Despite the fact that the cryptocurrency appeared eight years ago, it gained the greatest popularity in the post-Soviet space at the beginning of this year. An unprecedented excitement flared up around her, and many Internet users literally rushed to study what a blockchain, pool, bitcoin is. They also began to learn how to start mining cryptocurrency. To date, quite a few films about this phenomenon have already been shot, which have been translated into Russian and are in the public domain. They can hardly be called a guide to mining (extraction) of bitcoin or any other virtual currency. That is why today we will tell you about what cryptocurrency mining is in simple words.
What is a cryptocurrency?
To put it more intelligibly, then a cryptocurrency is a digital currency that has cryptographic protection. A new unit appears in the process of solving complex mathematical problems.algorithms and consists of one hundred million parts, each of which carries a unique cryptographic code (signature). I would like to immediately note the fact that it is impossible to fake a digital currency, since information about each unique cryptographic signature is copied and stored on all computers involved in the extraction (mining) of cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency has only a digital form. It is impossible to feel it, put it in a purse or a safe in a bank. The main advantage of such money is that it is decentralized and is not under the control of any state or institution.
The number of coins created is strictly limited, it cannot be changed. Everyone can find out for sure when, for example, the last bitcoin will be mined. Controlled emission gradually complicates and slows down the mining process, and also eliminates such problematic phenomena as inflation.
The value of digital money directly depends on demand. The more investors show interest in a particular cryptocurrency, investing a significant amount in its development, the more expensive it will be. State banknotes are backed by gold reserves, and cryptocurrencies are backed by investments.
What is cryptocurrency mining in simple terms?
We have already mentioned that cryptocurrency appears as a result of solving complex mathematical algorithms. It is beyond the power of an ordinary person to effectively cope with such tasks, which is why they began to use the computing power of a computer for this purpose, and the process itself was called mining.
Duringcryptocurrency mining on a PC that is connected to the Internet and is involved in the cryptocurrency system, information comes in the form of blocks (blockchains). Such blocks contain a huge number of algorithms that need to be processed and the only correct solution obtained. Each decision is a digital signature for a certain information cell located in the block. And also it is the same cryptographic protection against hacking.
The blocks themselves appear as a result of transactions using a certain type of cryptocurrency. For example, if someone paid for a purchase in an online store using Bitcoin, and your equipment is configured to mine the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, then it will immediately detect this transaction and contribute to its completion by solving all the same algorithms. And you will receive a reward in the form of several hundred Satoshi (1 Bitcoin=100,000,000 Satoshi).
First steps in mining
We hope that we managed to explain in simple terms what cryptocurrency mining is. If you decide to mine, for example, Ethereum or Bitcoin, it will be enough to have an idea of how the system works. Let's move on to the technical part and find out how to start cryptocurrency mining.
The most efficient way to get digital currency is mining with a video card. Just a few years ago, it was possible to earn several thousand bitcoins per day, using a weak video adapter and a simple processor for this purpose. However, the process of mining any demanded cryptocurrency is constantly becoming more complicated. And forin order to make a profit from this kind of activity today, you need to think about assembling a "farm".
Farm
The most profitable cryptocurrency for mining is bitcoin, ethereum and littlecoin. It is on their extraction that the main capacities of miners around the world are directed. Day by day, getting these coins becomes more difficult. In order to speed up the process, miners have begun to build "farms" that have much in common with a regular computer, but significantly outperform it in performance.
To assemble the farm, you need to acquire the following components:
- motherboard with multi-graphics connectivity;
- hard drive with small capacity;
- high frequency processor;
- one stick of RAM (4-8 GB);
- 4-8 video cards with video memory from 2 GB;
- powerful power supply (from 750 W);
- risers (adapter extensions from the video card to the motherboard);
- additional cooling;
- start button;
- frame.
Video cards for the "farm"
The most optimal video cards for cryptocurrency mining in 2017 are the Radeon RX 470. With impressive performance, they are much cheaper than their closest competitors from Nvidia. However, giving preference to Radeon, you will have to think carefully about the additional cooling system, since these video adapters heat up much more than the same Nvidia ones. The average cost of a semi-professional "farm", working with four video cards,is $ 2300-2700, which is quite expensive for the budget of the average Russian. However, with proper setup and continuous operation, such a “farm” will pay for itself in 6-9 months and will start bringing you income.
Step-by-step instructions for cryptocurrency mining
After the equipment has been purchased, fixed in the frame and connected, you need to install all the necessary software. The step-by-step instruction for cryptocurrency mining is as follows:
- installing the operating system;
- registering a wallet and getting an address;
- client installation and configuration;
- select pool.
