Boxmining v2

Category: Start Mining

Learn how to start mining cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Zcoin, Epic Cash and more!

  • Ethereum Mining Guide (2021)

    Ethereum Mining Guide (2021)

    What is Ethereum Mining?

    Ethereum is one of the easiest cryptocurrencies to mine, using idle computer resources to earn daily revenue in Ethereum (ETH). This is especially true if you have a high end computer, as they usually have the necessary hardware to mine Ethereum. This guide will cover the basics of Ethereum mining and will get you started in less than 5 minutes. In order to get mining, you’ll need a Graphics Processing Unit(GPU). GPUs are usually in gaming computers and high-end computers (eg MacBook Pro or Dell XPS). Miners frequently sell mined Ethereum on top cryptocurrency exchanges or Over-the-Counter to generate passive income.

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    Ethereum (ETH) is the cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum network – decentralized smart platform for running decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi). To learn more about Ethereum check out our Ethereum Guide.

    Note: If you don’t have a GPU, check the bottom section of this guide and we’ll teach you how to buy and install one.

    Note 2: In 2021, Ethereum will deploy a new consensus mechanism called Proof of Stake that no longer requires mining. This will eventually phase out mining on Ethereum all together. Read more about Proof of Stake.

    How Profitable is Ethereum Mining?

    Daily Revenue from mining rewards differ everyday – this is because mining difficulty changes and hence the daily reward. Revenue is dependent on the power of the Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) involved, with higher Hashrates being faster and more profitable. There are two major manufacturers of GPUs: Nvidia and AMD. Generally speaking, the more powerful (and expensive) the GPU higher the Hashrate for mining Ethereum. For example, the expensive Nvidia RTX 2080 mines at 36.90 MH/s whilst the less expensive Nvidia GTX 1660 mines at 20.50 MH/s. Check out the latest up-to-date daily revenue for different hardware on https://whattomine.com.

    Daily Revenue Yearly Revenue
    Nvidia RTX 2080 $0.50 $182
    Nvidia GTX 1060 $0.30 $109
    AMD Vega64 $0.54 $197
    AMD RX480 $0.40 $146

    Potential Revenue mining Ethereum (Calculated on Oct 29 2019)

    We calculated the costs and profits for mining Ethereum, and how does it compare to Ethereum staking? Which one is better?

    Ethereum mining vs staking: Which one is more profitable

    Easiest way to mine Ethereum (Honeyminer)

    Honeyminer is an all-in-one mining solution that automatically mines on your computer without any technical knowledge. Honeyminer automatically joins a mining pool, so you can get daily payouts of the revenue you generate from mining.

    Once installed, the software will automatically mine the best cryptocurrency (including ethereum) using all available hardware – both CPU and GPUs available on the machine. To see the daily revenue, open up the “see full activity panel” to get a breakdown of the hardware being used.

    When Honeyminer is running, the computer’s hardware will get 100% utilized. It’s still run simple tasks on the computer, like web-browsing or composing emails. However, running video games or editing photos/videos will become slower. It is advised to turn-off honeyminer when doing resource intensive tasks.

    It is important to note that Honeymoney will mine the most profitable cryptocurrency at the time (including ethereum) and convert the revenue into Bitcoin (displayed in Sats, satoshi). If you want to specifically mine ethereum and earn ethereum, check the advanced guide below.

    One disadavantage of Honeyminer is the platform fees. Currently, Honeyminer takes 8% fee for the 1st GPU and 2.5% for additional GPUs. This means a portion of the revenue will go to Honeyminer. If you don’t want to pay platform fees, you can try the advanced Ethereum Mining option

    To install Honeyminer, download it here: https://honeyminer.com/

    Operating System Requirements

    To mine Ethereum, you can easily use any modern operating system: Windows 10, MacOS and Linux. For beginners, it’s suggested to try out HoneyMiner on either Windows 10 or MacOS to get the feel of mining. This is because it’s the easiest to setup up and can work alongside regular tasks on the computer. For higher mining performance, a dedicated linux based operating system is recommended – this allows for optimisation of the caching properties and remote management. Currently popular custom mining OS include: HiveOS, NicehashOS and ethOS.

