A mining farm is a structure that consists of special equipment aimed at mining cryptocurrency. The main incentive for its owner to create a mining farm is the opportunity to generate income. Profit is generated by finding cryptocurrency blocks that use the]Proof-of-Work[/anchor] algorithm. The most interesting of them are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Grin, Bitcoin Gold, Monero and others. Profit will depend directly on the number of devices on the mining farm and on the cost of its maintenance.
In most cases, large farms operate in warehouses and hangars. If it is a small installation, then the miner can locate it at home.
To determine the equipment, namely its efficiency, miners use special services - calculators. Such resources give an approximate idea of earnings in a certain period of time.
We will talk about which mining farms are best to use, how to install them and how much you can earn from it later in the article.
- What is a mining farm
- Types of farms for mining CPU farms
- GPU farms
- FPGA farms
- ASIC farms
- Accessories for mining farms
- Preparing to install a mining farm
- Grin
- Housing Installation
What is a mining farm
Mining farm Mining
farm
is a powerful computer system configured for cryptocurrency mining. In simple words, this is an installation that consists of two or more units of special devices located in one place, and aimed at mining cryptocurrencies by implementing complex calculations.
So, as they make decisions, the miner receives a reward, while the new mined block, which directly contains this solution, is added to the cryptocurrency blockchain.
☝️
In essence, managing a mining farm is no different from mining on a single device, the only difference is in scale.
Mining farms can operate thousands of pieces of equipment simultaneously. It is for this reason that their main location is in areas with a cheap but stable supply of electricity. Note that mining equipment manufacturing companies own some of the largest mining farms in the world.
And although it may seem that only the richest companies can operate a mining farm, in fact, anyone can create one. All you need is a couple or more devices and an Internet connection. Plus, mining cryptocurrencies on a smaller scale is still profitable these days.
How does barn mining work?
Let’s look at how “black” miners set up their farms, using the example of a case in Nizhny Novgorod. The equipment was placed in a barn. At the time of its discovery, law enforcement agencies had not yet identified the owner of the premises. And according to local residents, the equipment was installed by two men who independently equipped the barn for mining. That is, they simply found an abandoned premises and used it.
Mining equipment found in Nizhny Novgorod. Source: Rosseti Center and Volga Region
The shed housed 6 Bitmain ASIC miners. The perpetrators connected the premises to a power line in order to receive electricity from it. When unaccounted for electricity consumption began, Rosseti, together with police officers, began to look for its source. That's how they found this barn.
Recommended material
For those who want to learn about legal ways to buy cryptocurrency. In this article we tell you how to legally buy cryptocurrency in Russia.
Types of mining farms
Bitcoin mining farm
CPU farms
These are designs that implement the mining process based on the operation of the central processor.
☝️
Today, CPU farms are the least efficient option for mining, but they still have a right to exist.
After all, while mining Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum using central processors is an initially disastrous idea, CPU farms are excellent for mining cryptocurrencies using the Scrypt algorithm (for example, Dogecoin or DigiByte). Such farms are mainly popular among miners mining little-known coins that may be able to reach their potential in the future.
☝️
Read the full article: Mining on a processor: the best CPU models and how to choose
GPU farms
Video card farm
They are specialized electronic circuits that are commonly used in computers and gaming systems. In this case, they perform a wider range of operations, that is, cryptocurrency mining.
Miners use the processing power of video cards to mine a wide range of coins. And although video cards come with any computer, usually this type of farm uses high-quality GPUs with higher processing power. Most often, video cards are used for Ethereum mining.
☝️
Read the full article: The best video cards for mining. Rating of mining video cards
FPGA farms
Equipment for mining
Field Programmable Gate Array - devices that support programmable matrices, thanks to which, in fact, the process of mining cryptocurrencies is carried out. This type is interesting to miners not because of its mining speed, but because of its energy efficiency.
So, if a typical video card with a bandwidth of 600 MHz/s consumes up to 400 W of energy, then the FPGA provides a data transfer rate of 826 MHz/s with a power consumption of about 80 W.
But this is their only advantage
, and therefore this type of farm has not received wide recognition among miners.
