However, in order to make the right choice, you must understand exactly how Ether differs from other cryptocurrencies and what features it has.
It is quite possible that this currency will not be suitable for mining with your current equipment and you will have to look for other options. Or if you don’t have equipment yet, then it won’t hurt you to understand what to focus on when purchasing. In this short article we want to draw attention to the main distinguishing feature of any cryptocurrency - the algorithm. The Etherium algorithm has several features that you should know about before you start mining this cryptocurrency. In addition, we will briefly talk about what algorithms are used in other currencies in order to paint a more complete picture of the differences.
History of Ethereum
The first cryptocurrency was created in 2009. When did Ethereum appear?
The Ethereum project, without which it is now difficult to imagine the industry, saw the world thanks to Vitalik Buterin , whose name is known to everyone who works with cryptocurrencies.
Vitalik Buterin, founder of the Ethereum project
Buterin began seriously studying blockchain and cryptocurrencies in 2011. He published the top publication Bitcoin Magazine at that time, was involved in programming, and even then was thinking about launching his own project.
Moreover, the creator of Ethereum set himself a rather ambitious goal - to surpass the brainchild of Satoshi Nakamoto, the recognized “standard” to which everyone else was measured at that time.
Ethereum developers immediately took into account the shortcomings and strengths of the technology, since they already had data on the features of many options for implementing Blockchain technology.
In 2014, Buterin began raising funds to launch the project through crowdfunding. He received $18.3 million from the world's largest investors (Ethereum is on the list of crowdfunding projects with the most funding).
In July 2015, Buterin launched Ethereum, a unique platform with its own programming language and service. True, the platform became fully operational only in March 2016, when the Homestead protocol appeared.
Thus, Ethereum has unlocked even greater blockchain potential in the fintech sector. Cryptocurrency boom 2016-2017 associated specifically with the launch of Ethereum.
What era is it in Ethereum now?
Nowadays, the most popular way to extract Ethers at home is considered to be farms from video cards.
When purchasing mining equipment, it is important to consider several factors: the complexity and hashrate of the network, as well as the size of the DAG .
DAG (DirectedAcyclic Graph) file is loaded into GPU memory when mining is started. The Ether miner is always used by Doug, sometimes without even realizing it: after starting coin mining, it is automatically loaded into the RAM of the video card.
The Dag file size is dynamic and is constantly increasing. The operating algorithm of the Ethereum network is designed in such a way that every 30,000 new blocks epoch passes and the current file size increases by 8 MB approximately every 4-5 days.
Current file sizes and epoch parameters can be viewed here. ✅
Thus, when choosing equipment and calculating the profitability of Ethereum mining, it is necessary to take into account the dynamics of changes in DAG. Otherwise, you can assemble farms that in the near future will become unsuitable for mining ether.
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