    How to Mine Ethereum (Advanced)

    Claymore’s Dual GPU Miner

    There are 3 main software miners for mining Ethereum. For each of the Ethereum mining software, there are advanced settings possible such as customization for the memory usage, caching and efficiency. For example, Claymore’s Dual Ethereum miner have advanced options such as optimized memory timings (increase performance by ~10-20%) and support for mining pools. Top 3 Ethereum miners are:

    To setup Ethereum, you need to have an Ethereum address. In order to get an address, you can look at our Enjin Wallet for a free software wallet or Ledger Nano X – a secure hardware wallet.

    Ethereum Pool Mining

    There are two main ways to mine ethereum – solo mining or pool mining.

    Pool Mining (working together)

    • Work with others to mine and share rewards
    • Get paid per share, on a hourly or daily basis
    • Less random / dependent on luck
    • Pools take some fees (0.5-3% depending on pool)

    Solo Mining

    • You mine the entire block reward (3 ETH per block) – no pool fees
    • Random Chance and probability – you can go days or months without rewards
    • Not viable if Hashrate is low – single GPU will take years to mine a block

    Top Ethereum Mining Pools

    There are 2 factors to consider when picking a Ethereum mining pool – the location of the pool and it’s market share. The top priority would be location – the closer the pool is to you geographically the better. This is because sometimes due to network latency, shares that are mined could be “stale” – as new blocks are created rendering older blocks obsolete. It’s also important to know that Chinese servers are behind the Great Firewall of China, meaning that connections could periodically break. This means that choosing a server with low latency and close geographical location would give the highest yield.

    The second factor is the market share of the pool. The larger the market share, the more consistent the rewards. This is because blocks are continuously mined by the pool, and hence they can pay out at a consistent rate. This reduces the impact of the randomness of block creation.

    We recommend finding a pool close to your location with a high market share.

    Is it possible to solo mine Ethereum in 2020

    Currently it’s not feasible to solo mine Ethereum in 2020. It would take 67 years to solo mine a block (assuming 30 MHash/s and current total hashrate of 181 THash/s). This would mean it would likely take an entire lifetime before the solo miner finds a block with a single GPU.

    How long will Ethereum be able to be mined

    With the upcoming changes coming to Ethereum 2.0, Ethereum mining will eventually be phased out. Mining will be deprecated in phase 3 of the ETH2 roadmap, expected to come sometime in 2022 at the earliest. At this point, there will no longer be any rewards for mining Ethereum as the network will full be proof of stake.

    Ethereum Cloud Mining

    In 2020, Ethereum Cloud mining contracts are not profitable. This is because mining has become more competitive with lower margins – forcing miners to reduce costs. Cloud mining is hit the hardest because of they have large overheads like advertising spends and legal costs. In our latest research, we found that cloud mining providers were charging 184% for the same hashrate than home-made solutions.

    What is Ethereum ProgPoW and how does it impact mining

    ProgPow is a proposed extension to the mining algorithm of Ethereum, designed to resist centralization of miners via ASICs (specialized mining equipment). The ProgPoW upgrade is meant to help Graphics Cards become more competitive by using more RAM and features unique to the GPU. Overall this will help Ethereum mining be more accessible and viable with commercial off-the-shelf hardware. Currently ProgPoW is in an ‘audit’ phase, and if passed will be included in Ethereum’s next hard fork.

    Ethereum Mining Difficulty Bomb

    Ethereum network has a built in mechanic to decrease the effectiveness of mining over time called the “Ethereum Difficulty Bomb“. This is designed as a hard mechanic to ensure that Ethereum eventually moves to proof of stake, an eco-friendly consensus mechanism that doesn’t require mining. Proof of stake will be part of Ethereum 2.0 which is stated to release in 2020, at which point mining on Ethereum will slowly be phased out. However, the Ethereum team is known to delay the deployment of proof of stake and consequently the difficulty bomb. On the 6th of January 2020, the difficulty bomb was delayed once again via the “Muir Glacier” update, which effectively delayed the difficulty bomb for another ~600 days.

