While mining Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) on your computer is no longer viable, there are other cryptocurrencies that you can still mine at home using a standard laptop or PC. In this article, we will introduce four popular options — along with some how-to instructions to help get you started.
When Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) creator Satoshi Nakamoto first introduced the digital currency he detailed how the peer-to-peer digital payment network would work to enable fast, secure and trustless transactions. In the original white paper, he explained the protocol through which new coins would come into circulation within the Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) network. “The first transaction in a block is a special transaction that starts a new coin owned by the creator of the block.
This adds an incentive for nodes to support the network, and provides a way to initially distribute coins into circulation, since there is no central authority to issue them. The steady addition of a constant of amount of new coins is analogous to gold miners expending resources to add gold to circulation. In our case, it is CPU time and electricity that is expended.” This process is what we have come to call Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) mining.
Initially, it was possible for people to mine Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) (BTC) using laptop and desktop computers. However, as its popularity grew, people realised there was an opportunity to turn a profit through participating in the Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) network via the process of verifying transactions. Large-scale Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) mining operations were born.
In addition, the growing mining difficulty as well as the advent of Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASICs) software created specifically for Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) mining made it all but impossible to profitably participate in the Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) network as a miner using only the processing power of a home computer. But that option does exist for some other cryptocurrencies
Monero
Monero is largely recognized as the most advanced anonymous digital currency. Furthermore, this aLTCoin’s network was designed specifically to be able to resist the development of Monero (XMR) specific ASIC’s. Therefore, it is well-suited for mining with your home computer. To begin, you must first download a wallet to store your coins. It is recommended to use the official Monero GUI client. Following this, the next step is to download mining software that supports Monero. Examples of these are MultiMiner as well as guiminer. These two are regarded to be easiest to use but there are also options available online.
Once installed, the software will use your CPU’s processing power to generate financial returns for you, in the form of new coins. Furthermore, if you would like to boost the amount of processing power you have and, in turn, the number of coins you receive, you can use graphic cards. For mining Monero, the most suitable are AMD graphic cards. Since graphic cards are in short supply, you might be unable to acquire this card. However, you can still buy Nvidia cards but there are considered to be less efficient to mine Monero.
Dogecoin
Though the digital currency started out based on a meme, Dogecoin has grown to be an aLTCoin with a substantial user base. The cryptocurrency is designed to add new coins each year as opposed to Bitcoin (available on Coinbase)s finite supply. This is an added incentive for anyone who would like to participate in mining it. As is best when mining all cryptocurrencies, you must first ensure you have a wallet to store your earnings. You can download the Dogecoin core wallet or look on the website for other suitable online wallets.
When mining using your CPU, the software that works best is CPU miner. Mining in this manner is possible, albeit at a slow rate. To increase the mining speed, you can use graphic cards. AMD and Nvidia cards are your best bet. If you decide on GPU mining, then the software that you should use is either thecgminer or cudaminer. Mining Dogecoin (Doge) does not slow down your computer as the process runs in the background, especially when you are not using your device.
While mining as an individual is doable, it is advisable to sign up to a mining pool as you are able to take advantage of the larger processing power and speeds and thus generate higher mining returns. Examples of mining pools that support Dogecoin are CoinEx and MultiPool.
Vertcoin
Vertcoin has been designed to be specifically suited for small mining operations. The digital currency employs a proof-of-work algorithm as a consensus mechanism. However, it is tailored to hold out against the development of hardware like ASICs. This means that big mining operations are unable to dominate the Vertcoin network as it has happened in the Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) mining space.
Building on its philosophy of being “the people’s coin” and going back to the true spirit of cryptocurrencies, the team created a miner specifically designed to mine Vertcoin (VTC). The software can be downloaded for free from its website. The software supports CPU as well as GPU mining.
The miner features a simple design that is easy to use. The graphical user interface (GUI) deploys after one click. Once downloaded and installed, you will need to choose a mining pool depending on the computing power available to you. To mine Vertcoin, you can currently only use AMD and Nvidia graphic cards.
Bytecoin
Anonymous cryptocurrency Bytecoin is another aLTCoin that is easy to mine on your home computer. Solo mining has been designed to be an easy process for Bytecoin (BCN) users. All you need to do is download the Bytecoin wallet and run the program on your computer. After the program is done syncing with Bytecoins’ blockchain, create a wallet for yourself. Then simply input the begin mining command and set your wallet address as the recipient.
Solo mining works on Bytecoins network, however, the process is slow and may not get you much revenue. To enhance earnings, you can join a mining pool that supports CPU mining. A good example is bytecoin.party, which does not charge fees. You will also need to download compatible mining software such as xmrig.
It is also possible to mine Bytecoin using GPUs. To mine in this manner, you will need to download software that is compatible with GPU mining, install the software correctly and proceed to mine. While the set-up process here is more complex than with CPU mining, it does lead to a faster mining process.
If the volatility of investing in cryptocurrencies is too much for you but you still want to benefit from the boom in cryptocurrencies, then perhaps setting up a small cryptocurrency mining operation at home maybe be the right choice for you. Just make sure to keep an eye on your electricity costs as they will start to increase as you start to mine.