ASIC farms
These are designs of specialized integrated circuits designed to handle a specific blockchain. And although ASIC miners are more expensive than their alternatives, the performance of these rigs is also much higher than that of competitors. This type will be the optimal solution for mining coins on the Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash or Litecoin blockchains.
☝️
Read the full article: What is an ASIC miner. How ASIC mining works
Option 2: Use the miner outside the house and draw in heat
Since I only run the miner when it's cold outside (and the price is quite high), I can use the cold, dry outside air to cool the miners and return the warm air they create to the heat pump.
I asked the technician who installed the heat pump about this and he said it was a good idea. So, the plan is this: we connect the front of the server cabinet with the GPU to the heat pump inlet.
Server cabinet closed
Duct pipe and bell
Example of installation in my house. The air is sucked in through a hole on top of the garage, so the pipe had to be connected there.
| pros | Minuses |
| Using preheated outside air | Lots of headaches due to parts and installation |
| Miners' GPUs will be cooler, which will increase hashrates | Unexpectedly expensive system |
So, so far mining has covered about
half of my electricity (=heating) bills , but how will the results differ with pre-heated outside air?
Let's take a look.
Results before and after air preheating
Everything turned out to be much better than I had hoped. Has anyone heard of a heating system that, when running, lowers your electricity bill? In addition, on sunny days, the miner and the entire heat pump operate entirely from solar energy from the panels on the roof.
How does a mining farm work?
How a mining farm works
Let's start with the fact that the power level of a mining farm is tens of times higher than that of a home computer. In addition, this power is aimed at one operation (cryptocurrency mining), and is not used to support programs and the system as a whole, unlike, for example, a central processor.
The result of the work depends on the number of devices and power. Note that miners participate in mining not for pleasure, but, first of all, for money.
☝️
As the farm starts, the equipment performs complex calculations aimed at finding a specific number that satisfies one predetermined and well-known condition, after which a block is created for which the miner receives a reward.
Thus, the greater the power aimed at decoupling these calculations, the faster the solution will be found, and, therefore, the sooner the reward will be received.
In order for a farm to operate efficiently, its condition must be monitored. Depending on the scale, the correct operation of the equipment can be monitored by either one person or an entire team.
It is necessary to regularly check the system for possible errors and information about the operation of mining pools.
☝️
To avoid viruses and other malicious software entering the system, it is not recommended to download firmware for overclocking equipment from third-party resources.
If devices are identified with a hash rate that does not meet the standards, the problems must be confirmed and resolved in a timely manner. If the problem cannot be corrected on site, the equipment should be sent for repair or returned to the manufacturer for maintenance.
Mining programs
Mining programs are specialized software that allows you to more effectively manage the process. The choice of software depends on the equipment, algorithm, OS and other mining parameters.
The task that the miner program performs is to perform calculations, configure the equipment to perform certain calculations, and connect the device to the desired network. Therefore, the profitability of the farm directly depends on the correct selection and configuration of mining software.
It is necessary to download the software for the specific currency for which the farm was created. Some software supports several algorithms simultaneously and, accordingly, allows you to mine different currencies.
The best mining programs in 2022 are:
- NiceHash;
- EthMiner;
- CGMiner;
- Awesome Miner;
- MinerGate;
- EasyMiner;
- MultiMiner;
- GUIminer;
- RPC Miner;
- DiabloMiner;
- Etc.
Always download software only from the official website of the developer.
What is needed for a mining farm
What does a mining farm consist of?
In order for a mining farm to generate the desired income, its owner needs to take care not only of the correct assembly of the structure, but also of certain components that will facilitate its maintenance.
Accessories for mining farms
For an effective mining process, the farm must consist of the following components (we will look at the example of a farm for mining from video cards):
Motherboard. A powerful motherboard can increase the life of the farm (ASRock, AFOX, Gigabyte, Asus).
Power unit. Mining consumes a huge amount of electricity. It is recommended to use a power supply with a power of at least 750 W depending on the needs (GreenVision, Chieftec, Aerocool).
Processor (AMD, Intel).
Video cards. The optimal number of cards for one farm is 4-6 units, with a speed of at least 400 h/s (Nvidia, AMD, Sapphire, Gigabyte, Asus).
