e-mail, to which a confirmation link will be sent, as well as a password. While on the site, you will see a whole list of pools from which you can choose the most suitable one by changing the default settings (optional).
Ethereum Wallet
Each of those who decide to mine cryptocurrency must have a special account, which will contain the earned coins. When registering with any of the clients that are required for mining, you will need to provide a wallet address. An Ethereum wallet can be created on the following resources:
- EthereumWallet;
- MyEtherWallet;
- Mist (the most convenient for the Russian-speaking audience, since the interface can be switched to Russian).
Customer
The program client is needed to use the power of the video adapter and processor, converting them into hashrates that make up the cryptocurrency itself. Each utility has its own unique interface, and some even differ in structure. The easiest and most reliable clients:
- CGMiner;
- BFGMiner;
- Ufasoft Miner;
- 50Miner.
How to write code for bat files
This file is extremely necessary, because through it you can optimize the parameters of your computer by distributing power for mining a particular cryptocurrency. On the Internet, there are ready-made codes that are suitable for different systems. With the help of them, not only a certain power is set at which the video card and processor will work, but also the parameters of the optimal temperature are set. If you are just going to mine Ethereum, then it is undesirable to write the code yourself, since incorrect values \u200b\u200bcan provoke overheating of components and disable it. You need to look for ready-made code for a specific video card and processor.
Solo mining with video adapter
In order to make money on cryptocurrency mining, it is not necessary to use any pool. You can independently mine, for example, ETH. In this case, your system will collect blocks on its own, which other users will not get. However, in order to become a solo miner, you need to have several fairly powerful graphics cards, a good motherboard, processor, enough RAM, a powerful power supply and an efficient cooling system.
Equipment for the "farm"
Ethereum mining is possible only with the use of modern and productive components. It can be several video cards,for example, from the GTX or RS series. If you prefer video adapters from MSI, then it is better to use GTX 1050 TI and above. Asus is very popular among miners who use RS-290 and higher video cards in their "farms".
Extremely carefully it is necessary to approach the choice of the motherboard. It must be designed to connect four or more video adapters. The processor needs a high-frequency one, since it depends on this indicator how many operations per second it is capable of performing. As for RAM, the optimal size is at least 8 GB. The greatest efficiency from RAM can be obtained if you install strips with a higher data transfer rate. Their cost is much higher than that of ordinary ones.
Setting up video cards
Before you start the process of mining cryptocurrencies, you need to make sure that your system is optimized and properly configured. First of all, update all drivers. Regardless of what currency you will be mining, you need to choose a mining client that is best suited for a specific video adapter model. The client settings are the same for both pool and solo mining. Remember that integrated graphics cards are generally not suitable for this type of income!
A little more about pools
Any cryptocurrency, including ETH, can be mined by creating your own pool. The main problem is not at all in opening and registering a pool, but in attracting people there who will mine on your resource. This is explainedthe fact that the vast majority of miners trust already proven pools, which provide an opportunity for stable earnings and do not have pitfalls. However, if you already have a target audience or a whole team of specialists has been selected, you can start a new pool. Remember that to create it, you must have at least the slightest understanding of programming.
Course
Is it profitable to mine Ethereum? This question is asked by absolutely all people who are going to start mining cryptocurrency. At the moment, digital currency exchanges demonstrate exchange rate stability and offer optimal quotes. So if you invest a certain amount today in the assembly of a good "farm", you can pay for it within 7-8 months.
Ethereum exchange rate against the dollar today is $283-290 for one ETH. Of course, Bitcoin is much more expensive, but it will be much more difficult to mine, and the process itself will be slower.
Online calculators
Today, there are many online services that have a free calculator to determine the profitability of Ethereum mining on your equipment. You only need to enter the average rate of cryptocurrency mining on the "farm" and select the currency of interest. Knowing how to mine ETH, as well as the Ethereum exchange rate against the dollar, you can correctly calculate your own profit.
How much can you earn
Your possible profit directly depends on the capacity of the "farm" that will produce cryptocurrency. If it is not possible to assemble a "farm", you shoulduse a desktop computer that is equipped with a high-performance graphics card. For example, on the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 video adapter, you can earn from two to four dollars a day. Such a small amount indicates that mining is becoming an increasingly complex and time-consuming process. When the cryptocurrency first appeared, even the weakest video adapter could mine up to ten thousand bitcoins a day.
To increase profits, you will have to collect a "farm" of four or five video cards, paired with a high-frequency processor. With a design equipped with five GTX 1060s, you will make a profit of up to 20-25 dollars per day. However, it is worth considering the fact that with an increase in power, electricity costs will also increase.
How to get real money
When you start mining ETH, you involuntarily think about how you can then turn cryptocurrency into familiar money, for example, rubles. There are several ways to do this:
- Online exchangers.
- Direct sale.
- Calculation with digital currency in online stores.
The first way is the most optimal. There are many services on the Web that offer their services for exchanging cryptocurrencies for government ones. You just need to choose the most favorable exchange rate, indicate the denomination that needs to be changed, the wallet address and card details to receive funds.
You can also find someone interested in buying ETH. In this case, you will have toagree on a course and exchange Ethereum wallet addresses. In online stores, they are increasingly beginning to implement a cryptocurrency settlement system. You can order any product you like by paying for the purchase on the site with mined ETH.