    Update 9th Jan: Fixed typos and included extra information about Ethereum Hashrate

    Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may result in the loss of your capital. You should carefully consider whether trading cryptocurrencies is right for you in light of your financial condition and ability to bear financial risks. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can fluctuate widely in a short period of time. As such, trading cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for everyone. Additionally, storing cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange carries inherent risks, including the potential for loss due to hacking, exchange collapse, or other security breaches. We strongly advise that you seek independent professional advice before engaging in any cryptocurrency trading activities and carefully consider the security measures in place when choosing or storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange.

  • Binance announces Binance Pool, will they also dominate Bitcoin Mining?

    Binance announces Binance Pool, will they also dominate Bitcoin Mining?

    Binance, one of the world’s leading exchanges is adding yet another project to its ecosystem after launching its own mining pool called, “Binance Pool”. Supported by both Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mining mechanisms, Binance Pool will mine Bitcoin initially, before more tokens are added. Binance pool hopes to add more decentralization into the Bitcoin mining ecosystem, which is currently dominated by major players such as F2Pool and Antpool. On top of this Binance pool will offer Ethereum Mining and Staking options.

    Head of Binance Pool Lisa He told Cointelegraph, that her 15 staff members were working hard to, “establish a comprehensive platform for miners that will bring more possibilities to the mining industry by bridging traditional mining to financial services.”

    Introductory offer of zero Mining Pool fees

    In an attempt to bring customers in, the Pool is operating on zero fees until May 31 but following the initial grace period, the fee will be 2.5%. Larger miners are not an exception to this rule and they too will have to pay the fee in the future. Despite this, Binance maintains that Binance Pool will have one of the lowest fees on the market. 

    As for where Binance Pool fits into the Binance group, it would seem the mining system will not be independent of other branches. Instead, it is integrated into it, allowing fund transfers between the Pool and other services Binance provides like trading, staking, and lending. Not only that, but mining rewards go directly to the participants’ exchange accounts, rather than blockchain addresses. 

    For Binance founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao the launch of Binance Pool represents a positive, not just for users but also for the larger industry as it will “enable significant growth and scale.” However, many are unconvinced at the positives of an economic juggernaut like Binance entering the mining industry.  

    Binance Receives Centralization Accusations 

    The reason for this concern stems from the Bitcoin hash rate. For many, Binance represents a real threat to the opportunities for smaller miners as they, alongside other more powerful pools, amass Bitcoin hash rate. One Twitter user aptly summed up many worries, tweeting “This hash distribution chart is soon going to be composed of just one color” next to a pie graph.

    Current hashrate distribution of top Bitcoin Mining Pools

    These concerns are only heightened when the much-anticipated Bitcoin halving event arrives and the circulation of the currency dwindles even further and with it the hash rate. Miners are already working hard to increase the hash rate prior to halving but whether smaller BTC miners will survive post halving as profits lower is the question. If not, then centralization and control could fall into a company like Binance’s hands. 

    However, for Lisa He, centralized control is not the incentive of Binance, rather they will facilitate the opposite, with the Binance Pool launch fostering decentralization in the mining sector. 

    Pointing to when Bitmain almost owned 51% of the Bitcoin hash rate (something that would give them complete control of the currency) in 2018, He argued that the entry from major companies like Binance with their computer power, has actually made the mining industry “more decentralized than it was two years ago,” as “the largest pools have less than 20% of the computing power of the whole network, and the assets on the Bitcoin network become more secure.”

  • Bitcoin Mining Guide (2020)

    Bitcoin Mining Guide (2020)

    Bitcoin Mining is the process of using specialized computer hardware to earn Bitcoin. The annual production of Bitcoin via mining is $3.5 Billion dollars, with most of that Bitcoin going to Bitcoin miners. As miners earn rewards in Bitcoin, their profits can change greatly on market conditions – making Bitcoin mining a high risk / high reward industry. Anyone can join the Bitcoin network and become a miner. In fact originally Bitcoin can be mined on all personal computers and commonly available hardware. However, in 2020, specialized hardware called Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). These machines mine Bitcoin at a very efficiency.

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    Bitcoin is now a household name. For an invention that is just over a decade old, this is certainly remarkable. A mysterious entity by the name Satoshi Nakamoto launched Bitcoin in 2008 as an alternative to central bank currency. Bitcoin mining is an alternative to obtaining Bitcoin on top cryptocurrency exchanges. Miners often sell Bitcoin on Over-the-Counter brokers to generate passive income.

