How To Mine Cryptocurrency On Your Own Without Investments. Working Tricks

The price of bitcoin is breaking historical records, and many are wondering: should we start mining cryptocurrency? However, the majority is still stopped by the thought that this requires huge investments at the start - and people part with the dream without even trying. We tell you how difficult it is for an unprepared person to become a miner from scratch, what is needed for this, and where to expect a dirty trick.

Without unnecessary words and complex terms

Contrary to popular belief, in order to start mining the same bitcoin, it is absolutely not necessary to thoroughly understand blockchain technology. It is enough to understand that mining, in fact, is a mathematical calculation that is aimed at solving a problem consisting of solutions to all previous problems in a huge chain. For the correct result, an award in the form of “coins” is awarded, each of which stands today as a new A-class Mercedes.

 

In accordance with this principle, each next task turns out to be more difficult than the previous one, and therefore every year more and more powerful hardware is required to mine the coveted coins. In the 12 years that have passed since the creation of bitcoin, humanity has mined 18,5 million coins out of 21 million possible, but analysts believe that it will take at least a century to find the remaining 2,5 million - the process of their extraction will become so complicated.

However, in connection with this, it is not worth taking a loan for a dozen top-end video cards today. Before resolving the issue with iron, you need to decide on a much more important point: what exactly to mine.

Which Cryptocurrency Is Better To Mine Today?

Most people today only hear one cryptocurrency - bitcoin. It is the most hyped and the most expensive, which is why novice miners do not even think about whether there are any other options. And they are, and in abundance.

First of all, altcoins are interesting because they are easier to mine than bitcoin, since they are younger, and far fewer people are interested in them. This means that mining some of them does not require a whole farm at all, but it will most likely be possible to earn money on them not earlier than in a few years, when their rate will rise.

Most of all, venerable miners, investors and analysts today place their hopes on the so-called ether (Etherium). Its price at the moment is a little more than a thousand dollars, but there is reason to believe that by the end of this year it will grow by 2-3 times.

 

It is also advised to pay attention to Bitcoin Cash, an offshoot of Bitcoin that emerged in 2017. For a long time, its rate was almost identical to the rate of ether, but now it is much cheaper. However, like any cryptocurrency, BCH regularly sees ups and downs, and its all-time high just exceeded $600.

And the choice is not limited to this: there are a huge number of resources on the network where you can learn more about altcoins and decide whether you want to take risks in order to make money quickly, or are ready to wait to get rich in the future.

What is Cryptocurrency Mining?

The next important question is the equipment necessary for mining. Again, running headlong for a top PC is not worth it. First you need to decide what exactly to mine. A computer is not always needed to mine cryptocurrency: in some cases it is more profitable to purchase a so-called ASIC. This is a device designed to perform cryptographic calculations in order to mine coins.

Unlike PCs, ASICs can do nothing else, but miners have appreciated their efficiency. Although miracles of economy and comfort should not be expected: they are also gluttonous in terms of electricity, make a lot of noise and heat up, and often require an additional power supply. In addition, ASICs do not know how to mine some cryptocurrencies, and it is not so easy to figure out how to set them up from scratch. So just keep in mind that they are there, but you should only switch to using them after you have already mastered mining on a regular PC.

 

Note that it is preferable to mine on a 64-bit operating system. Therefore, we recommend installing it as a second OS on a PC if you have 32-bit by default.

Is it profitable to mine today?

Next, to decide whether you need to buy additional GPUs at all, a new PC or the notorious ASIC, you should calculate the possible expenses and find out how much income you can expect with this or that equipment. For this, most sites dedicated to cryptocurrency mining have special calculators. One of the most popular is whattomine.com.

 

Most of the variables in the calculator are entered manually, which allows you to make an individual calculation for a specific situation. That is, by entering the parameters of your PC, local electricity rates and selecting the desired cryptocurrency, you will receive information about how many coins and for what period of time you can earn "clean" - minus electricity costs. If the result with the current parameters does not suit you, try entering others to select the device that is most suitable in terms of price-earnings and calculate how soon it will pay off if the coin does not fall.

Let's join forces

Due to the high complexity of the tasks that need to be solved to mine coins, solo mining has become obsolete today. Agree, it is difficult to compete with industrial-scale farms that are assembled by iron producers somewhere in China.

 

Therefore, in order to increase the efficiency of mining and avoid fabulous expenses for the purchase of equipment, people gather in pools. A pool is a team of miners that combines the power of their computers. Special software distributes the elements of the current task between computers. When the pool finds a suitable solution by common efforts, the reward is distributed among the miners in accordance with what part of the total work done was performed by one or another computer.

You can find many pools on the network, but there is a high risk of running into unscrupulous miners who will appropriate all the rewards for themselves, deciding not to share with anyone. Or they will simply deliberately underestimate your merits in order to pay less. Therefore, to avoid meeting with scammers, read the reviews of other miners. Pay attention to what conditions the pool offers: if everything is too rosy there, you should not immediately believe such promises. But you also don’t need to agree to too large commissions.

 

In general, experienced miners advise beginners to pay attention to NiceHash. This pool is easy to set up, has a Russian-language version, and can also automatically search for what is most profitable for you to mine now with your equipment. At the same time, when withdrawing the earned reward, he automatically converts it into bitcoins.

Where to Store Cryptocurrency?

Now we need to create a wallet where we will store our hard-earned coins. Most pools, upon registration, have a personal account linked to the miner's account. Coins can be stored there, or you can immediately withdraw them to an external wallet.

You can also keep money in an account on the exchange. However, exchanges, like pools, have big security problems, so it is not recommended to hold more cryptocurrency there than is necessary for transactions.

