Dash is a cryptocurrency that is based on the code of Bitcoin and Litecoin, but has a number of innovations related to the security and speed of transactions on the network. Cryptocurrency developers set themselves the goal of making digital currency more convenient in everyday life. For example, you can transfer money in the Bitcoin system in 10 minutes, but it will take another hour to make sure that the transfer record is added to the blockchain correctly. Otherwise it may be cancelled. Imagine making a purchase in a store and waiting with the seller for an hour to make sure the transaction was successful. In the Dash payment system, this would take 4 seconds.
Basic information about cryptocurrency
| Creator | Evan Duffield |
| Consensus algorithm | Proof-of-Work |
| Dash mining algorithm | X11 |
| Dash mining speed | 2.5 minutes (4 seconds when processing the transaction by masternodes) |
| Block reward in tokens | 2,89 |
| Rate as of 10/23/2020 | $74.59 |
How to start mining Dash?
Mining the dash cryptocurrency should begin with an understanding of how this system works and what principles its architecture is based on. Most cryptocurrency payment systems have miners that keep the network running. Miners process user transactions, forming them into blocks and adding them to the blockchain. For this they receive a commission. Dash decided to modernize the mining process by making the system two-level.
The work of the first level, as in Bitcoin, is provided by miners who solve complex problems and form the correct blocks of transactions. The work of the second level is provided by masternodes, which can increase the degree of confidentiality of financial transactions and influence the speed of transactions. Masternodes support a decentralized governance system.
The reward for a found block in the system is distributed as follows:
- Miners receive 45% of the reward.
- 45% goes to masternodes.
- 10% goes to forming the system budget. Subsequently, this money is spent on its updates and new projects.
Thus, Dash mining is possible as a miner or masternode.
Any user with powerful mining hardware and software can be a Dash miner.
The masternode system is more complex. You must have a powerful server capable of supporting the network. In addition, you need to make a security deposit of at least 1000 DASH, which at the current exchange rate is approximately $75 thousand. We will discuss how to mine dash the classic way.
Which way is best
Now that you have an understanding of how to mine cryptocurrency and knowledge of all the possible ways to get it, you can decide for yourself which one is the best.
The method that's best for you depends on a few key details. Are you willing to spend some money initially? If yes, how much? Do you want to own a drilling rig? These and many other similar questions will determine the best cryptocurrency mining method for you.
In general, GPU and cloud mining are two common options that people like. The mining process is slow and tedious, while working with ASICs can become very unpredictable, especially recently.
If you want to build your own rig, then GPU is definitely the way to go. However, if you are willing to take risks and are not afraid, then ASIC is a great bet. Finally, if you don't want to have anything to do with rigs or any other type of machine, cloud mining is your best bet!
What is the best way to mine Dash?
There are three ways to mine coins in the system: on the central processor, on the video card, and mining Dash with ASIC. The CPU is the cheapest option, but it is completely inefficient. The GPU, which is the basis of the video card, copes with mining better. But its computing power is incomparable with ASIC, which is able to find the correct block many times faster.
For example, the computing power of the popular Intel Core i7-8700K CPU is 500 h/s. The Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti video card demonstrates 32 million h/s, and the power of the Bitmain Antminer D3 ASIC is 17 billion h/s! And this is also the most productive model.
ASIC is the best option for Dash mining. But it also has drawbacks. Firstly, it is expensive. Secondly, it consumes a lot of electricity. Thirdly, it can only be used for its intended purpose - exclusively for mining. On average, ASICs cost about $1000. But there are models whose price exceeds $15 thousand.
In addition to equipment, the miner will also need a program for mining Dash.
Programs for mining Dash
The choice of software depends on the device used. If this is a CPU, then the best option would be the Darkcoin-cpuminer-1.3-avx-aes program. You can download it from github.com. It is not suitable for all processors, but only for models that support AVX and AES-NI. You can check whether the processor supports these instructions using the CPU-Z program, which can be found at cpuid.com.
When mining on a GPU, the software is selected depending on the brand of the video card. If the miner is using an AMD card, SGminer is the best solution. If Nvidia, then this is the CCminer program. All this software is available online for free.
Before using the program, you should also make sure that it supports the X11 hashing algorithm. Typically this parameter is indicated in the technical specifications or description of the program. If the X11 mining program is not in the list of supported algorithms, then it is not suitable for working on the Dash network.
Software
The software used to mine DASH is different from that required for other cryptocurrencies. Since solo mining is not profitable, you will need to join a pool, so look for reputable services for this.
One thing that you should not only remember but do right away is creating a cryptocurrency wallet. Select the type of crypto you want to use and simply search for storage options for that currency. You won't have any problems searching for a coin like DASH. But, if you want to mine lesser-known currencies, then you may have to search a little until you find a reliable wallet.
Getting safe and reliable storage is the most important task when you start mining cryptocurrency. Imagine that you will be mining for a year and all your savings will be stolen just because you did not pay enough attention to choosing a wallet.
If you are seriously looking for ways to mine cryptocurrency, it is recommended to buy a hardware wallet - it is the safest and most reliable option. Additionally, you will need to make sure that you have a wallet setup to store your DASH coin.
