If you want to learn everything about cryptocurrencies and mining, you just need half an hour to read this article: "What Is Bitcoin in Simple Terms: From Theory To Practice".
There are three steps to take to start mining Bitcoin at home: prepare your computer, create a wallet, and launch mining.
Skipping any of these steps won’t let you move to the next one.
Contents
System Requirements for Cryptocurrency Mining
You can use any computer: desktop or laptop.
Windows OS is the easiest to use. You can hardly mine on Mac OS. If you use Linux, you probably already know how to mine better than we do.
You can connect to the Internet however you want. It’s important to have a stable connection, but the speed, be it 100 Mbit/s or 512 Kbit/s, doesn’t matter. You can connect via cable, WI-Fi, or USB.
Mining on Desktop PC
There is only one essential requirement: a good graphics card with at least 6GB of RAM. The most affordable graphics cards that meet mining requirements are Nvidia 1060 6GB and AMD RX 480 8GB.
It goes without saying that the better the graphics card, the more it costs and the more profit it may bring. If you are curious which graphics card is the most profitable, follow this link.
Some people say that PCs are not for mining: its graphics card and other parts would tear, lose the warranty, etc. In reality, there is no difference between mining on a rig and on a PC. Both have the same parts: the motherboard, processor, operating system, hard drive, and graphics card. The only difference is that miners mount 6–8 or even more graphics cards to one computer (as opposed to one graphics card in a regular PC), and leave the case open, sometimes also adding a few fans for better cooling.
All graphics cards are usually sold with a two-year warranty, and the manufacturer can’t revoke it if you use your GPU for mining instead of gaming.
Mining on Laptop
Things are a bit less optimistic with laptops. Graphics cards in laptops are usually less powerful than in desktop computers. In order to mine on a laptop, there is the same requirement: a graphics card with at least 6GB of RAM. It’s not always easy to find such a laptop. However, in the last three years we saw the release of a large number of laptops with 6GB GPUs. Take a look at Dell G5-5590 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 or Lenovo Legion with 1660Ti Mobile.
If you plan to use your laptop a lot for mining, make sure to take care of proper cooling. Laptop parts sit close to each other inside a small case. If a graphics card overheats, other parts would overheat too. Sooner or later they are likely to break.
Get Bitcoin Wallet Address
This step is crucial. You should understand that in the crypto business you are alone against the whole world. If you lose your wallet, nobody is going to help. Losing a Bitcoin wallet is like losing cash, if not worse. You may get your cash back sometimes, but Bitcoin is impossible to get back.
Let’s install the Coinomi wallet. You don’t need to share any ID or personal information to do that. There are many other wallets on the market, and this is not an ad: Coinomi is just a reliable solution. It is available on any OS, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android.
It makes no difference where you install your wallet: it can be a smartphone or PC. The wallet can be on the same computer that you use for mining or on any other device: it doesn’t matter.
Say, you decided to install the wallet on Windows. Here is how you should proceed.
Download the Windows version.
Create a new wallet by choosing the Create a new wallet option.
Important: Make sure to secure your wallet recovery phrase (mnemonic phrase) by writing it down on paper. Electronic devices won't do, especially those connected to the Internet. When needed, you will be able to restore your wallet by using this phrase.
Again, it’s extremely important: this set of words is the key to all your money. Store it in a safe place and don’t show it to anyone. Even if you delete Coinomi from your computer, you will be able to recover your wallet thanks to this phrase.
Here is an example of a so-called mnemonic or seed phrase.
scout stomach push neither oak tumble spoon shine hope vessel garlic exhaust elite coconut clarify limit silent hard chronic any hire swarm dial morning
The next step is to check whether you saved your phrase properly. You can skip this step, but we recommend checking your mnemonic phrase.
Create your wallet password. Make sure to choose a secure one: ‘qwertyasdfg’ won’t do.
Coinomi is a multi-chain wallet, which means it can store other coins apart from Bitcoin. In this case, we need Bitcoin. Put a mark next to Bitcoin and click Next to continue.
You are almost done: let’s find your wallet address. Click on Bitcoin.
Then Receive.