    Learn more about Bitcoin with our simple guide for beginners.

    Decentralization is a central tenet of Bitcoin. Essentially, no single person controls either the issue or functioning of Bitcoin. This system can, therefore operate and transfer funds from one account to another without centralized control. 

    Centralized control of a financial system is pretty easy. How then, does a decentralized ecosystem like Bitcoin work? The important question therefore is; how does the ledger automatically update transactions without giving either entity power to control to entire blockchain? 

    How Bitcoin Mining Works 

    The basic feature of Bitcoin is the open-source nature of the Bitcoin protocol. This means that anyone can access and update the Bitcoin code. Similarly, anyone can update the Bitcoin ledger of transactions. All that needs to be done is for your computer to guess a random number that solves an equation from the system.

    The more powerful your computer is, the more guesses it can make per second. Accordingly, having a powerful computer exponentially increases your chances of “guessing right”. This allows you to add the next “block” of bitcoin transactions to the existing chain.  

    A more complicated representation is as follows. On the one hand, you have your miner that makes “guesses”. If your mining equipment makes the right guess, you get the right to add the next block of transactions to the blockchain. The block you create is sent to other computers so that they can validate it.  At the same time, other computers in the network validate the block and update their copies of the Bitcoin blockchain. More computing power translates to greater frequency of making the right guesses. However, in line with natural rules of probability, it is virtually impossible for one computer to get it right all the time. 

    This process is what Bitcoin mining entails in a nutshell. Computers compete to add the next block and in the process generate new blockchain which automatically goes into the network. The computer that solves the block earns a “block reward” and some transaction fees on the transactions entered into the blockchain. Uniquely, the process of validation is automatic and does not rely on centralized control. Miners can decide to hold the bitcoin they create or trade it to other bitcoin community members.  

    Bitcoin Mining Hardware

    In order to profitably mine Bitcoin, you’ll need specialized hardware called ASICs. These machines are designed to specifically mine Bitcoin’s SHA256 algorithm – in essence they only do one thing but do it well.

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    Mining Difficulty 

    Perhaps, you are thinking, if it’s that straightforward, what makes Bitcoin valuable? Well, Satoshi Nakamoto in anticipation of this made mining difficulty increase as computing power increased. The mining difficulty automatically adjusts to the increase in cumulative network computing power as more miners get involved. 

    AThe reason for this is to keep Bitcoin inflation in check. See, if there is a steady stream of Bitcoin, it is easier to have stable rollout process. When Bitcoin was first launched, you could profitably mine Bitcoin using a personal home CPU. As Bitcoin became more popular, miners moved to GPU (Graphics processing Units) to carry out more calculations. A GPU can enhance a computer’s computing power to the equivalent of 30 regular PCs.  

    Later, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) came about. These were hardware equipment specifically to mine Bitcoin. Currently, they represent the gold standard in Bitcoin mining equipment and have occasional updates themselves. These ASICs have a higher “hash rate”, measured in hashes per second. Hash rate is the number of “guesses” the device can make per second. Consequently, the higher the hash rate, the higher the chance of earning bitcoins.

    Check out our video below to learn more about Bitcoin mining devices!

    Bitcoin mining-what do they use?

    Mining Pools 

    Even with top of the line mining equipment, the current mining landscape is incredibly competitive for individual miners. This has given rise to mining pools where miners combine computing power to compete effectively. If the pool successfully adds a block to the public chain, the pool spreads the reward among its members.  

    Currently, about a dozen large mining pools dominate Bitcoin mining. Mining pools charge you pool fees for participating which is something that can affect your profitability. 

    Top Bitcoin Mining Pools

    According to safestbettingsites.co.uk experts, there are 2 factors to consider when picking a Bitcoin mining pool – the location of the pool and it’s market share. The top priority would be location – the closer the pool is to you geographically the better. This is because sometimes due to network latency, shares that are mined could be “stale” – as new blocks are created rendering older blocks obsolete. It’s also important to know that Chinese servers are behind the Great Firewall of China, meaning that connections could periodically break. This means that choosing a server with low latency and close geographical location would give the highest yield.

