This is a good question, today.
Usuallly, miner is a person whose work is related deep under the ground, where he is revealing resources. The resources which have some value for the others. He is mining not just for himself but mostly for general profitability. This kind of work is also dangerous as those people risk their lives. The typical example of regular miner is coal miner. This is one of the oldest job profession in the world. Looking at the current world's policy to decrease usage of coal, this type of miner role is getting lower importance.
Does it mean, we will loose all coal miners in the future and our childeren or their childer, will learn about them from books?
I hope not, because that would mean, every miner might become unnecessary in the future...
Who is digital miner?
What is the main difference between regular and digital miner?
The second person does not have to do the hard physical work. It is also very safe profession, digital miner does not risk his life everyday. He needs only knowledge and approrpiate hardware to start the job - and of course electricity - which plays also important role here.
Equiped with above stuff, it is possible to start mining digital assets at home, without leaving a room!
Of course all of these definitions are just simple explanations. Everything in reality is much more complicated. You need to invest money to buy equipment and configure everything to start mining. You need also a lot of luck.
Is this miners co-existance important thing? Would it be possible to have all current digital miners if regular miners have never existed or they'll be gone?
I do not think so. It seems, new type of miners could exist only because of their predecessors. Based on that observations, who is the next type of miner then? :)
Mining cryptocurrency on your own
As computer hardware becomes every day more powerful, people decided to make money using it, for something more than entertainment. This is the time, when cryptocurrency mining was introduced. You could tell your hardware to do the hard work on your behalf, by calculating some math algorithms, and earn money for you.
Excellent, what's more is required?
L-U-C-K this is one of the most important things in solo mining. You do not need only the latest powerful computer to mine cryptocurrency. You need also a lot of luck, to discover new block in blockchain before the others. This is the only valuable part for you to be paid off.
Of course, you have to also decide what kind of cryptocurrency you'd like to mine. This is defining the way you will go for it.
CPU vs GPU
To mine digital resources, you have *two choices*. You can use your CPU (computer processor) or GPU (graphic card).
*Oh REALLY - just two?? (more on that a little bit later, down below)*
But this is the place, where individual mining complicates much. Nowadays algorithms are very complicated now, and you need powerful CPU and/or GPU to be able to do the correct math. Simply saying, you need to spend much more money than you expect. Will it ever go back to your pocket? This is the question where no simple answer exists. It varies.
The most popular cryptocurrencies to mine are:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Monero (XMR)
The first four, are more efficient in mining with GPUs but it is not that easy to mine them, now.
Monero, started fighting with dedicated equipment (ASICs) and dropped drastically support for GPU mining!
This cryptocurrency is much more effective with CPU mining. That's good news for individual miners.
"Hey, I can mine at home with less expensive method" - this is true but this is also false. Mining pools are too strong for individuals and without huge luck, finding a new block is almost impossible (in comparison to typical consumers CPUs).
Running the hardware at home, you need to be also aware of electricity costs. It does not matter you will finilly find a block if you bill would be twice bigger, right? ;)
I questioned above that CPU and GPU mining are your only options. This is true. In Tron (TRX) network there is BitTorrentToken (BTT) which introduced earning by sharing your hard disk space.
That's true! You just need to setup a node, define how much disk space you'll share for it and BAM - you can get some money in BTT tokens. More you share, the better price is for you. Nothing more is required, not specialized hardware is required.
Where is the hardware?
If you decide to mine solo with GPU for the most popular cryptocurrency, you will find that...
... specific graphic cards are missing on market! Because of mining popularity and COVID-19 pandemic, there is not enough resources to buy. The top graphic cards for personal computers are out of stock in the most of electronic shops. If they are shortly appearing, their price is horendous and out of typical consumer's pocket.
The other role manufacturers play in GPU world. They are preventing their devices for mining usage. That means, they are complicating miner's life to block some features and mining becomes more diffcult and more expensive.
I hope this will change shortly.
Hardware price would drop and will be available in shops. GPUs will not be blocked and they allow for mining as it took place in the past.
Summary
Based on hardware and electricity price today, graphic cards availability, I do not think so that individual mining is still profitable. This may change slightly in the future but it seems, cryptocurrency world is dominated by companies with hudge budget. They have dedicated hardware and they control market. To get some profits, pool mining seems to be the only option, now.
To get some money with home mining, we need to search for alternatives or just invest real money to buy cryptocurrency. This is the only way for regular users at this moment (of course, this is just my personal opinion).
I will provide some dedicated content for non-GPU mining in the next posts, sharing some alternatives.
Please stay with me and share your opinions to help me improve my skill and writting abilities :)
Thank you for your time today, and do not forget to re-visit my blog again!