RAM. For the installation to run efficiently, you will need at least 4 GB of RAM.
Riser cables help connect graphics cards to the motherboard (Atcom, HQ Tech, Cablexpert).
A hard drive, in fact, is only needed to install the mining farm software (60 to 120 GB is enough).
A fan will be needed for additional cooling (NSI, Zotac Polit, Gigabyt).
The Linux operating system is considered the best operating system for mining. However, Windows or iOS are still excellent alternatives.
Accessories - monitor, keyboard, mouse and USB cables. They will be needed to set up a mining farm.
Assembly housing - will help secure all components of the installation.
☝️
Read the full article: Detailed review of mining equipment
Necessary characteristics for profitable mining
Technical characteristics of the mining farm
The selected mining farm must have certain characteristics in order for its owner to receive income from mining:
Ratio of power and energy consumption of the device
First of all, we pay attention not only to the cost of mining equipment, but also to its return. The fastest payback is the main goal of every miner. Therefore, the ratio of power and energy intensity will directly affect the amount of income received.
Memory capacity and speed
Affect the availability of algorithms for mining. Cards with low memory capacity are unable to mine a wide range of hashing algorithms.
☝️
The memory capacity of a mining farm based on video cards must be at least 4 GB.
The efficiency of mining and, accordingly, its profitability depend on the speed.
Difficulty of operation
☝️
When it comes to video cards, the best option here is an installation that contains from 4 to 6 GPUs.
On the other hand, the number of installed video cards directly affects the stability of the farm, as well as the level of complexity of setup and operation - accordingly, the fewer there are, the easier it is to set up the farm.
How to choose mining equipment
Selection of mining equipment
☝️
Note that only cryptocurrencies built on the PoW consensus mechanism participate in the mining process.
However, since different blockchains use different algorithms (SHA-256, Equihash, X11 and others), the hardware requirements vary for each mined coin.
In many cases, devices are designed to solve only one of these algorithms. For example, the equipment used to mine Monero (XMR) will be less efficient when mining Bitcoin (BTC), or even ineffective. But at the same time, the mining of many cryptocurrencies can be carried out on the same device. The choice and expected financial result will depend on the coin.
Popular questions and answers
Ahmed Azhazh, a systems engineer at an international IT company, answers Komsomolskaya Pravda’s questions
Is it safe to exercise
As mentioned earlier, the process is completely legalized in the Russian Federation. The only dangers that await the miner are everyday issues. In particular, we are talking about the high noise level from ASIC miners. It is better to choose a suitable room in advance or warn your neighbors. I also strongly do not recommend following the path of some craftsmen who connect to the network bypassing metering devices. Such practice is criminally punishable. These practices have been repeatedly recorded in the Russian Federation.
How not to lose virtual money?
I would recommend immediately withdrawing funds after mining coins, since the market rate changes constantly. The withdrawal fee depends on the frequency of transactions, the selected coins and the conversion method. For example, direct transfer of income to a bank card account with the ability to cash out at any time is the most reliable and expensive option. The user is required to prepare documents for the tax office. A simple way to cash out cryptocurrency is to register on one of the crypto exchanges. A user account with linked data from bank cards and cryptocurrency wallets allows you to convert coins, make money on exchange rate differences and withdraw digital funds anonymously.
Is mining possible without investment?
It all depends on the volumes you are targeting. The most ordinary PC is suitable for mining. However, the profit from it will be pitiful. Accordingly, if you consider this process as passive income, then the answer is yes, it is possible. If you decide to approach the matter thoroughly and assemble a rig or even a small farm, then the minimum investment will be from 100 to 300 thousand rubles.
Pros and cons of cryptocurrency mining
Easy to start. It's hard to find a person who wouldn't like to earn extra money without extra effort. For this reason, mining has become so popular in the Russian Federation.
It is enough to purchase equipment, assemble a farm and install software. All that remains is to click on start to initiate the mining process.
A variety of currencies and constant exchange rate changes allow you to choose the most profitable vector.
Cryptocurrencies obtained by mining can easily be sold, receiving in return the currency of popular payment systems such as QIWI, Webmoney, PayPal and others. VISA/Mastercard bank cards are also a popular direction of exchange.