    The second factor is the market share of the pool. The larger the market share, the more consistent the rewards. This is because blocks are continuously mined by the pool, and hence they can pay out at a consistent rate. This reduces the impact of the randomness of block creation.

    We recommend finding a pool close to your location with a high market share.

    Electricity Costs 

    Electricity is a major factor in Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mining is certainly an electricity-intensive affair. This is because ASIC rigs have high computing power which the process of mining Bitcoin requires.  

    The high power consumption is in both powering the miner and cooling the machines which get really hot. This is why mining farms have cropped up in cold areas like Iceland to take advantage of natural cooling. 

    So, Is Mining Profitable? 

    This is a question that needs perspective. Mining on a personal PC is definitely not going to be profitable. This is because simple computers simply cannot compete with ASIC rigs and mining pools in terms of making more “guesses”. 

    So, the more computers you have and the faster your computer is- the greater your chances of generating the correct number and earning Bitcoin. Thus some people have entire farms of expensive computers to increase their chances.

    Currently, the block reward is 12.5 BTC for every block mined. Thus, you can only profitably mine Bitcoin with sophisticated equipment. Bitcoin mining farms are popular mining method to gain some of the block reward. Block rewards are set to half in 2020, reducing the mining rewards by 50%. This event is known as the “Bitcoin Halvening“. The current estimated date for the Halving is 13th of May 2020, after which the block reward will decrease from 12.5 to 6.25 bitcoin per block.

    One more obvious factor as to whether mining is profitable is the price of Bitcoin at any given time. Miners need to balance this with the expense of mining Bitcoin itself.

    Bitcoin Network Hashrate

    The Bitcoin Network Hashrate is currently above 120,000,000 TH/s. This means that if the hashrate of the network is coming for Antminer s17 (currently most popular type of Bitcoin ASIC), it would require 2.1 Million units. This would consume 5.4 Billion Watts of electricity, which is enough to power a small city! Mining rewards are split according to hashpower, with larger miners getting a high proportion of the daily Bitcoin mining reward.

    Summary 

    In summary, the following are factors which affect the profitability of mining Bitcoin:

    • Hashrate;
    • Block reward;
    • Mining difficulty;
    • Power consumption;
    • Pool fees; and
    • Bitcoin’s price at any given moment.

    Bitcoin mining is, therefore, a complicated task.

    However, investing significantly in a large mining pool is the most efficient way to go about it. The current circumstances make individual mining simply a waste of time when done on a small scale.  

    Nonetheless, it is still an activity that many investors have a significant stake in. The reality, however, is that the task will get progressively difficult with time and a select few with significant hashing power and cheap electricity will thrive.  

  • DASH mining guide (2020 Edition)

    DASH mining guide (2020 Edition)

    DASH mining is the process of generating new cryptocurrency using specialized mining machines known as “ASICs”. This guide teaches you the basics of DASH mining and how to set up your ASIC. DASH miners are specialized machines designed to solve the “X11” hash function used to protect the DASH network. When a miner finds a hashed result that meets the network difficulty requirements, it is submitted to the DASH network. Once verified, the miner will be rewarded in DASH cryptocurrency, thus generating an income for the mienrs. In order to mine DASH, you’ll need to get an ASIC. It’s no longer possible to mine DASH using CPU or GPU (unlike Monero or Ethereum mining).

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    What is DASH

    DASH (also known as Xcoin, Darkcoin) is a form of digital currency that is not controlled by any government or individual entity. DASH is based on Bitcoin technology, with some major differences between:

    • Anonymous transactions – DASH transactions are anonymous, so it is impossible to trace the source of DASH funds. This offers significant privacy benefits for DASH users.
    • Instant confirmation – Masternodes instantly confirm DASH transactions, whilst Bitcoin transactions take 10-30 minutes to confirm.
    • Low fees – DASH transaction fees are significantly less than Bitcoins or any other bank for that matter.
    • X11 Algorithm – DASH mining uses a different algorithm called X11.

