Hot Features
Premium
Level up your trading with our powerful tools and real-time insights all in one place.
Wondering how to step into the cryptocurrency mining business? Learn how to start mining bitcoin and the best bitcoin mining options.
Bitcoin mining entails generating new bitcoins for circulation. However, it is also an essential part of blockchain ledger development and maintenance. Bitcoin mining primarily requires solid computational skills and highly sophisticated computers to solve complex math equations and power to run the hardware.
Every miner must verify 1MB worth of bitcoin transactions to earn the payment offered in bitcoin tokens. Proof of work is another condition for eligibility, which stipulates you must be the first miner to get the correct answer or the closest solution to the given numeric problem.
Bitcoin miners act as auditors, paid to ensure the legitimacy of bitcoin transactions. That helps to maintain honesty in dealings and prevents the occurrence of ‘’double-spending’’ whereby users could illicitly use the same bitcoin for two separate transactions. Nevertheless, here’s what you should know if you are interested in mining bitcoin.
Methods of Bitcoin Mining
There are various ways of mining bitcoin and, each of them has unique pros and cons. The critical methods of mining bitcoin include cloud mining, GPU mining, and CPU mining.
Cloud Mining
Cloud mining is the most popular method of bitcoin mining today. The process mainly entails paying another entity, such as a multi-national corporation, a specific amount of money in exchange for using their mining facilities. By renting their platform and rig, you will be entitled to all the earnings that those investments generate over the agreed duration. However, miners usually cover the electricity and maintenance fees for those facilities.
The cloud mining service providers usually have extensive farms with all the necessary tools that you will need to mine bitcoin. There are two approaches to cloud mining; paid and free. Free cloud mining is often the most attractive choice, especially to beginner bitcoin miners, since you do not pay for anything. However, it has some drawbacks, like slow mining speeds and several restrictions.
Paid cloud mining service providers have various plans with unique features and charges. Some also allow cryptocurrency miners to develop personalized cloud mining plans. You should carefully go through the programs, comparing the features and costs to choose the right one that suits your needs. Checking reliable cryptocurrency news platforms like Immediate Edge could also offer more insights for selecting the right bitcoin cloud mining plan and host.
Standard cloud mining plans usually cost about $500 to $5000 with two years to a lifetime. After choosing the right strategy and host, you will first make a payment then register your bitcoin wallet code to start mining bitcoins. Established bitcoin miners say it usually takes around six months to break even and, you can start making profits.
GPU Mining
GPU mining is also a standard method used by many bitcoin miners today. The process relies on GPU rigs that use graphic cards to solve complex math equations and generate new bitcoins. A standard GPU rig comprises a motherboard, processor, cooling unit, graphic cards, and frame, which do not usually come cheap. A new GPU bitcoin mining rig costs about $3000.
CPU Mining
As the name suggests, CPU mining uses computer processors to generate new bitcoins. Although it was a popular method a few years back, most crypto miners do not use it today. That is because it is usually slow and consumes a lot of energy, generating little returns. However, CPU mining is relatively easy to start as it mainly requires just a desktop computer and the right programs to perform the tasks.
Although there are various ways to go about bitcoin mining, the best method will depend on whether you are willing to spend some capital. Overall, cloud mining and GPU mining are the most efficient and profitable options for beginner bitcoin miners.