There are official desktop wallets and mobile options that can be used for DASH currency. If you don't plan on storing a large number of coins, a web or desktop wallet is the way to go. If you're hoping to make a lot of money, the best and most secure way to store your coins is in a hardware wallet, so the Ledger Nano S or Trezor would be the best option.
Dash Mining Difficulty
According to the website bitinfocharts.com, the difficulty of mining Dash in October 2022 was 216.604 MH/s. For comparison, the difficulty of mining Bitcoin is thousands of times higher – 19,997,000 MH/s.
The difficulty is that miners using video cards for crypto mining cannot compete with large farms based on ASIC devices. To get a chance, solo miners are forced to join pools. Members of such communities use the combined computing power of their devices to efficiently mine cryptocurrency. When a new block is found, the profit is distributed proportionally between the pool participants.
For example, a pool consists of 200 computers. When he finds a block, he earns approximately 2.89 DASH ($216 at current exchange rates), not including electricity costs. If the computing power of its participants is approximately equal, each member of the pool will receive approximately one dollar for finding a block. Not much, but better than nothing.
When starting mining, you should take into account the high volatility of cryptocurrencies. Back in 2022, DASH was worth $1000, today it is only $75. Simply put, three years ago it was 10 times more profitable to mine Dash than it is now. Moreover, the total network capacity was smaller at that time; it was really possible to make money from mining even without expensive equipment. Today the market dictates its terms: mining Dash with tangible profits is possible only on ASIC devices.
Pools overview
Top Dashcoin mining pools include:
- Mining pool hub is a pool that was formed quite recently. The service has a simple interface. There are various ways to withdraw funds. https://miningpoolhub.com/
- AntPool is a service that has a Russian-language interface. Various withdrawal methods are available. You can withdraw money without commission. https://www.antpool.com
- F2pool is a service that appeared four years ago and was developed in China. It should be noted that F2pool is considered one of the most powerful services. https://www.f2pool.com/
Mining Dash on a graphics card
The GPU is better at mining Dash than the CPU. The video card chip consists of small cores that quickly go through hundreds of thousands of combinations to find the desired block. But its processing power is also incomparable to ASIC devices.
Unfortunately, Dash mining on video adapters (as well as on CPUs) is becoming a thing of the past. Of course, having a powerful video card with a multi-core processor can achieve certain results. The X11 hashing algorithm increases the profitability of mining this cryptocurrency during solo mining. But video cards will not compete with ASICs. After all, you also need to take into account the cost of graphics cards, which is constantly increasing. Taking into account the current rate of Dash, mining this cryptocurrency on video cards is unprofitable. But for information, we note that for mining using the X11 algorithm, the following video adapter models are used:
- Nvidia - GTX 980 TI.
- AMD Radeon – R9 390.
Where to store
Cryptocurrency is stored in a designated wallet. Their types and differences are described in the article “Which Bitcoin wallet to choose”; this is also true for other cryptocurrencies. Let's make a brief overview of storage facilities in relation to dash. Although you can save coins in your exchange account, if you have a large amount, it is more convenient to have a wallet. Some online multi-currency wallets support Dash: Jaxx, Exodus, Coinomi, Cryptonator. More reliable local wallets include Electrum and Dash Core, the official client from the developers. It is even safer to store funds in a hardware wallet, such as KeepKey or Trezor, although purchasing one will cost $100-200.
Cloud mining Dash
Cloud mining services are used to mine various cryptocurrencies. Cloud mining of Litecoin, Ethereum and other digital coins is popular online. Cloud mining is also actively used for Dash mining.
What is the essence of cloud mining? This is cryptocurrency mining using remote equipment. You can rent it on special resources on the Internet. There are more and more such Internet platforms. Some of the most popular are CCGMining, HashFlare and GenesisMining. The miner independently chooses the computing power. The higher it is, the more you will have to pay for rent, but the more the user will earn in the future.
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DASH has near-instant transactions (through the use of InstantSend), privacy (coin mixing through PrivateSend), and security as transactions are verified by TerraHash's 200 hashing power and over 4,500 servers hosted worldwide.
DASH is one of the first decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) as it was the first self-funding and self-governing protocol. All this is possible with the implementation of Masternodes. DASH is among the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Mining Dash – profitability
The dash mining calculator, which can be found on many online resources, allows you to calculate the profitability of crypto mining. For example, on the website in-trend.biz. To calculate how much income mining Dash will bring, you don’t need instructions. It is enough to enter the hashrate of the equipment, the energy consumption value, the cost of electricity and the size of the pool commission.
Let's say a miner uses ASIC Bitmain Antminer D3 with a computing power of 17,000 Mh/s and an energy consumption of 1200 W. The pool commission is 1% of earnings, the cost of electricity is 6 cents. Enter the data into the calculator.
Thus, you can earn 15 cents a day on one ASIC. Not a lot of income considering the equipment costs $1,000.
conclusions
Dash is a promising cryptocurrency with a unique two-level transaction confirmation technology. But mining it at a rate of $75 is unprofitable. Mining equipment is expensive and profits are scanty. Perhaps the situation will change in the future, but for now it is better to focus on mining other cryptocurrencies or other earning options. For example, investing in ICO.
If you are interested in the digital currency market, read about which books about cryptocurrency you should study first.