Risks associated with the purchase of equipment and constant market fluctuations.
The need for start-up capital and a high level of investment. Thus, the equipment that was profitable a couple of years ago is now illiquid. The cost of new devices has increased several times
Mining requires quite a lot of electricity. Currently, miners in total burn more electricity than the residents of Iceland, Ireland and Nigeria combined
How to build a mining rig
Assembling a mining farm
How to make a mining farm:
- Decide on the premises.
- Decide on a coin to mine;
- Create a wallet to store coins;
- Install mining software;
- Join a mining pool;
- Set up a mining farm.
Below you will find a description of each step with all the details.
Preparing to install a mining farm
The first step is to decide on the scale of the activity. If this is a setup that includes up to several dozen cards, then it can be assembled at home. But if there are hundreds, or even thousands of devices, then there is no question of living space. First of all, they are very noisy and have high heat transfer. This may cause inconvenience when living in an apartment.
☝️
In addition, mining farms require certain conditions for effective operation, including moderate humidity and temperature in the room, in the presence of a powerful source of electricity.
You should decide in advance what cryptocurrency the mining farm will produce. To determine the most profitable coins, profitability calculators are usually used, which will be discussed below. Once the coin is selected, all that remains is to decide on the equipment and start mining.
But how will the user receive his coins if he does not have a wallet to store cryptocurrencies? No way, in any case you will have to create a cryptocurrency wallet. This can be a mobile application, a hardware device or a web application into which the reward will be received with the possibility of subsequent storage.
☝️
Read the full article: A Detailed Review of Cryptocurrency Wallets
Next, we join the mining pool, install the software and set up a mining farm.
☝️
Note that currently professional miners mainly use GPU and ASIC rigs. But the latter are much more efficient at mining than GPUs, given their targeted functionality.
How to make a mining farm
How to create a mining farm with your own hands
When purchasing equipment, first of all, you should check it for damage. This can be either an already assembled mining farm or its components for DIY assembly.
So, let's start by checking the cables. Next, the graphics processors, power supply and all other accessories are connected to the motherboard. We check the GPU drivers to see if they are updated and move on to the next step.
Farm setup
At this stage, you should download mining software: BFGminer, CGminer, NiceHash. Please note that this software is freely available and can be downloaded from the developer’s website or through unofficial binaries for Mac users.
☝️
Read the full article: Mining software: how to choose the best software in 2022
Let's look at the setup process using the CGminer program as an example.
Load the program and execute the following command line arguments:
- Unpack cgminer into a folder. Give the folder a name.
- Press the Windows and “R” keys simultaneously.
- Type “cmd” and press “Enter”.
- We use the cd command, then go to the directory where the cgminer zip file was downloaded.
- Enter “cgminer.exe – n”.
So, next a list of devices available on the computer will appear, among which there will be customizable video cards.
☝️
If the list of available video cards does not appear, it means that the settings were made incorrectly and the procedure should be repeated.
At this stage, the miner should already have a registered cryptocurrency wallet and create an account in the mining pool. As we gain access to the pool data, enter commands into the bat file, activating it by double-clicking. Here's the guide:
- "C:\Cgminer\".
- Mining pool server URL.
- Server port number.
- User login.
- Worker's name.
- Password.
The cgminer software shows the hash rate of both CPU and GPU.
☝️
Note that on average, data processing speed on video cards is approximately five times faster than mining on a processor.
Prospects for cryptocurrency mining
Predicting the future of cryptocurrencies is a thankless task, somewhat reminiscent of fortune-telling, but, nevertheless, there are certain indicators that you can rely on when studying the issue of mining prospects.
Analysis of the future of mining
When analyzing possible future mining, the following factors must be taken into account:
- The growing difficulty of mining the most profitable cryptocurrencies;
- Are there prospects for increasing the capitalization and value of the main cryptocurrencies produced by mining;
- Plans of leading manufacturers of mining equipment to produce new miners and for which coins;
- Legislative prospects related to the cryptocurrency sphere, which can both facilitate mining and complicate the ability to engage in this activity;
- Suppliers' plans to increase the cost of electricity, or to provide discounts to miners as persons engaged in production activities. Thanks to the fairly low cost of electricity in most post-Soviet countries (including Russia, Ukraine and Belarus), the prospects for mining do not look so bad;
- At what real price can the equipment be sold in the future in the event of an even stronger drop in profitability?
