Pangolin chose the perfect timing and strategy to release its new Whatsminer DCR ASIC for the Decred cryptocurrency. At the moment, Whatsminer has no competitors in the mining of this “coin”, and given its high power, the ASIC is capable of bringing impressive profits with good prospects for a quick payback.
However, is everything so good in mining on the Pangolin Whatsminer DCR, or are there pitfalls when choosing this device that you definitely need to know about? In this article, we will look at what the Pangolin Whatsminer DCR is, what kind of profit it can actually guarantee, and not in the company’s marketing promises, and whether this ASIC is worth buying by the end of 2018.
Payback calculation
To calculate, enter the hashrate of this ASIC in the “ Hashing Power ” column, in our case it is 68 Th/s, GH/ s field and select Th/s .
After that, enter 68. “ Pool Fees ” is the pool commission, you don’t have to enter it if you don’t know. The average commission for all pools is 1%.
Next, in the “ Power Usage ” column, you need to enter the power consumption of the ASIC. In our case, it is 3360. We enter this number in this column.
“ Power Cost ” is the price for your electricity (“per socket”). Enter the value in cents. For example, our electricity costs an average of 3 rubles – that’s $0.05. Enter this or another number of yours.
That's all! Click on the “ Calculate ” button and find out how much you will receive from 1 ASIC per day, week, month, year!
Profitability and payback of MicroBT Whatsminer D1
As of July 23, 2022, Whatsminer D1 mines Decred worth $59 per day or $1,775 per month. Taking into account the cost of the ASIC, this is a six-month payback period. If the cryptocurrency resumes growth, then Whatsminer D1 can be repaid in literally 3-4 months.
At the same time, it is worth remembering that Decred is based on the unique Blake 14r algorithm, so if cryptocurrency developers want to make the network ASIC-resistant, then Whatsminer D1 will turn into a pile of scrap metal, because the device supports only one algorithm (one cryptocurrency). Be aware of this risk.
Short description
WhatsMiner M20S is an ASIC miner that mines SHA-256 coins (Bitcoin) using 12nm ASIC chip technology manufactured in China, also known as “ MicroBT ”
This is a standalone miner with a built-in controller board and built-in power supply.
The declared hashrate for this model is 68.0 Th/s with a power consumption of 3260 W. It weighs 12.5kg and measures 385mm (L) x 160mm (W) x 240mm (H).
You can buy this ASIC on the world's largest trading platform cryptominerbros.com.
Contents, appearance and unpacking
Let's start with the main and most pleasant thing. Delivery of ASIC is absolutely free by DHL courier service.
Delivery on average is very fast and takes from 5-14 days.
The ASIC is packaged carefully with proper packaging material to protect it from damage.
Please note that the power cable is included, but with a Chinese plug.
It took us very little effort to replace the original connector with type F (“EU Plug”), which is used here in Russia and in many other European countries.
However, we recommend only professionals to replace this way, otherwise just buy this wire with a Russian plug.
As we have already described above, the package consists of:
- ASIC
- power unit
- Wire with Chinese plug
Necessary additional items that are not included in the package:
- Internet Ethernet cable
- Power cord with IEC320 C19 connector
- Computer for pool setup and configuration settings
Advice! Before you begin installing and configuring the miner, carefully inspect it and carefully rotate the miner around to make sure there are no loose parts inside.
As for its characteristics, we have a standard, medium-sized ASIC with 2 fans on the sides. Each fan measures 140mm x 38mm with 12V DC, 9.0A, 7400rpm . Model: Delta PFC1412HE-00 .
During testing, we had no problems with overheating, the ASIC cools perfectly, but additional cooling (for example, a floor fan), especially at home, is required.
Number of ASIC chips per hash board: 105 chips. Number of hash boards per unit (miner): 3 hash boards. Number of chips per unit: 315 chips.
Let's move on to the installation.
Profit and payback of Pangolin Whatsminer DCR
Let's move on to the most important aspect - profit. Pangolin decided to “enter” the Blake256R14 algorithm in time, while ASICminer, Bitmain and Innosilicon are actively “killing” Equihash with unrealistically powerful devices. The declared power of 44 TH/s of Whatsminer DCR looks very impressive, despite the fact that its closest competitors cannot provide even 10 terahashes.
According to current calculations, the device will bring in about $100-108 per day at the start, which is quite consistent with the top ASICs in the field of mining. The release of the model and batch 1 Pangolin was scheduled for November 2018, although pre-orders for the devices are already open. This raises some concerns that are worth addressing in the next block.
If we talk about payback, which is increasingly ephemeral in the field of ASIC mining, then the first wave will be almost guaranteed to get a quick profit, which will return the investment and allow them to reach net income. There can only be exceptions if competing companies release their devices with similar/exceeding power using the Blake256R14 algorithm before November and simply disrupt the successful start of Whatsminer DCR sales. A sharp collapse in the Decred rate also looks like a very unlikely scenario.
