Mining Bitcoins on a home computer: step-by-step instructions, profitability and useful tips

Where can I get virtual money? What programs are used to earn electronic money on the Internet? Is it possible to earn bitcoins using a computer on a machine?

There is an opinion that in the future cryptocurrency will become the main and only means of payment on the planet. But for now, serious investments in bitcoins and other digital money are considered a high-risk, although potentially highly profitable, way of earning money. If you are ready to take risks, then this article is for you.

Denis Kuderin is in touch - financial expert of HeatherBober magazine. I will tell you how to earn bitcoins using a computer , what methods of mining virtual money do not require investment, and how cloud mining differs from regular mining.

Let's sit back comfortably and read to the end - in the end you will find out which services for earning bitcoins are now the most popular, and how to get a lot of cryptocurrency by investing a minimum of your own funds.

How to use your home computer to mine Bitcoins

Let's start with selecting the equipment that we will use for mining. But first, a little about Bitcoin itself and why it is “mine.”

What is this Bitcoin of yours?

This is the world's first cryptocurrency. The name “Cryptocurrency” was taken because it is based on strict cryptography, and not the opinion of a bank, state or individual.

Bitcoin is based on ordinary mathematics.

Bitcoin is based on a formula called "SHA-256". This is a special version of the formula from the SHA-2 family of algorithms, which was published by the NSA in 2001. Since then, it has been used as the default standard for data encryption.

Correct Bitcoin contains many zeros.

The formula that is used in Bitcoin serves as the matrix in the printing press. But “printed” Bitcoins must pass verification. The solution to the formula is called "Hash". To pass verification, a hash must meet a unique requirement: contain a string of zeros at the very beginning. In 2015, a correct “hash” required 17 zeros in a row. In 2022, a valid hash must contain as many as 19 zeros.

Video cards and processors are designed to solve formulas.

The fact that Bitcoin is based on a mathematical formula makes it “digital”. Thus, computer technology can be used to issue Bitcoins. But not all of it. There are different ways to mine Bitcoin. For example, manually.

Automation is man's best friend, so let's look at what equipment you can use to mine Bitcoin in 2022.

They believe in Bitcoin.

As of January 2022, Bitka’s capitalization level is $585,323,060,169 or $585 billion. Its rate regularly rises, breaking new price records. Those who started mining Bitcoin in 2010 can now afford a separate island in the Pacific Ocean.

The rate will, if not grow, then continue to fluctuate at a fairly high level.

Bitcoin has built-in inflation protection.

Satoshi Nakamoto set a limit on the total number of Bitcoins - 21 million. You can't create more. Every 210,000 blocks mined, the reward decreases, which corresponds to a drop in reward every 4 years.

Bitcoin has a mining "difficulty".

Exaggerating, this is the depth of the mines with the resource. The deeper the mine, the more complex equipment needs to be used. We are talking about the number of decisions that will fall under the rule of “beauty”. For example, in 2022, solving mining formulas must have 19 zeros at the beginning to be considered “beautiful.” This increases the number of solutions that need to be tried before a “beautiful” answer is obtained.

Bounties and airdrops

Bounties and airdrops are one of the oldest methods by which people earn cryptocurrency. Bounties are rewards in the form of tokens that a cryptocurrency/blockchain project gives out after a user has successfully completed a certain task. The tasks may be different, and we talked about this in the article about cryptocurrency bounties.

Developers of new projects are looking for influencers, writers, promoters and testers to help promote their projects in exchange for coins.

Platforms like BitcoinTalk and others are filled with lucrative opportunities for those who want to make money. Projects like Newscrypto have even come up with apps that reward users with their own NWC token for simply using the app.

However, due diligence is a must if one is interested in this so as not to end up promoting a scam that will waste your time and ruin your reputation.

Airdrop, unlike Bounty, is most often given out free of charge. This term (method) is usually used to create maximum noise around the project being promoted. And if you give away some of the coins for free, then word of mouth will work for a new crypto project.

READ

How long will it take to mine 1 Bitcoin in 2022? [mining 1 BTC on the computer]

Bitcoin mining equipment: history of evolution

Until 2014, Bitcoin was mined on video cards - complexity allowed.

Graph of distribution of Bitcoin mining difficulty and devices used for mining. After 2014, BTC is not mined on video cards.

