Cryptocurrency mining, the process of solving hash algorithms to validate blockchain transactions has many benefits, but do the negatives outweigh the positives?
Most people do not understand the complexities of cryptocurrency mining. How do I do it? Is it dangerous? How much can I profit? To the best of my knowledge, here are the answers to common questions about the mining of cryptocurrency.
Q: What is cryptocurrency mining?
A: To put it simply - it is the way that cryptocurrency transactions are verified. However, it is not that simple. Because these cryptocurrencies do not have a central issuing authority or regulatory body, there needs to be a way that everyone knows that transactions are legit and verified. All verified transactions are recorded on the 'blockchain', a digital ledger that records cryptocurrency transactions chronologically and publically. In order for the transactions to be verified, a cryptographic hash function must be cracked (called 'mining a block'). This releases a certain number of the cryptocurrency to the cryptocurrency wallet of the person running the computer that cracked the block, or it is released and divied up to a pool of miners who collectively cracked the hash function together and mined the block. The only thing you would have to worry about as someone interested in cryptocurrency mining is the dedication of your computer to mining, which I will break down in the next answer.
Q: Is it safe for me to start mining?
A: Most likely not. Cryptocurrency mining is a GPU-swallowing task that produces immense amounts of heat within your computer and may hinder you from using it while mining. This heat may also damage your computer and its internal components. A common misconception is that anyone can mine on any device or computer, this couldn't be any farther from the truth. It takes a very powerful computer with a good graphics card and ideal cooling to make cryptocurrency mining at home safe. Mining should only be done with dedicated mining ASIC hardware or a powerful, and most likely expensive, graphics card in a desktop tower. Your graphics card, or GPU, is what processes the graphics (hence the name) for your computer. However, along with making your computer's graphics run smoothly, GPU's are also very good at solving hash functions. When you mine a cryptocurrency, almost all of the hash function cracking is done in your graphics card, and because of the immense amount of work that it's doing, your graphics card will produce a lot of heat. I would only suggest mining with a graphics card that costs more that $400, and is of a reputable company such as AMD or NVIDIA. If you have meet all of these requirements, then your next order of business should be to address the cooling situation within your computer. The computer that is mining should be kept in a cool, dry area such as a basement or well-ventilated room, and it should have multiple high-speed fans inside, or in the best-case scenario, liquid cooling, to ensure that your computer does not overheat. Any temperature in your computer over 70 degrees celsius is very dangerous and can permanently damage the internal components of your computer, rendering it basically useless. So if you have a decent desktop computer and you want to know if you can start mining cryptocurrency, my answer would be - don't. It's too risky. Most of the time when you are mining, you are barely making a few dollars a day at the most. To risk your expensive computer on those few dollars is not worth it.
Q: How much will I make if I decide to start mining?
A: If you are not mining off an army of dedicated ASIC hardware, you will probably not make much money mining cryptocurrency. Even running your computer and mining 24/7 will make just a few dollars a day in most currencies. Not to mention that much of the money that you make will be spent in keeping up with the electricity bill that is rising due to your computer's massive power consumption from mining cryptocurrency. I would say to only mine cryptocurrency if you are positive that you can make upwards of $10 a day. Anything below that, and it is a waste of your time, money, and computer to make such a low amount of profit. Something that should be taken into account is that, if you decide to mine for a cryptocurrency, you are most likely going to be using so much of your computer's processing power that you will not be able to use your computer for anything else. This is a complete waste of the computer that you most likely need for many other things in your life, and would require you to only mine when you are not using it, which means a greater loss of money, and less cryptocurrency mined.
Q: I have everything I need, how do I start mining?
A: First you're going to need a wallet in the currency of your choice. I would say that going with Litecoin or Ethereum is the best choice for a first time miner because larger cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are going to very difficult to make a profit off of and they tend to heat of your computer more. After downloading the wallet for your selected currency, download a free, mining software package such as the beta one from AMD. Then, join an online mining pool for your currency and register with an online currency exchange. After all of that, double check that you have a secure and consistent internet connection that is high-speed and will not become spotty at anytime. Following that, download the program 'nicehash' and begin mining your currency. I do not mine cryptocurrency myself, so these instructions are general and vague. It is best that you do some extra research into your selected currency that you plan on mining and how you are going to go about mining that.
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