    How Profitable is DASH mining

    Daily Revenue from mining rewards differ everyday – this is because mining difficulty changes and hence the daily reward. Revenue is dependent on the power of the Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) involved, with higher Hashrates being faster and more profitable

    • Network difficulty- Think of it this way, every day the same wage gets paid to all the DASH miners in the world.
    • The value of DASH– The current USD value of DASH is important for those seeking profits in fiat currency (USD) or even Bitcoin (BTC).

    What is X11?

    X11 is a chained hashing algorithm that uses 11 different hashing algorithms to secure the network (hence the “11”). The algorithms Blake, BMW, Groestl, JH, Keccak, Skein, Luffa, Cubehash, Shavite, Simd and Echo are used in sequence, repeated one after another until the very last function. This will give a final hash value which is then submitted to the blockchain if it meets the difficulty requirement. X11 is designed by Evan Duffield to improve the security of the blockchain. The reasoning is that if one of the algorithms are compromised, there are 10 others to continue to protect the network.

    The second reason X11 was designed is to make it harder to create mining ASICs (although we know that this is now possible). For a period of 2 years, it was possible to mine DASH using a conventional computer via CPU and GPU mining. However, this is no longer the case as chip makers have found ways to create high specialized X11 ASICs.

    DASH Pool Mining

    There are two main ways to mine DASH – solo mining or pool mining.

    Pool Mining (working together)

    • Work with others to mine and share rewards
    • Get paid per share, on a hourly or daily basis
    • Less random / dependent on luck
    • Pools take some fees (0.5-3% depending on pool)

    Solo Mining

    • You mine the entire block reward (3.11 DASH per block) – no pool fees
    • Random Chance and probability – you can go days or months without rewards
    • Not viable if Hashrate is low – single GPU will take years to mine a block

    Generally speaking, pool mining is the preferred method for most miners. This is because it provides a reliable stream of daily income, rather than large random bursts. Thus it allows miners to better calculate their profits and losses.

    List of top DASH mining Pools

    There are 2 factors to consider when picking a DASH mining pool – the location of the pool and it’s market share. The top priority would be location – the closer the pool is to you geographically the better. This is because sometimes due to network latency, shares that are mined could be “stale” – as new blocks are created rendering older blocks obsolete. It’s also important to know that Chinese servers are behind the Great Firewall of China, meaning that connections could periodically break. This means that choosing a server with low latency and close geographical location would give the highest yield.

    The second factor is the market share of the pool. The larger the market share, the more consistent the rewards. This is because blocks are continuously mined by the pool, and hence they can pay out at a consistent rate. This reduces the impact of the randomness of block creation.

    We recommend finding a pool close to your location with a high market share.

    Pool Market Share Location Reward System Pool Fee
    Antpool 26% Asia / China PPS (Pay per Share)
    PPLNS (Pay per last N Shares)    		 1-4%
    ViaBTC 17% Asia / EU PPS (Pay per Share)
    PPLNS (Pay per last N Shares)     		2-4%
    Coinmine.pl 7% EU PPLNS (Pay per last N Shares) 0-1%
    dash.btc.top 4.7% China PPS (Pay per Share) 0%-2%
    miningpoolhub.com 1% EU
    USA    		 PPS (Pay per Share)
    PPLNS (Pay per last N Shares)     		1%

    DASH Cloud Mining

    In 2020, DASH Cloud mining contracts are not profitable. This is because mining has become more competitive with lower margins – forcing miners to reduce costs. Cloud mining is hit the hardest because of they have large overheads like advertising spends and legal costs. In our latest research, we found that cloud mining providers were charging 184% for the same hashrate than home-made solutions.

    What else can I mine with X11?

    When you purchase a DASH miner, you’re limited to mining the X11 algorithm. X11 algorithm can mine coins such as Smartcoin, Pura, and Hatch. Admittedly, there are not many other good coins to mine using X11 ASICs, with DASH being the most valuable of the bunch. This is unlike other algorithms such as SHA-256 which is used in Bitcoin mining, Bitcoin cash and BitcoinSV.

