While Crypto currency mining went through a popular faze in 2017, It has lost most of its hype over the course of the brutal 2018 bear market. Some currencies which were turning a nice profit with gaming graphics cards have dropped up to 95% in valuation from their all time highs.
The creation and mass implementation of ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) mining devices has put a large load on the mining pools. This has caused the mining difficulty to rise dramatically across the board rendering GPU's largely unprofitable. Even some large miners with enormous GPU hash rates were forced to turn their rigs off due to unprofitability.
Bitmain is a leader in ASIC machine design and manufacturing. Most of their ASIC units are either to loud or to expensive or both for the average hobby miner who is looking to accumulate some cryptocurrency and have fun learning in the process.
So whats a guy (or gal) to do? GPU rigs are expensive to build and are largely unprofitable. ASIC units are loud, expensive, and not practical for in home use. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. As entrepreneurs do, they see a problem and then fix it. There is one ASIC machine manufacturer who is just spreading its wings in the crypto world and has brought some affordable, easy to use and revolutionary miners to the table that are much easier on the wallet then Bitmain.
There are a few ways you can get started and I would like to cover those options here which will range from free to about $300 (USD).
The first option I would like to introduce is HoneyMiner. Honey miner is a free application that will mine cryptocurrency for you at very low setting. Honey miner can be used on Laptops and PC's alike and posses no threat to your computers hardware. My spare Laptops and Workstations run Honeyminer 24/7. This is not going to make you rich, but is a super easy way to start accumulating Bitcoin. www.honeyminer.com
Though I dont recommend mining cryptocurrency on a cell phone, there is an option that posses absolute zero threat to your phone and produces a surprising amount of crypto when compared to something like Honeyminer on the PC.
Introducing Electroneum app. Electroneum has a fantastic app which offers simulated mining and a built in wallet to make it that much easier to manage. Since Electroneum doesn't actually mine cryptocurrency by solving algorithms, it will not cause any extra heat or wear and tear on your mobile device. This makes it a fantastic option along with Honeyminer to get started mining on devices you already own. Find Electroneum in the App store.
Now for a step up from Laptop and mobile mining.
Though GPU's are still mostly unprofitable, you can still use GPU's for mining with relative ease. If you have a gaming or editing computer and want to earn cryptocurrency with it while your away or sleep, Nicehash.com is a simple way to get started. There are nearly uncountable numbers of crypto's you could mine with a GPU and new coins being launched all the time. Check out Whattomine.com for an up to date listing of the most profitable crypto's to mine with your hardware.
Many years ago small USB devices such as the "Block Eruptor" were created as a low cost way to mine crypto. As larger and more advanced mining tech came to the market, the USB miners went to the museum. However, there is one producer of ASIC products who does make one mean little USB miner.
Introducing the FutureBit Moonlander 2 USB ASIC stick. There has never been a USB miner as mean and stylish as these little guys. At up to nearly 6 Mh/s per stick, this is the only USB miner on the market that is worth paying any attention to. The built in heatsink and fan paired with new ASIC tech has allowed this little device to reach such high hashrates compared to the older USB miner. Again these small mining solutions will not make you rich but are a great little device that will teach you how to overclock and operate and navigate mining software and hardware. Learn more or purchase from WWW.futurebit.io
The next in-home mining solution is also a product from FutureBit. Thought the Moonlander 2 USB miners are absolute monsters as far as USB miners go, FutureBit knew that they just weren't the ultimate answer to in-home mining.
After a couple of years and some genius ingenuity, born was the FutureBit Apollo LTC pod. The world's first compact, wifi-enabled, ultra quiet, and highest efficiency scrypt ASIC miner available today. Requiring no external computer to run, and can be managed over a wifi connection and has Full node capability. Sporting 27 ASIC chips and top of the line cooling components, The Apollo will deliver up to 140 Mh/s on turbo mode and 100Mh/s on economy mode. With the attractive cover, the Apollo will make a perfect conversation starter or be easily tucked away out of sight with its compact size (4x6x4in).
With such ease of use, profitability, attractive design and quiet operation, its a no brainer that this is the best In-home cryptocurrency mining solution on the market today.
I personally own both Futurebit Moonlander 2 USB miners and the Apollo ASIC pod. I enjoy both of these mining solutions due to their sleek look and quiet operation not to mention the unmatched mining efficiency and performance.
I mine cryptocurrency simply to accumulate crypto and quench my tech thirst. You could just as easily buy the crypto and hold it, but I like the idea of supporting the crypto networks by mining.
I hope you will find some value in this post and Merry Christmas to all!