Cryptocurrency value has raised over 2017, and it is promising to obtain more value this year. The interest in cryptocurrency mining is increasing, as well as the amount of cryptocurrencies on the market. Today, there are 1545 existing cryptocurrencies, and their number continues to grow.
Cryptocurrency Rating
Best cryptocurrencies for mining are the promising ones: they are being developed and updated, ensuring stability and reliability. To get profit from mining, it is important to know which cryptocurrency to mine.
What is cryptocurrency mining?
Cryptocurrency mining is the creation of new currency using a special algorithm. Mining consists of adding transactions to the blockchain by verifying them. As a result, new currency is released.
How is cryptocurrency mined?
There two common ways to mine cryptocurrency: cloud mining and hardware mining.
- Cloud mining
For cloud mining, a mining company itself pays for the hardware. Then, you purchase a contract, and pay the company mostly only for maintenance and electricity fees. It is a beneficial way because it does not require any set up that you have to do yourself.
- Hardware mining
As for hardware mining, you have to purchase and set up the special equipment yourself. There are several hardware types and brands to choose from. The most common hardware used for mining are graphic cards and chips.
- Graphics cards (GPUs – Graphic Processing Units)
Graphics cards are relatively flexible and easy-to-buy hardware for cryptocurrency mining. Graphics cards are mostly used for mining such cryptocurrencies as Ethereum, Zcash and Monero. Bitcoins and Litecoins mining using graphics cards is not profitable.
- Chips (ASICs - Application specific integrated circuit chips)
ASICs provide an increased mining speed with the decreased consumption of power. Compared to graphics cards, they are more expensive and have limited functions. However, they are useful for profitable mining of Bitcoin or Litecoin.
How to measure mining profitability?
Mining some currencies is more profitable than mining the others.
Profitability of mining several altcoins compared to Ethereum
Profitability of cryptocurrency mining depends on several factors, such as hash rate, equipment cost, consumption of power, electricity rate, and the current altcoin price.
To calculate how profitable your mining is, it is convenient to use special calculators.
The most reliable online cryptocurrency mining profitability calculator
Bitcoin Mining (BTC)
As the bitcoin network is big today, the mining process has become much more complex compared to that of first bitcoins. Because of this, mining equipment should be very powerful, meaning huge energy consumption. As a result, the level of return is decreasing.
If to calculate the Bitcoin mining profitability using ASIC chip Antminer S9, according to its cost in 2017, a daily profit is around $9, taking into account the electricity fee. It means that the investment will pay off in less than 250 days and a year profit will be around $900.
Ethereum Mining (ETH)
Ethereum mining profitability also depends on the hash rate, the amount of power required, and what is the most important - mining difficulty, which is the measure of how hard it is to solve mathematical problems.
Ethereum Mining Difficulty
For Ethereum mining, graphics cards are the best solution. Calculating profitability of GPU mining, a daily profit can reach up to $23, with the pay off period of 139 days. A year profit is around $5238.
Litecoin Mining (LTC)
Taking into account all the previously stated factors that affect profitability, and using Antminer L3+ ASIC chip, the evaluated daily profit is around $9, with the investment pay off in 193 days. One year of mining will provide profit of almost $1550.
Cryptocurrency mining is a complex process but if you know the basic important factors, it is possible to successfully do it. However, if you want to have a stable income and increase your profits, it is important to know which cryptocurrency it is better to choose for mining.
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