In the period from 2009 to 2010, Bitcoin was mined on ordinary processors. That’s right, the old “grandmother’s book” could bring in money, and ancient video cards produced real crypt. Golden time.

Later, from 2011 to mid-2013, the reward for one mined block decreased, and as a result, the difficulty of mining increased. Miners switched to video cards and highly targeted microcircuits. Old gaming video cards, for example HD 6500 and HD 7500, were suitable for Bitcoin mining. “Grannybooks” had to be disconnected from the network and replaced with something more productive.

However, at the turn of 2013 and 2014, a jump in difficulty was repeated, which was associated with a decrease in the mining reward by exactly half. To compensate for lost profits, miners had to switch to more productive devices.

For example, in 2013 they created the first model of a USB miner - this is a “flash drive” for solving a single formula. The world's first model was called "Block Erupter USB". The extraction speed of such flash drives was 300 MN/s.

The photo shows USB farms with 10 USB miners each, which were photographed by the creators of the first BTC USB miners.

The chip used in USB farms was called an FPGA, or field programmable gate array. These arrays consist of "configurable logic blocks" (CLBs) or general-purpose microprocessors. FPGA chips are found in TV remote controls, routers, or on the computer motherboard as part of a chipset.

The principle is that FPGA chips can be manually “taught” to solve individual equations. For example, mining cryptocurrency.

Intel Strarix 10 FPGA chip with AI optimization, which is used to accelerate data processing in data centers, cloud computing and network infrastructure.

Between 2014 and 2015, Bitcoin mining on video cards died out as a species, and USB miners evolved and turned into ASICs. After 2015, Bitcoin is mined only on ASICs.

The destroyer of any cryptocurrency is ASIC.

But the opportunity to mine Bitcoin on a home computer did not disappear - the first mining pools appeared. The first pool for Bitcoin mining appeared in 2010, then it was called “ Bitcoin

Pooled Mining Server", and a little later renamed it to "Slush". Later, mining pools completed the evolutionary cycle of Bitcoin mining tools - they turned into cloud farms

Trading

If HODLing is a long term investment. Essentially, cryptocurrency trading means taking advantage of Bitcoin's highly volatile volatility. This method requires practice and market knowledge, so be sure to make a demo (test) account before you even think about trying to trade.

Here are a few trading styles to get you started:

• Day trading - involves short and quick trades, which provides the opportunity for small and quick profits. Day traders do not hold open positions overnight, so the method consists of carefully analyzing the market, identifying small opportunities to make money, and making small profits. At the end of the session, day traders can make significant cumulative profits.
• Swing Trading - If HODLing is long-term and day trading is short-term, swing trading is the state in the middle. Like HODLers, swing traders will buy low, wait long enough to see their holdings rise in value, and then sell high. However, their holding time is not as long as a HODLer and not as short as a day trader.
• Arbitration. Crypto arbitrage is similar to the styles described above. However, instead of looking for opportunities to make money on the same exchange, arbitrage traders look for these opportunities across different platforms. Essentially, they buy a coin on exchange “A” and then sell it on exchange “B” at a higher price.

Earning cryptocurrency using these methods requires a lot of practice, so don't expect to get it right on the first try.

Just do your research, find out what strategy works best for you, and trust that you will find your own path.

How much can you earn from home mining?

Bitcoin mining ceased to be “home” in 2015. Then, the farms turned into huge, humming port boxes that were parked in remote regions and lined with solar panels. Well, in 2022 they do the same.

For example, the HAIRF company offers its customers special containers. They are equipped with air conditioning and racks for storing ASICs that will mine Bitcoin. Hairf themselves call them “Bitcoin Containers”.

Difficulty of mining cryptocurrency

Due to the continuously growing number of miners and pools, as well as the increasing speed and power of mining equipment, there is a need to create a tool that can compensate and control this growth. Such a tool could be a “difficulty control system,” which in the future will control the volume of digital coins received over a certain period of time. The practical side of the term “computation atomicity” can be characterized by a certain number of attempts that must be made to successfully generate a hash.

Is it profitable to mine Bitcoin on your home PC?

No. On your own

on a home computer in 2022, no one is mining Bitcoin. There are two reasons for this.

Electricity is not free.

