How to Mine Ethereum: Mining and Profitability

Look what we have – a short mining video guide!

What is Ethereum?

Developers see Ethereum as a blockchain platform for applications, which is confirmed by the info on the website of the project and many world famous games. The most popular one is Cryptokitties – users have spent millions of dollars on it.

Hodlers see Ether mainly as a cryptocurrency. As of now, it ranks second in the updated CoinMarketCap chart, and its market capitalization is $28 billion.

As of February 20 2020, its price is $255. The circulating supply is over 109 million coins with a 24-hour trading volume equal to $23 billion.

Where to Buy Ethereum?

After Bitcoin, Ethereum is the most popular currency so that means you can find it practically anywhere.

Ethereum is traded on at least 400 crypto exchanges. The most popular among them are Bitfinex, Binance, GDAX, Huobi, and OKEx. In the last 24 hours, they traded hundreds of millions dollars’ worth of ETH, which is quite impressive.

Ethereum (ETH) Future

Ethereum boasts a great team of developers headed by Vitalik Buterin that actively promote the project. And it’s not just mere words, and it’s about real actions and benefits to users.

The most talked-about upgrade is a transition to Proof-of-Stake, which will allow you to earn at the expense of 32 ETH shares.  Have a look at the expert roundup: Upcoming Ethereum POS Switch prepared by 2Miners.

Ethereum Wallet

A small amount may be stored on exchanges. If you want to be less prone to cyber attacks, install the wallet on your computer. You can download bunch of wallets.

• MetaMask — browser extension and mobile wallet for iOS and Android;
• MyCrypto — web-based wallet;
• TrustWallet — mobile wallet for iOS and Android;
• MyEtherWallet — client-side wallet;
• Opera — major browser with integrated wallet.

Once you create the wallet, you can start mining.

Ethereum (ETH) Mining

They based Ethereum on the Ethash/Dagger-Hashimoto algorithm. You can mine it using 4GB+ AMD and Nvidia graphics cards.

Another option is ASIC-miner by Bitmain, Innosilicon and so on. Read our post “Innosilicon A10 for Ethereum Mining: Specs, Profitability and Setup Guide”.

What is Ethereum Mining Like in Reality?

Ethereum is the most popular altcoin and mined on over 10 million GPUs. It’s sad to say, but if you buy a mining rig with 8 GPUs, you are unlikely to become a millionaire. On the other hand, you can get steady income if you mine in the pool with other miners. Mining solo makes sense only if you have a lot of graphics cards.

Ethereum: Is it best to Mine Solo or in the pool? ETH Mining Calculator

2CryptoCalc mining calculator proves our previous point. Let’s say we have a rig with eight GTX 1070. In theory, it may find one block every three months. The calculator recommends mining solo only if you could find at least 2-3 blocks in 24 hours.

For example, here are the results for ten rigs with eight Nvidia GTX 1070 graphics cards.

It is impossible to earn anything in SOLO mode. It is better for you to join PPLNS pool and get a little less than $49.

Also read: Solo Mining Pools - How to Catch Your Luck

Ethereum (ETH) mining profitability

Let’s estimate the potential profits using 2CryptoCalc. We enter the parameters of 300 Nvidia GeForce 1070Ti GPUs and calculate. Daily income is just above $ 180.

You will get approximately $5404 per month.

It’s possible to calculate the potential profits using 2CryptoCalc even for one GPU.

Ethereum Mining Difficulty

Ethereum network difficulty is 2.21 Ph. This value maintains a balance between the number of miners online and the block time. So difficult alterations allow you to see how popular the coin is among rig owners. Once the number of miners decreases, the difficulty goes down.

Getting Started. The Best Ethereum Miner

As of now, one found block is worth 2 ETH or $506 plus the blockchain transaction fees.

It is difficult to get this amount when mining solo, so we recommend mining on our Ethereum Mining Pool. To get started, download the latest version of Claymore’s Dual Ethereum GPU Miner from here. The password for the archive is 2miners.

First, change the wallet address to your own in /ETHASH/eth-pool.bat. Then launch the bat file. You will see a lot of numbers on the screen, among which you will find hashrate for each graphics card. The mining is on now – if everything goes well, coins will come into the wallet every two hours.

Settings for PhoenixMiner:

setx GPU_FORCE_64BIT_PTR 0
setx GPU_MAX_HEAP_SIZE 100
setx GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS 1
setx GPU_MAX_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
setx GPU_SINGLE_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
PhoenixMiner.exe -coin eth -pool eth.2miners.l1q3urman.workers.dev:2020 -wal YOUR_ADDRESS.RIG_ID -proto 4
pause

Settings for Claymore’s Dual Ethereum GPU Miner:

setx GPU_FORCE_64BIT_PTR 0
setx GPU_MAX_HEAP_SIZE 100
setx GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS 1
setx GPU_MAX_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
setx GPU_SINGLE_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
EthDcrMiner64.exe -epool eth.2miners.l1q3urman.workers.dev:2020 -eworker RIG_ID -ewal YOUR_ADDRESS -epsw x
pause

ASIC Settings:

URL: stratum+tcp://eth.2miners.l1q3urman.workers.dev:2020
Worker: YOUR_ADDRESS.ASIC_ID
Password: x

Conclusion. Q&A

Is Ethereum mining a profitable business?

Yes, it is. In theory, if you buy 500 Nvidia 1070 Ti, you will get $300 a day. In reality, you can get less or more. This is a decent amount of money, so it won’t take long to cover the costs.

Is it easy to mine Ethereum? Is it worth it nowadays?

Everyone mines Ether, the hash rate is exceptionally high, and so is the difficulty. Besides, the currency is very popular, and users genuinely believe it has potential. Why not consider this project then?

Just remember to put your resources into perspective – mine solo only if you have enough power to do so.

How to mine Ethereum on a laptop or smartphone?

If it is a gaming laptop, it may bring around $1 a day. The steps to get started are the same as for a mining rig. Smartphones won’t do for mining.

Can you use the same hardware to mine both Ethereum and Bitcoin?

No, you can’t. Bitcoin is mined only by ASIC-miners today. Solving a block on graphics cards is impossible. For Ethereum it’s the other way round.

Can an Ethereum mining rig mine other coins?

Definitely. Any cryptocurrency available on 2Miners will do.

Should I mine Ethereum or Ethereum Classic?

It is much easier to mine Ethereum Classic – read this article to find out more. However, it is less profitable. One found block is worth 4 ETC or $34. The same goes for mining pools.

Where to buy hardware for Ethereum mining?

You can build your own rig following our instructions, or you can buy one. The latter option is faster but more costly. If you are willing to try, building your own rig can be a lot of fun – it’s like a Lego toy for adults.

Why does Ethereum mining difficulty increase when the currency rate goes down by 50%?

It is because of the trust the community has with Ethereum. Rig owners know for sure that the rate will increase in the future, so they switch their power to Ethereum. They do it to earn more coins through inexperienced miners that stop mining the currency when its rate goes down. But in the end, it goes up.

Don’t forget to read our articles about other cryptocurrencies.