    Masternodes vs. Mining

    There are two was to make a passive income on the DASH network – mining and masternodes. Like miners, masternodes also generate a DASH reward every time a block is created on the DASH network. The reward distribution is as follows:

    • 45% – Miners reward
    • 45% – Masternode reward
    • 10% – DASH treasure (DASH DAO – Decentralized Autonomous Organisation)

    As you can see, masternode node holders get equal amounts of rewards as miners. In order to become a masternode, a total of 1000 DASH must be staked by the node holder. At the current price of $60 per DASH, this means a total of $60,000 must be staked in order to gain masternode rewards.

    The function of masternodes is to provide additional layer 2 services to the network. This includes sending pre-approved transactions (InstantSend), improving security of the network (Chainlocks) and privacy features (PrivateSend). The 1000 DASH required by the masternode serves as collateral to ensure good behavior. If the funds are moved or spent, the associated masternode will go offline and stop receiving rewards.

    The biggest factor in deciding whether to mine DASH or getting a DASH masternode is the financial commitment factor. The advantage of a masternode is that the 1000 staked DASH can be fully returned at the end of operation, whilst mining equipment will become obsolete over time. In addition, masternode holders are given the right to vote in the DASH treasury which gives funding to future developments. The disadvantage of masternodes is the high initial investment, which cannot be less than 1000 DASH.

  • What REAL cryptocurrency mining looks like

    What REAL cryptocurrency mining looks like

    Cryptocurrency Mining can be tough to get started with – but there are always mining expert’s who are willing to lend a hand and share their wealth of experience. One such person is Alex Hillman, he runs cryptocurrency mining farm with over 300 GPUs. We asked detailed questions about how he got started, his mining setup and what advice he would give to beginners getting started with mining.

    Miner Bio: Alex Hillman

    Alex Hillman (@SpillyGuy) comes from a computer and programming background. He currently mines at 3 different locations, including dedicated warehouses and research labs. He mines with more than 300 GPUs, often times on multiple cryptocurrencies at the same time.

    Can you tell us about your mining operation (Where/ How many people are involved / Power usage)

    When the technology started taking off I knew it was something I wanted to be involved in with my computer and programming back ground. We currently run well over 300 gpus at 3 locations including dedicated warehouses and research labs.

    What type of setup – solo or pool mining do you use

    We tri or quad mine all of our gpu miners. Often we mine coins like Ethereum or Raven while dual mining something like LBRY or DECRED on the GPU extra memory. We accomplish this most cases with Claymore Miner. On the CPU we use a xmr-stak style miner to mine coins like Loki, Monero or Sumocoin.
    Last you can mine on pools that create extra tokens and with the fpga cards we do this as well.

    We mine on large pools like ethermine with a private
    workgroup of about 50 clients and friends to increase profits and luck factor.

    Do you use ASICs ?

    No we strongly disagree with the logistical cycle and ethics of building single use products like this that have such a short life span.

    Mining is Loud and Hot – have you ever been driven crazy by the noise or Danced around naked when setting up gear?

    I often jam while building but we try to do all of our
    thoughtful work away from the computers. But yes I have danced naked in the
    mines many times.

    What do you think is the biggest challenge when it comes to mining

    Having enough power to grow

    Do you ever dabble in speculative mining – if so what new coins are you into

    Yes spec mining can be wildy profitable. At the start we
    mined sumocoin about several hundred a week at 0.07 cents. We sold those coins
    at 14.00usd so it paid for our first dedicated miners.

    What happens when hardware breaks ? who repairs them?

    Spencer my business partner is the expert on trouble shooting most often its a software driver issue or a hardware issue like usb or risers going bad.

    What is the most controversial thing to happen to you?

    We helped attack the EOS and ADA blockchain with our GPU network in a effort to prove their lacking security.

    What advice would you give to a someone who wants to start out mining

    Start simple with a single computer at home. Use a gaming or work computer toss a good video card like a Nvidia 1070Ti or Nvidia 1080ti in it and start speculative mining first.

    Nvidia or AMD – which team are you on?

    Nvidia produces coins at a more efficent power rate and with
    far less loss and heat. Its really not a question amd is cheap and quick while
    Nvidia is the better option over time

    Cloud Mining – in your opinion are they legit or scam

    All a scam…. why would I rent you my money tree for any
    money less than it makes me. The business model is flawed from the start.
    Remote hosting is a thing but in most cases if someone is trying to rent you
    cloud mining they are hedging out their own risk by making you take it all.