If you think that closer to your heart is safer, then there are options: desktop wallet, paper wallet and hardware wallet.

 

A desktop wallet is a computer program that stores data about the current state of both your account and the blockchain network as a whole. It is best to download such a wallet on the official website of the cryptocurrency, so as not to run into scammers. It has only one minus - a large amount of memory occupied, since blockchain data today weighs not 100 or even 200 gigabytes.

 

A paper wallet is an A4 sheet on which private and public keys are printed in the form of QR codes. The first serves for identification and confirms your right to use the funds on the wallet. The second allows you to carry out operations with cryptocurrency. Unlike other types of wallets, paper wallets are considered the most secure, as they are not connected to the Internet, cannot be hacked, and there is no need to keep access codes in mind. And to conduct a transaction, it is enough to scan the QR code. There is only one problem - the paper itself is short-lived, and can also be easily destroyed, for example, with a glass of water. Therefore, the sheet is best laminated and kept away from all dangers. To get a paper wallet, you need to download a program from a trusted resource, such as getwallet.net. When starting the key generation process, it is recommended to disconnect the computer from the network.

 

Hardware wallets are also distinguished by a high level of security. In fact, they are external storage media that do not have a permanent connection to the Internet. However, they have several disadvantages compared to paper wallets: they are quite expensive, and to access the account, you need to install the application that comes with the device on your PC and remember the pin code, which cannot be restored if lost. There are many cases in the world when people have been keeping such wallets full of bitcoins since 2009, but do not have access to them because they forgot or lost the password. Therefore, they can only console themselves with the thought that due to the growth of the coin rate, they are slowly becoming dollar millionaires.

Finishing line

Now you need to register on the pool. As a rule, this is not labor. After that, in the personal account of your farm (aka PC or ASIC), you need to give a name in the “Worker” column, as well as set some settings, for example, the minimum auto-payment threshold.

 

Now you should download the miner program, which will make the computer work for your financial well-being. Most large pools have their own software. The advantage of such programs is that they are configured by default to work with a specific pool - just enter account data in the program settings and select the hardware performance.

 

But not all pools have their own mining program - in this case, you will have to search for it on the Internet. However, pool websites often publish a list of suitable software, and in 99% of cases, the websites of the miners themselves have step-by-step instructions on how to connect them to a particular pool. Most often, in the “Settings” section, you need to specify the address of the pool, your account details and the address of the wallet where the reward will fall.

 

In more complex cases, you will have to rewrite the contents of the program files. But this is no longer the path of a beginner, so we will omit the details.

If you decide to choose a miner yourself, download it exclusively (!) From the official site. Otherwise, there is a chance to let scammers get too close to both their personal data and the mined good. Before installing, it is better to disable the antivirus, since in most miners it sees a threat to the security of the computer. After installation is complete, you can enable it again.

After registering and setting up the miner, there is only one thing left to do - press the start button.

 

And you can watch in real time how the computer solves mathematical supertasks, gradually filling the wallet with the coveted cryptocurrency.

 

Of course, the longer the computer is online, the more reward you will receive. Therefore, some miners do not turn it off around the clock. However, during intensive work, the PC will get very hot, so it should be kept in a room with open windows (if it is winter outside) or with the air conditioner turned on.

From crypto money to real money

And so, you have earned your first bitcoin. Surely you can't wait to convert it into dollars, euros or rubles in order to manage the money in the future. And to do this is much easier than everything we talked about above.

There are several ways to get the usual, familiar to us money. First of all, you can sell cryptocurrencies on the stock exchange - this is quite legal. However, the exchange often has an unfairly high transaction fee. In addition, when making a deal on the exchange, you will automatically pay income tax on the sold currency.

 

You can also convert coins in special online exchangers, the most popular of which is bestchange.ru. Enter your wallet details, select the number of coins you want to exchange, and specify the details of the account to which you want to transfer money. All manipulations take no more than fifteen minutes.

 

In addition, in big cities there are exchange companies that buy cryptocurrency.

You can also convert coins by selling them to an individual. It is important that this is someone you trust. Or a deal with it must be executed in compliance with all legal subtleties (although in the case of cryptocurrency, this does not always save).

 

By the way, income tax in the event of the sale of cryptocurrency will need to be paid in any of the above scenarios. According to the law "On Digital Financial Assets", which entered into force in the territory of the Russian Federation on January 1, 2021, any transaction with cryptocurrency must be declared. Otherwise, the FTS may be interested in you.

Instead of a conclusion: some tips for beginners from experienced miners

 

1. If you do not have a top PC, do not rush to buy hardware for mining on hype. As soon as the news appears in the information field that bitcoin has updated another price record, the price of video cards, ASICs and other hardware for mining cryptocurrencies rises sharply. And in the best case, it is fraught only with an overpayment. At worst, you may not even recoup the costs if the exchange rate falls sharply. This is not uncommon, so there is no need to take unnecessary risks. It is better to postpone the purchase for six months. Until then, you can experiment with what you have on hand.

2. Don't expect mining to start making huge profits right away. Will not start. And won't start in a month. And six months later, it doesn't always start. Mining is not mountains of gold. Today, without huge cash injections, this is just a pleasant passive income. Which in the future can result in something more significant.

3. Don't be discouraged if the currency you started mining suddenly drops in value. Crypto is an unstable thing. And popular currencies like bitcoin, judging by recent years, have seen a sharp rise every couple of years. Therefore, it makes sense to hold the crypto until the time when it once again renews its maximum. It will be even better - during this time you will have time to accumulate a more tangible amount.