Now you can see your wallet address. Go ahead and copy it: you’ll need it for further setup.
Our Bitcoin address is bc1qzdnd377m8jl6t79xkph8vvt6fkx4a8ntrnxz67.
If you are installing the wallet to a smartphone, you should follow the same steps. Here you can find screenshots from an iPhone.
The best thing about Coinomi is that you can use the same wallet on multiple devices. If you change a smartphone or need to erase everything from a PC, you can always recover your wallet on any other device.
Bitcoin Mining on Windows
Download the Quick Start archive by the 2Miners pool. This archive is completely safe: you can always find it on the pool webpage.
Unpack the archive.The password to the archive is 2miners
No upper case and no dots at the end.
Open the Setup folder, then go to the Nvidia or AMD folder depending on which one you have.
Right-click on the eth-pool.bat file and choose to edit it with Notepad. If you don’t see such an option, then open Notepad first, and then open the eth-pool.bat from there.
Copy your Bitcoin wallet address that we created in the previous step: bc1qzdnd377m8jl6t79xkph8vvt6fkx4a8ntrnxz67, and paste it after the word “user” replacing a wallet indicated there by default. You can either keep or delete the “.RIG_ID” part including the dot. This is just your rig name, and it doesn’t affect profitability in any way.
Save the file and then run it.
Mining has officially started now. It will go on until you keep the mining program open. If you close it, you can always run the eth-pool.bat file again to relaunch mining.
How Much You Can Earn in a Month from Mining with One GPU
We still haven't discussed a few important questions, like: "Where is my Bitcoin? How do I get it? When is the payout? How much will I get?"
In order to find your mining stats, you need to copy your wallet address: bc1qzdnd377m8jl6t79xkph8vvt6fkx4a8ntrnxz67, and paste it in the search box at the top of the 2Miners.com pool webpage. You will see a page with your stats. If you don’t see it right after you launch the mining program, it’s normal. You should wait for 5–10 minutes.
You can use 2CryptoCalc to estimate how much cryptocurrency you can earn. Say, you have the Nvidia 2070. Go to the calculator website and put a “1” next to this graphics card name. Below you can see the mining profitability of this GPU: $1.85 (at the time of writing).
$1.85 per day is great, but how to actually get it? There is a minimum payout threshold in the mining pool. As of now, it is equivalent to 0.005 ETH, which is $15 at the current exchange rate. So you need to mine for about a week to get your first payout. You can monitor the process on your stats page on the pool website.
Ethereum or Bitcoin Mining Rig
Professional miners know that you can’t mine Bitcoin on GPUs anymore. And some of you probably noticed something strange as well. For example, you might have noticed Ethereum’s icon instead of Bitcoin’s in the screenshot of a calculator from the section above.
So, what’s the deal here?
Ethereum is the most profitable cryptocurrency for GPU mining. 2Miners pool has a feature to exchange Ethereum to Bitcoin without fees and pay you in BTC.
So to be clear, you mine Ethereum and get payouts in Bitcoin. It's a great way to make the most of the two major cryptocurrencies in the world.
When Will GPU Mining End?
Many of you might have heard that GPU mining is bound to end very soon. These rumors have been around for the last five years now. The facts, on the contrary, prove the opposite. Mining power is constantly growing all over the world by leaps and bounds.
GPU mining reached its all-time high at the beginning of 2021, and nobody believed that there would be even more miners going forward. Graphics cards were lacking around the world. The factories couldn’t keep up with the demand. However, the number of graphics cards engaged in mining increased three times in just one year!
This time though, it seems like GPU mining may really become unprofitable. Ethereum, the major cryptocurrency for GPU mining, is planning to switch from GPU mining to the so-called Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism in 2022. Nobody can tell whether it’s really going to happen. Worst-case scenario, there are other cryptocurrencies to mine on GPUs. Read more about them in the dedicated article.
Start mining cryptocurrencies now, before it’s too late. Treat it as an experiment that will bring you priceless experience. Just make sure not to invest your last funds in mining.
Cryptocurrencies are getting bigger worldwide, and this process seems to be irreversible. Don’t miss out.
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