OS and cryptocurrency wallets
Install the operating system into our "farm". Then we set up access to the Internet and start a special wallet for digital currency. You can create a wallet for specific coins, for example, bitcoin. But we recommend using a universal one, in which you can store absolutely any cryptocurrency.
Among those involved in cryptocurrency mining, the following multicurrency wallet services have extremely positive reviews:
- MultiCoinWallet.
- HolyTransaction.
- NoobWallet.
- Cryptonator.
- C-cex.com.
Client program for cryptocurrency mining
Choosing one of the services where after registration you will be assigned a unique address-account, you need to download the client-program for mining digital currency. Figure out whatthe program is better for cryptocurrency mining, we will be helped by a rating based on the popularity of a particular client, which looks like this:
- 50Miner. This program will not take up much space on your hard drive. With a fairly small "weight", it has all the necessary functionality, and a simple and pleasant interface will make setting up the client easy even for a beginner.
- BFGMiner. The most popular program in the post-Soviet space, as it has a Russian interface language. Setting up the client will not take much time, since everything is very clear. A distinctive feature from many other programs is the ability to control the cooling system. You can set the optimal rotation parameters for coolers.
- CGMiner. This client is perfect for those who know perfectly how cryptocurrency mining works, and also have an idea about the MS Dos OS. Using this utility, you can create your own pools, configure them, and also increase the performance of video cards installed in the "farm" by overclocking them. In order to use the program, you must have high-performance graphics adapters.
- DiabloMiner. This program is popular among experienced miners who know MS Dos. To use the client, you need to equip the "farm" with a high-speed processor and powerful video cards. In the mining process, you can use the processing power of the processor and video adapters. Works with operating systems such as Mac, Linux, Windows.
- Bitminer. By feature setvery similar to 50Miner. In order to start earning your first Satoshi, you do not need to install the program on your computer, you just need to run the "exe" file from the downloaded folder. A serious disadvantage of this client and 50Miner is the consumption of a large amount of RAM.
Pool selection
In our article, we have already talked about what cryptocurrency mining is. In simple words, this is the earnings of digital currency by using the computing power of your equipment. And they also said that this process is constantly becoming more complicated. In order to make mining more efficient, people are united in groups (pools).
After installing one of the cryptocurrency mining programs, you will have the opportunity to join one of the pools, of which there are already about two thousand at the moment.
Choosing the right pool can be confusing for a beginner. After all, there are both simple groups that mine only one type of digital currency, and multipools, in which it is possible to earn several cryptocurrencies at once, for example, bitcoin and ethereum.
Before you connect to a particular pool, it is better to spend a little time studying it. Give preference to those resources that have been working stably for more than one year and have the most positive reviews. Also pay attention to how the accumulated coins are paid out. In total, there are about thirteen of them, but the following are more popular:
- PPLNS - all miners in the pool,receive a profit, the size of which directly depends on the last number of invested shares.
- PPS - the resource determines the share of each pool member and pays for it according to the contract.
- PROP - payouts are proportional to your share of power in a particular pool.
Best pools in 2017
From the moment that cryptocurrency attracted the attention of millions of people, pools began to appear like mushrooms after rain. However, most services, unable to withstand the competition, cease to exist. Many of them never returned the money they earned to people who used the computing power of their PCs in their pools. In order not to lose your own money, we recommend that you use only proven and most reliable sites. The pool rating for today looks like this:
- F2Pool.
- AntPool.
- BTC China.
- BW Pool.
- Bitfury.
Cryptocurrency faucets
Not everyone has the opportunity to allocate about $ 3,000 from the family budget to build a "farm". But this is not a reason to think that you will never become a miner. Today, there is a way by which cryptocurrency mining without investments becomes real. This is the opportunity provided by sites that are called cryptocurrency faucets among miners.
The principle of operation of such resources is quite simple. You enter the site and perform one of the actions for which you receive a reward. For example, you may be prompted to enter a captcha, playinto the game, collect puzzles or view some kind of video sequence, after which a certain number of coins will be credited to your account. It may seem to you that the owner of the resource is a rich and very generous person, but this is not so. The webmaster receives income from advertising that has been placed on the site. The more visitors to its resource per day, the more the advertiser will pay for the banner space.
It will not be possible to earn a lot on such “faucets”, however, the collected funds can be reinvested in the purchase of capacities on resources offering cloud mining services. Such a scheme can be useful for people who do not know where to start cryptocurrency mining.
Top cryptocurrency faucets
In order not to waste time, we suggest you familiarize yourself with the list of the most reliable and generous "faucets":
- Cryptoblox.
- Getmyfaucet.
- Cryptospout.
Today there are many such resources, but most of them are insolvent.