Electricity costs when using conventional video cards will be higher than any profit.

Life is not eternal.

To mine 1 Bitcoin, Nvidia's RTX 3090 will take 47 thousand years. Why?

One RT3090 card, the most powerful in the world as of 2022, will mine 9 Gigahash of SHA-256 per second.

At this speed, one RTX 3090 will mine 1 BTC in... 47 thousand years.

3090 produces 9.6 GH/s in BTC mining, that's 0.00002121 BTC per year

To mine 1 Bitcoin at this speed, it would take 47 thousand years

Hashrate 3090 for ETH - 120 MH/s, or 0.2 ETH per month.

At this speed, she will mine one ETH coin for 5 months

ETH rate in January 2022 – 1410 USD

Roughly, one 3090 will bring in $266 on Ethereum per month, minus electricity.

Where to earn bitcoins - review of the TOP 3 services for earning money

I offer an overview of the most popular services for earning bitcoins. These are international platforms available to everyone.

Thousands of miners have already withdrawn money from them and are withdrawing them now , so there is no deception, only program code.

1) HashFlare

Cloud mining HashFlare is a new generation service with equipment created specifically for cryptocurrency mining. The platform connects users to pools - special web services that allow them to receive bitcoins more evenly and predictably. The user has the right to select several such pools to reduce risks.

HashFlare is a division of the larger company HashCoins, which develops professional mining software. So the service uses its own products, and not third-party equipment .

The service guarantees clients low risks, a minimum entry threshold and low costs for program support and maintenance. The company's head office is located in Tallinn.

2) Kryptex

“Kryptex” is the name of the server and special program. You download it to your computer, it starts generating cryptocurrency. Profit comes in both bitcoins and dollars, rubles and other currencies for which you exchange virtual money.

The application makes special calculations using the power of your device. The operating algorithm is as simple as possible: install the program, register, leave Kryptex running, and make a profit.

The earnings are small - up to 9,000 in rubles on medium-power computers, but do not forget - you get this money without making any effort.

3) Fleex.cc

Mining platform for mining the most popular cryptocurrencies. Estimated earnings are 2-3% per day from investments. 100 Gh/s (power units for mining bitcoins) as a gift.

Using affiliate programs, you receive an additional 5-12% of the power purchased by your referrals.

Service comparison table:

The best programs for mining Bitcoin

Home computers are allowed to mine SHA-256, but not Bitcoin. Why is that? Well, 47 thousand years for one Bitcoin is a lot. It is not advisable to mine it on your home computer. But there are other coins.

In total, there are
72 documented coins .
It’s quite possible to mine them on your home computer. For example, a direct alternative to Bitcoin would be Bitcoin Cash, or BCH.

True, BCH is mined on ASICs; it is not suitable for video cards.

Previously it was, but by 2022 the main mining has passed to the owners of ASIC farms. It's called "51 percent attack", but only in iron version. One day, any cryptocurrency switches to ASIC mining due to two factors - growing difficulty and falling rewards. Thus, video cards do not have enough power for mining and owners of GPU farms are leaving the niche.

Mining coins using SHA-256 is not feasible in 2022.

Perhaps this will change in the future. Therefore, here is a list of miners that support SHA-256.

• Hive OS is not exactly a mining client, more of an operating system for cryptocurrency mining. Supports working with SHA-256. Previously, we wrote how to set up Hive OS on your PC.
• CGminer is a Do-It-Yourself mining client. It's like an exam on computer technology. Supports SHA-256 tokens. [Project page on GitHub], downloading in other places is dangerous - they can slip a virus.
• BFGMiner is an ancient miner, originally from the BTT forum. Created 7 years ago, in 2014. Supports working with SHA-256. [Original miner thread on the BTT forum].

Get free with Bitcoin faucets

Bitcoin faucets are special services on the Internet that provide free rewards for completing certain tasks (for example, clicking or following links). These tasks can be completed on Android and IOS phones.

The most common actions on Bitcoin faucets:

1. Captcha decryption;
2. Stay on the site for a certain time;
3. Follow links to third-party resources;
4. Subscribe to news;
5. Watching commercials;
6. Games;
7. Taking surveys.

In this case, the site regulates the number of actions over a certain period of time. For example, some faucets limit the visit time or the number of clicks - no more than once per hour.