- What plans do the developers of the main cryptocurrency platforms have for their further development, will there be a transition to other algorithms for the functioning of the blockchain and how will this affect the profitability of miners;
- The general state of the global financial system, which significantly affects cryptocurrencies.
All these factors affect the payback period of the equipment and the overall profitability of the mining business. Let's try to figure out in more detail whether it is worth investing in cryptocurrency mining now.
How and where to buy a mining rig
Buying a mining farm
The purchasing process should not cause any particular inconvenience. The main thing is to decide on the right model. Thus, the purchase can be made either directly from the equipment manufacturer or from its dealers.
As for the first option, in this case the consumer saves himself from overpayments and possible counterfeits, but in return receives it only after a few months. Of course, if the manufacturer has it on the shelves at all.
☝️
In most cases, dealers instantly sort out models that are in demand among miners. Therefore, if the manufacturer does not have equipment due to increased demand, or due to discontinuation of production, then the model can be searched on sites specializing in the sale of mining equipment.
When purchasing equipment on a dealer’s website, it will be delivered much faster, although the price may be much higher. In addition, if the search for new models is not successful, then on the Internet there are a large number of resources offering used equipment for purchase.
To buy a mining farm, it will be enough to indicate the model of the requested equipment in the search bar, after which a list of sites will appear that offer similar models for purchase.
Where to buy a mining rig
Mining farms in Ukraine can be purchased on the following sites:
- Prom.ua;
- Mining.Net.ua;
- MiningZone;
- Stylus;
- Rozetka;
- OLX.
As for the latter, on this portal you can purchase a farm not only from legal entities, but also “in private”. Thus, the purchase can be much cheaper, but carries the potential risks of falling for scammers.
In Russia, ready-made mining farms are sold on the following sites:
- CryptoFarm;
- NICS;
- Ittelo;
- Aktek;
- Avito.
Note that the Avito portal, like the Ukrainian OLX, sells both new and used farms to individuals without guarantees, but at a lower price.
In addition to Internet sites, sellers place advertisements for the sale of equipment on thematic forums, in specialized groups on social networks, in Telegram messengers, etc.
Advantages and disadvantages (of mining using farms)
Advantages and disadvantages
Growing interest in mining and the influx of new investments into the market;
Scalability: the ability to easily expand the farm;
Flexibility: you can mine different cryptocurrencies and, if necessary, switch to mining other coins;
You can buy used farm components on the secondary market (cheaper, but no guarantee);
The ability to sell video cards without any problems (there is always a demand for them);
The farm can be located in any cool and ventilated place (even at home);
Opportunity to purchase a ready-made mining farm.
Expensive equipment that quickly becomes obsolete or may fail;
Energy consumption;
To assemble a farm yourself, you need certain knowledge and experience;
It is difficult for home farms to compete with industrial farms;
Volatility of the cryptocurrency exchange rate;
High risks;
Long payback period.
Mining farm price
How much does a mining rig cost?
For competitive mining, miners must invest in powerful hardware such as a GPU or ASIC. But how much does a mining rig cost? The design will cost the buyer from a thousand dollars to several tens of thousands, depending on the scale of activity.
Equipment prices are very unstable and change every day. There is a high probability that a miner will be lucky enough to purchase a used structure in good condition, which will be an order of magnitude cheaper than buying a new one.
Below we will look at the prices for mining farms (4-6 cards), which can easily be installed at home:
Table comparing prices for GPUs in Ukraine and Russia in US dollars
☝️
Note that miners prefer rigs produced by Nvidia. Compared to AMD, green graphics cards produce coins more efficiently and with much less power consumption.
What to do with the farm if cryptocurrency goes to the bottom
Frankly speaking, the situation in which the cryptocurrency breaks the bottom is almost unrealistic. Demand for bitcoins, the flagship virtual currency, has been growing steadily for more than eight years. This is a pretty good indicator.
Another question is that there were periods when it sank significantly, and lost up to 50% of the positions earned for the year within 1-2 weeks.