However, it is important to remember that with the arrival of these devices to mine Decred, the mining difficulty will increase every day. Current devices based on the Blake256R14 algorithm will most likely become unprofitable, and the Pangolin ASIC will no longer bring $100 a day, as at the start. According to analysts' forecasts, in this case, those who pre-order Whatsminer DCR will benefit, despite the risk of this method of purchasing ASICs. With the Blake256R14 algorithm, a scenario is quite possible, which is currently happening towards the end of summer - beginning of autumn on Equihash.
Taking into account the estimated profitability of Decred mining by November and the power of the device, batch 1 buyers have every chance to pay for the device in 1.5-2 months. Moreover, at least half of the cost of the ASIC will pay off in the first 2 weeks, when the complexity of the network has not yet increased significantly. All this applies to residents of Russia and nearby countries with relatively cheap electricity. For other countries, the payback situation may be different, since the device consumes a lot of electricity, although the figures are unlikely to go beyond +-10%.
Installation
Installing this miner is a very quick process as it already has a built-in power supply.
To connect it to the network, you need to connect an Ethernet to the ASIC, and the other end of the cable to the router/switch of your network.
After it is connected to the Internet, the ASIC needs to be plugged into a power outlet; for this you will need an IEC320 C19 cable.
Please make sure it is rated at least 16A.
DHCP mode as the default option. This means that the miner will automatically obtain an IP address from the router's DHCP IP address pool.
You can easily find out the IP address, for example by going to your router's web configuration page.
Setting up and connecting to the pool
First, you need to open your web browser and navigate to the miner's IP address.
The miner will then ask you to enter your user credentials.
Username: root Password (default): root
After this, it is time to configure the mining pool parameters. You need to go through the menu and find the Cgminer configuration page. Click on the dropdown and click "custom". You can now configure any pool address of your choice.
You can configure this miner to mine any cryptocurrency based on the SHA-256 algorithm and any mining pool of your choice.
Please note that this miner does not use AsicBoost.
You can enter the pool addresses, username and password for three different pools in order of priority: Pool 1> Pool 2> Pool 3.
Therefore, if the first pool stops working for some reason, the miner will automatically continue mining cryptocurrency from the second pool.
And if the first and second pools also temporarily stop working, the miner will automatically continue mining from the third pool.
The miner board hash frequency and fan settings are automatic, there are no user settings. When all the settings are ready, you can click “ Save & Apply”.
Then click on the “ Reboot ” button to reboot the miner.
The miner startup process takes some time as it goes through the hash board frequency settings.
Therefore, you need to wait a little when you start this ASIC, and there is no need to worry, even if the numbers may seem strange at first.
The miner will also restart the cgminer software several times during a cold start, which is completely normal behavior for this miner.
After rebooting the last cgminer, the cold start process is ready.
Now you can see how the miner works and produces about 68 Th/s.
The following screenshots demonstrate the remaining pages available in the miner's web configuration.
Syslog and Cgminer API .
Review status and system properties.
Administration page and interfaces .
log page .
Process page and reboot .
Pros and cons of ASIC
The first and most impressive advantage of the Whatsminer DCR is its power. The power consumption of the device is quite impressive, although it is justified by the output hashrate. The noise level of 75 db is quite standard for powerful ASICs. From this we can conclude that Whatsminer will be quite noisy and being in the same room with it will be uncomfortable.
What are the disadvantages? In fact, they largely relate not to the device itself, but to the manufacturer.
To begin with, Pangolin is a fairly young player who is unlikely to be able to compete with the leaders (Innosilicon, Bitmain, ASICminer and others). The company began to make itself known only in 2022, releasing its first Whatsminer for Bitcoin mining. Moreover, both versions of the device (Whatsminer M3 and M3X), which were released in January and March, are currently considered completely unprofitable.
Moreover, the company has scheduled the release of a new Whatsminer M10 for the same SHA-256 in September. Taking into account the current complexity of the network, the device looks very dubious, since with 33 TH/s and 2145W consumption it provides a profit of only $5 per day. Even at a low price (just under $2000), this decision is very controversial. Naturally, this does not mean that Whatsminer DCR will not pay off or will generate low income, but only says that Pangolin is a new player on the market and its strategy looks quite strange.
Also worth noting are the build quality and serviceability. There have been numerous complaints online about low-quality Whatsminer M3, although they cannot be called widespread. Another possible risk is Pangolin’s policy, which may be less loyal than that of top manufacturers, for whom the loss of reputation can lead to huge losses. Otherwise, issues of quality, profit and production on the Pangolin Whatsminer DCR will be resolved after the device is released in November. Only after this will it be possible to say exactly how successful this ASIC is.
Testing
Once the miner is set up and ready to go, it's time to test it and see how it performs in mining.
As with the S9, the M20S's hash frequency settings are also set automatically during the startup process.
The M20S can also control the power supply (P20) and thus regulate the DC output voltage supplied to the hash boards.
The goal of this setting is to get the best possible performance.
When the miner was ready to launch, the hashrate increased to approximately 69.6 Th/s.