It is almost impossible to earn a large amount of money using Bitcoin faucets. Even to earn $1 a day, you need to simultaneously work on at least ten sites alternately: when the time spent on one faucet is limited, go to another and so on in a circle.

Advantages:

1. Absolutely free way to receive bitcoins

Flaws:

1. It is impossible to earn a large amount
2. A large amount of time wasted

The best Bitcoin wallets for Bitcoin mining

Suppose we are not talking about home mining, where any

wallet

Let's say we are talking about a more realistic scenario - a Bitcoin mining rig is assembled on ASICs and located inside a shipping container. Such a farm can be called “industrial”

.

In industrial

farms require a wallet with an increased level of security. For example, a cold wallet. This is when Bitcoins are stored separately from the Internet, on paper or a flash drive.

A cold wallet stores the most important part - the private key. It is used to transfer Bitcoins, i.e. pay for something with them

.

Which Bitcoin wallets are best for a mining rig?

Let's start in descending order of "security"

and
"reliability"
.

1) Conduct a self-hypnosis session and “sew” a private key into your memory.

Advantages

: During interrogation or torture, you can bluff that you are using a flash drive or keeping the key on paper. If you suspect ill-wishers in your environment, then it will be easier to identify them - just pretend that you store Bitcoins on a flash drive and install a GPS tracker on it.

Flaws

: Human memory erases unnecessary data over time. You will need to regularly pronounce the entire key out loud or “to yourself.” Then the brain will consider this important data and will not overwrite it with something more relevant, like the name of the neighbor’s new dog.

2) Every six months, take one third of the mined Bitcoins and put it in a cold wallet.

Print the private key on paper on a laser printer without a network connection, laminate it, roll it up, put it in a tube and bury it at random coordinates. Destroy the printer or write down the key legibly with a ballpoint pen.

Advantages

: The chance of Bitcoin theft has been reduced to close to zero. When you capture a farm using a raider method, you will know the location of the main burial places of digital gold. If the location of the wallets is unknown, attackers will not be able to obtain them intentionally.

Flaws:

the beginning of spontaneous development in the region of coordinates may complicate access to the wallet.
Additionally, you will need personal transport for quick access to wallets. Storage near the house is excluded - it is too suspicious. As an alternative, you can use point 2.1
- print out the private key on paper and store the note in a safe place. “Safety” depends on the context: the toilet cistern, the mezzanine and the book, places known from films and movies, are essentially clichés.

3) Use a flash drive to store the private key along with a portable version of the Kleopatra program.

Protect the private key file itself and learn the password by heart.

Advantages

: Essentially, the flash drive will have a "password key". If the flash drive falls into the hands of anyone other than yourself, it will be difficult to use the wallet. Of course, if we are talking about untrained users.

Flaws

: If the weak point of security is you, then it is useless. They will extract your password using social engineering or thermorectal cryptanalysis. Flash drive, physical object. It's nice to keep it with you, but easy to steal.

4) Buy a hardware wallet for cryptocurrency, such as Trezor, Opendime, Ledger, or Keepkey.

Advantages

: debatable.

Flaws

: Similar to point 3. Using any other wallet other than one you created yourself, for example Ledger or similar, should occur after answering the question “How much do I trust this company?”
Selecting a USB wallet is an exclusively personal approach; you cannot give advice or recommendations in this area. The reason is simple - the wallet was created by someone else,
you cannot vouch for a stranger in the company or for the company itself. Like all people, they pursue their own interests.

5) Store Bitcoins in online wallets.

Advantages:

well, convenient, fast. Nothing else.

Flaws:

if in previous methods the main weak point was the owner of the wallet, then in the online wallet there are six of them: the owner of the wallet, the website, the website servers, the browser, the computer and the provider. Use exclusively for storing small amounts, for buying coffee or paying for services, for example.

Buying Bitcoin for cryptocurrency / fiat in online exchangers / stock exchanges

Choose a convenient payment system
For example, “Matbi” accepts rubles, dollars and euros. They should be transferred to your account in this service, and only then exchanged for Bitcoin, Ethereum or a number of other cryptocurrencies.

The question may arise: how safe is it to send fiat money to this type of service? In general, you should always be wary of such offers.

