The Internet, which was created by American military scientists to transmit highly classified information, now provides users with almost unlimited possibilities. Here they communicate, meet, live and even earn money. More recently, the latest system has appeared, with its own currency and rules - this is "Mining". It quickly gained popularity, as it practically does not require a constant presence and participation. So what is mining really? What is needed for him and how does it work? What is the best way to set up a business: join a community or do it yourself with your own investments and efforts?
What is mining?
What is this system of online earning? If we talk about the literal meaning of the word "mining", then this is the extraction of various minerals. But on the Internet, this is the process of obtaining virtual cryptocurrency. It covers not only finance, but also various programming elements. Moreover, almost everything depends on the installed video card and processor.
The answer to the question of what mining is and how to make money on it depends on how knowledgeable you are about your own computer technology and the process of transmitting information over the Web. The basis in this system is the generation of individual parts of bitcoin (cryptocurrency) by building a hash.
In other words, the essence of mining is that many computers that are not connected to each other through a special program solve various mathematical computational problems. As a result, bitcoins are created that are transferred to the miners themselves for the work done.
History of occurrence
The most interesting thing is that, despite world recognition and popularity, bitcoin mining has a rather dark past. Even now, almost no one knows who exactly and when exactly invented this financial and computing system. In addition, over the past few years there have been many versions of possible origin. However, there are also undeniable and generally accepted facts.
It is believed that for the first time it turned out to earn several units of this cryptocurrency back in 2008. Initially, the miner was someone Satoshi Nakamoto, a Japanese. Although some argue that this is only a fictitious person, in fact, the first earners were several people at once. At that time, a certain file appeared on the Web in which the structure, protocols and principles of the peer-to-peer system were carefully described. And in 2009, the first full-fledged client was introduced.
Within a fairly short time, this type of earnings appeared a lot of fans and followers. But it is worth noting that in some countries, such as Thailand, for example, cryptocurrency mining has been banned.
Basic Rules
As in every professional system, there are several forming principles that make it so unique and interesting. So, what is mining, you can understand by looking at its main provisions:
- There is no centralized management in the virtual currency mining system. Therefore, it cannot be blocked or subordinated.
- The system is anonymous. Users are not required to provide official personal data. Thanks to this, tracking any transaction is simply impossible.
- Mining on video cards works according to the originally specified algorithms. Because of this, it is impossible to create more bitcoins than it should be.
- Transactions cannot be undone, and all information about them is stored in a common database. At the same time, it uses blocks that arise in the process of creating bitcoins.
- Earnings are provided due to the resources of a separate computer. At the same time, the extracted bitcoins can not only be exchanged within the network for various goods and objects, but also converted into real money.
Specialized mining equipment
One of the main rules of a successful and profitable business is investing. Indeed, if you do not ensure a good start, then all efforts will be practically in vain. That is why bitcoin mining requires significant investment in equipment. In this case, you can go in two ways: buy a specialized ASIC complex or buy all the elements separately. The first method will give you the opportunity to get more performance, and the second is much cheaper.
ASIC is a specialized system created by student Yifo Guo. Its value and high efficiency lies in the fact that it solves one specific problem - calculating hashes. In addition, it is quite compact and unpretentious. But such a system is very difficult to get, because it is quite expensive, and the order will have to wait up to several months.
Standard Bitcoin mining equipment
If you choose a more budget option, then for mining you will need the following tools:
- Motherboard.
- Video cards (preferably several).
- Powerful processor.
- Power Supply.
- Capacious hard drive and additional memory.
- Cooling system.
- Riser extension cords for additional graphics cards.
The challenge is to keep all this in line with the latest technology and trends. Many? What do you want? What is mining without investment? Zero without a stick.
Required Settings
For the extraction of bitcoins, not only the latest computer equipment is used, but also special programs. For example, Bitcoin or CGMiner. But! For them to work correctly, you must set the appropriate settings. This will help significantly increase the productivity and efficiency of the process.
Mining setup is very important, requiring some adjustment of the equipment:
- I is the load intensity of the video card. It is recommended to increase from 9 to 20 points, depending on the power of the equipment used.
- Thread-concurrency. This is the number of calculations.
- G is the number of threads. It is optimal to set the value from 2 to 10.
- Gpu-engine. The frequency of the graphic core depends on it. The optimal size is 900-1500.
- Gpu-powertune. Power consumption of the used video card. Value from - 20 to +20.
- Gpu-fan. Fan cooling. It is recommended to set at 85%.
- Gpu-memclock. This is the frequency of the video card RAM - 1500.
These are almost all the necessary parameters. They directly depend solely on the power of the selected equipment.
Lightcoin mining
Bitcoins are not the only virtual money that can be obtained using special equipment. This is due to the fact that over time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to mine cryptocurrency, due to many features. Therefore, more and more new financial units are being invented. Litecoin mining, like bitcoin mining, has the same principle of operation. But there are several significant differences:
- The technology for calculating blocks is less dependent on the video card than on the amount of memory and the power of the processor used. Therefore, you can use completely ordinary computers, almost without spending money on additional equipment.
- The difficulty of mining lightcoins, in contrast to bitcoins, can not only increase over time, but also significantly decrease. This allows you to mine more lightcoins on the same equipment.
- The process of calculating this cryptocurrency is much faster, which means that the user earns significantly more real money.
Despite the obvious benefit, in comparison with bitcoins, mining of lightcoins began to lose ground. Now it is almost as difficult to make money.
Solo mining
The name of this online earnings is fully consistent with its essence. Bitcoin solo mining is the solution to various cryptographic equations solely alone.
The process of extracting virtual currency is carried out through pooling, where several dozens, or even hundreds of people united by one network, build the correct hash. Also, those who have their own mining farm can work independently.
Each option has its advantages and disadvantages. It is worth noting that one can significantly save on organizations, because pools for each transaction take a certain percentage. However, for solo mining, you need quite powerful computer equipment. And only a fairly wealthy person can afford it.
Pros and cons
Before you engage in such a popular type of activity, you should carefully weigh the pros and cons. The advantages of this method include:
- It does not require personal intervention. You can just download the program and calmly do your own business while the computer is working. And the higher the mining speed, the more money there will be.
- Mining depends only on the power of the equipment used.
- All mining programs are carefully scanned for viruses, and therefore they are absolutely safe for your computer.
- Each pool has an affiliate program, thanks to which you can invite friends and earn a certain percentage on this.
- Payments can be received in several ways, while you can withdraw absolutely any, even a small amount.
The disadvantages of this program include:
- Each year, the production process is becoming more complicated, therefore it requires more and more powerful equipment.
- Cryptocurrency is also subject to the influence of external world money markets.
- There are some internal problems, for example, there is no clear regulation of the exchange of lightcoins and bitcoins.
The most popular cryptocurrency payout systems
Pay Per Share. Here, a fixed payment is accepted for each transaction. Great for intermittent mining. The only drawback is the rather large commission.
RBPPS It differs in that the reward is credited only after checking the correctness of the calculations. Accordingly, the commission here is quite low.
PPLNS. This is the payment for the last few operations that took place in the last round. Used with constant mining. The system only works for found and received blocks.