  • Epic Cash Mining Guide

    Epic Cash Mining Guide

    What is Epic Cash?

    Epic Cash is a privacy focused cryptocurrency designed function like cash in the digital age. It’s got in-built privacy features using Mimblewimble technology (Epic Cash is a fork of GRIN – no traceable addresses, CoinJoin and IP-shielding). What makes Epic Cash different is that it can be mined using any of the 3 of the hottest mining algorithms – RandomX, ProgPoW and Cuckoo. This means both CPU and GPU miners can mine Epic Cash. In this tutorial we’ll cover the basics to get started and tips on solo-mining (if that’s you’re thing)

    To read more about the technology behind Epic Cash, check out our full guide on MimbleWimble

    Epic Cash Mining Hardware

    In order to mine Epic cash, you’ll need a modern Graphics Processor (GPU) or CPU that is fast enough to mine at a profitable rate. Generally speaking, hardware that is manufactured after 2018 is usually efficient enough to EPIC at a reasonable rate. Here is a list of the latest GPUs and their hashrate.

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    Epic Cash Mining Guide (Easy)

    The easiest way to mine Epic Cash is via a mining-pool (easy to set-up, predictable payments)

    For this setup, I’ll be using the Icemining Pool. To get started,

    • Download the Epic Cash mining client on either Windows or Linux: https://epic.tech/mining/ (download epic-miner).
    • Unzip the contents of the file
    • Edit the file epic-miner.toml (Linux – /etc/epic-miner.toml, Windows (same folder as epic-miner.exe)

    Add the following information to connect to the mining pool (replace USERNAME and PASSWORD with you’re desired information, keep this information safe as it’ll be required for withdrawal)

    # listening epic stratum server url
stratum_server_addr = "epic.icemining.ca:4000"

# login for the stratum server (if required)
stratum_server_login = "USERNAME"

# password for the stratum server (if required)
stratum_server_password = "PASSWORD"

    Now you’re good to start mining by running epic-miner (epic-miner.exe on windows, epic-miner on linux)

    At this point you can log onto the mining dashboard at https://icemining.ca/?address= to check if your miner is successfully connected and mining. You can optimise your mining efficiency by following this guide.

    Payouts

    To receive payouts from the pool, you’ll need to have a working epic-wallet. This is because unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, epic doesn’t have an “receive address”. Follow the setup guide to start your epic-wallet. To get the payouts, select “other listener” and enter your ip followed by the mining password.

    Unlike Bitcoin transactions where there are cryptocurrency addresses, Epic Cash withdraw requires that your epic-node is online and accessible. This is a major advantage of MimbleWimble transactions where there are no addresses, and hence less methods to invade a user’s privacy.

    How do you view balance on epic cash?

    You can view your epic cash wallet balance by typing the command “epic-wallet info” (Linux) or on Windows, open epic-wallet folder and run epic-wallet-info. Make sure Epic-wallet and Epic server are both running to view the balance.

    RandomX CPU mining

    RandomX is a new cryptocurrency mining algorithm designed improve the distribution of mined cryptocurrencies more evenly to a broader base of users. The idea is that everyone with a computer has a CPU, and hence an algorithm that favors the CPU will be more inclusive. Random is is designed to only function on CPUs, with strong resistance to both GPU and ASIC mining. This is achieved by making use of functions only available on modern day CPUs, such as virtualization. RandomX has already been audited and is currently deployed on Epic Cash and will be deployed on Monero.

    FAQ

    Whats your profit / earnings: I mined with CPU only (Intel Core i7 3700) and earned about 1.1 EPIC per day at 960 hps (1st October 2019). You can find out more benchmarks at epic benchmarks.

    Whats better – Solo Mining or Pool Mining: I’ve mining both solo and with the icemining pool. Pool mining was the best ways to start as I was able to find out my 24-h yield and move test send with smaller amounts of EPIC. Later one I migrated to solo-mining as I can minimize downtime as I ran my own wallet and node.

    Resources

    Epic Cash Code Repository: https://gitlab.com/epiccash
    Mimble Wimble Guide: https://boxmining.com/mimblewimble/
    Mimblewimble/grin Repository: https://github.com/mimblewimble/grin