But, in the case of Matbea, you are dealing with a reliable exchanger and quality service. After all, “Matbi” has been operating since 2014 and hundreds of thousands of clients are satisfied with the services provided there.

There are a lot of ways to top up your balance. Here are cards from Russian banks, and the payment system Qiwi, Yandex. Money” and others.

To take advantage of all the features of “Matbi”, you must not only register by phone number or email, but also undergo identity verification. This is done quickly and simply: just send a photo of yourself and your passport.

The main feature of Matbi is the availability of wallets for a number of cryptocurrencies. All of these wallets are “hot” wallets, but are reliably protected by three-factor authentication.

To withdraw funds from them, you need to know three passwords: pin, from SMS and email code. Cryptocurrency purchased on Matbi goes into these wallets, and from there it can be easily sent to external wallets. And you can do this anywhere, since there is a Matbea mobile application for both iOS and Android. All functionality available on the website is available through the mobile application.

If the user has any questions, the Matbi team has prepared detailed video instructions.

Exchanges and exchanges are websites where you can go to and buy cryptocurrency from the website itself. For example, the Crex24 exchange allows you to deposit and withdraw rubles to the exchange, which means it’s easy to buy and sell Bitcoin.

Crex 24 exchange review: registration, how to trade, how to enter Fiat, how to buy Bitcoin.

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The principle of operation of online exchangers is the same as that of traditional exchange offices (for example, at the airport you exchange rubles for the national currency of the country you arrived in).

Online exchanges allow clients to buy and sell cryptocurrencies at a price set by the broker (usually the market price plus the exchanger's commission).

Exchangers are the easiest way for new users to purchase cryptocurrencies. You do not need to trade on the exchange, register and study its interface. However, cryptocurrency rates here are much higher than on the stock exchange. Another disadvantage of exchangers is the high chance of fraud: you will transfer money to the exchanger’s account, but will not receive the purchased cryptocurrency.

Advantages:

1. Fiat input possible
2. Simple interface (no need to understand the principles of operation for a long time)

Flaws:

1. High percentage of fraud
2. Large commissions

Cloud mining Bitcoin

There is such a method of mining Bitcoins - when you buy power and mining takes place on it. Essentially, you are renting hardware. Nothing illegal, normal procedure.

The method is simple. The main thing is having money. This is how it happens: you deposit funds into your account or negotiate with the manager, you are allocated equipment and it produces cryptocurrency.

The mined cryptocurrency goes to your wallet. If the mined cryptocurrency goes somewhere other than your wallet, this is a problem, it shouldn’t be that way.

We even [compiled the top services that offer cloud mining services].

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing and Bitcoin advertising are a popular way to make money for bloggers, news sites, social media influencers, and everyday people.

Companies provide unique URLs or promotional codes for affiliate marketers to send to their audience. If someone clicks on this link and makes a purchase using your affiliate link, you will receive a reward in the form of BTC.

Advantages:

• Does not require large investments in equipment.
• It's not difficult to start (becoming a blogger).

Flaws:

• Earnings depend on the audience.
• It may take time to promote your site (Youtube channel, Telegram, website, other social networks).

Options

Depending on existing desires and capabilities, each user is able to choose the most convenient way for them to earn cryptocurrency. Those who wish can:

• start mining;
• use cloud mining;
• stop at automatic currency generation through online faucets;
• make money on games;
• earn income from referral and affiliate programs;
• perform paid tasks on the Internet.

When figuring out how to start making a profit, you should dwell on the issue of choosing a method of earning money. Each option listed has its own pros and cons that must be taken into account. If you do not pay attention to the requirements and significant nuances, you can spend a lot of time, but remain without the desired return.

Only by correctly calculating the available opportunities and limiting desires can you turn cryptocurrency mining into a profitable business that can generate a constant, stable income.

Mining farms

The bulk of systems used for cryptocurrency mining are Bitcoin mining farms. The essence of their activity is the continuous and uninterrupted performance of computing operations, ensuring the operability of the network and confirming transactions. The process of generating hashes is carried out:

• with the help of a huge number of video cards - one of the reasonably expensive types of farms, but over time they lose relevance;
• using FPGA modules - the most economical method if we consider it from the point of view of energy consumption;
• using ASIC processors is the most expensive mining method, but the most effective and profitable today.