Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency mining have become increasingly more popular. This makes the question of how to start Bitcoin mining an important one to answer.
So, what is crypto mining and Bitcoin mining?
In short, mining is the process of finding new blocks in the blockchain and then awarding the coins in those blocks to the miner. In this article, we’ll give you a more detailed explanation of what crypto mining is.
When you are crypto mining, there are a few basic principles to know in order to calculate costs and potential profit. For a more in-depth example, check out this article. The main costs of crypto mining are the initial costs of mining hardware, the electricity cost per kw/h, and infrastructure costs.
When mining at home, electricity price is a very important factor. It’s important to check the kw/h rates of your local electricity provider and also if there is any potential deal to be made when you use more electricity (which will happen when mining).
After this has been figured out, it is also important to check if the electrical infrastructure in your house can support the kw/h requirement. Some fuse boxes can only support up to a certain amount of electricity. Also, make sure that the miner can be connected to the internet.
Finally, you need space to put the hardware. Some hardware can get pretty loud and it needs good airflow as well.
Once all of those initial boxes are ticked, it is time to start mining!
Which hardware to get
Depending on which coins you want to mine, different mining hardware is required. The main groups of mining machines are GPU miners, normally for altcoins, and ASIC miners that mine a specific algorithm only, such as SHA256 to mine Bitcoin.
ASIC miners are specially designed and optimized to mine a single algorithm, like SHA256 (Bitcoin), X11 (DASH), and many more. Nowadays, there are a lot of different types of ASIC machines from different manufacturers. Doing research on which one fits your needs best would be smart. The important factors to take into consideration are:
- algorithm
- mining speed
- whether or not the power supply is included
- quality of the power supply
- electricity requirement
- electricity efficiency
- cooling technology
- warranty
- size
Certain machines will also be easier to install than others or come with preinstalled software. Make sure to choose the ASIC machine with the algorithm that is needed to mine the coin you want to mine. For example, if you want to mine Bitcoin, you can get an ASIC designed to mine the SHA256 algorithm.
Note: Since this article focuses on mining Bitcoin, we won’t go into more detail on GPU mining, as GPU mining is not commonly used for mining Bitcoin. Although websites like nicehash can be used to get Bitcoin by selling or renting out your GPUs hashrate for Bitcoin. If you are looking to build a GPU mining rig, check out this article.
Setup and installation
Once a decision is made on which hardware to buy and the hardware has finally arrived, it has to be installed.
First of all, you must find a location in your house that’s dry and has proper airflow. You also need a connection to the electrical grid that can support the electrical needs of the machine. Then, you must hook the machine up to the power supply and the internet.
After it has power and is connected to the internet, you will have to set up the miner’s software (the specifics depend on which ASIC miner you bought).
For example, with certain miners, you only have to go to the miner’s IP on a computer or phone and then you can login to the ASIC and point the ASIC to a specific mining pool to start mining. Other ASICs could have different methods to connect to the machine and set it up. Make sure you do your research before purchasing a specific ASIC.
So, is it profitable to start mining Bitcoin at home?
This is a hard question to answer since it depends on many factors. If you can maintain the machine properly while having relatively low electricity costs, then it could be. Always make sure to calculate the costs and potential profits and keep in mind that machines can break.
Also, prices of underlying cryptocurrencies can go up or down. In 2021, Bitcoin eclipsed $64,000 on April 14th, but then fell below $30,000 months later.
Algorithms change in difficulty too. For instance, when a government-led crackdown banished China’s crypto miners, Bitcoin mining difficulty dropped 28%. Miners elsewhere in the world welcomed this as positive news, as mining crypto got easier almost overnight.
All these factors can positively or negatively impact the profitability of Bitcoin mining at home.
Conclusion
Mining Bitcoin at home can be fun and it might even be profitable, but this might not be very simple and could be time-consuming. It might be a better idea to look for an alternative as well.
Bitcoin mining companies like Elite Mining Inc have a large electrical infrastructure, low electricity prices, their own technology, a potentially better bargaining position for buying hardware, and a whole experienced team behind the crypto mining operation.
Consider joining Elite Mininc Inc as a shareholder or doing crypto hosting with us.