It is in light of this uncertainty that people are wondering what to do when “mining ends.” This is especially true with the government’s statements that it seems to want to regulate the circulation of biktions and cryptocurrency in general, but continues to firmly tighten the screws on money laundering.
The easiest option that comes to mind is to sell components. And this is the most correct option. You will have nowhere else to use your computing power except to mine another cryptocurrency.
Those who are seriously thinking about assembling PCs from mining rigs can be safely advised to forget about this idea. You will have to spend an amount comparable to the cost of a farm on components for 3-6 PCs (depending on the number of video cards). At the same time, you will also need to understand that a used video card will cost much less than a new one.
All that remains is to closely monitor the video card market, and immediately after the equipment becomes obsolete, throw it onto the secondary market, within a week at most.
Important fact . The Russian secondary market is now reacting very sharply to everything that happens to the economy. But despite this, computer components have always stood apart, because there are always gamers, and they need hardware. Therefore, if you carefully consider the moment, dismantle the farm and sell the video cards, then you can easily recoup the cost of the farm in a week, if you have time.
But everything is not so sad. Blockchain technology is very interesting for businesses and entrepreneurs. Therefore, cryptocurrencies will continue to be created quite actively.
True, these are often HYIPs and financial pyramids, which are made in order to collect money into the owner’s wallet. But in some cases, worthy and interesting projects emerge. So, the same ETH in 2014 was “another alternative to Bitcoin,” and now it is already the second cryptocurrency in the world.
The world of currencies is developing very quickly and in the near future, perhaps we will get two or three more worthy replacements for the old cue balls.
Therefore, do not rush to part with mining farms and think about what to do after Bitcoin or Ether loses value. You will be able to mine and trade altcoins that are just starting to appear. With smart investments in trading and investments in equipment, you can earn good money.
Payback of a mining farm
How much will a mining farm pay for itself
? Mining is one of the most profitable ways to get coins. But this activity requires a willingness to invest. Thus, a miner needs to have good equipment before starting mining.
But even if you build an expensive custom rig for cryptocurrency mining, no one can guarantee its profitability. In order to calculate how much profit a miner will receive from operating a mining farm by mining a specific coin, you should use a profitability calculator. Such a service will give an idea of the approximate return on investment based on the calculation of the daily profit from the farm.
☝️
Read the full article: Mining calculator: how to calculate the profitability of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
Here are some examples of popular services:
NiceHash is a convenient calculator for calculating mining profitability. To carry out calculations, you only need to enter two parameters: the name of the equipment (select from a list) and the estimated energy costs (kWh).
☝️
Read the full article:
CryptoCompare is another popular mining profitability calculator. For calculations, you need to specify the following parameters: hashing power, energy cost and pool commission size (if necessary). The calculator will calculate the profit ratio per day or per month.
WhatToMine offers to calculate the income from mining on GPU and ASIC. You just need to select the necessary equipment and the system will automatically calculate the hashrate. However, it is worth noting that the user interface of this resource is not as easy to use as previous services.
Let's look at the example below to see how much profit miners get from mining cryptocurrency. So, for example, if you decide to mine Ethereum on a farm of 4 Nvidia 1080Ti video cards, the income will be about $3.41 per day or $85 per month.
Calculating the profitability of Ethereum mining using the NiceHash calculator
☝️
Note that this profit will be received only if you connect to a “free outlet”. When paying for electricity at a standard tariff, Ethereum mining on GPU is currently impractical, neither in Ukraine nor in Russia.
For profitable mining you will have to choose other coins or other regions.
☝️
WhatToMine: detailed instructions for using the mining calculator
In addition to the power and energy intensity of the equipment itself, when calculating the payback of an installation, it is worth considering:
The cost of equipment to support miners, including shelves for its installation, power supplies, cables, accessories and the like.
Electricity costs for operating all devices other than the mining rig.
The cost of uninterrupted and stable Internet access.
Network complexity (the level of complexity increases over time).
Equipment can quickly become outdated, resulting in the need to update components.
Costs incurred due to downtime. Equipment tends to fail, so this point must be taken into account when calculating mining profitability.
Shipping costs and customs fees.
Cryptocurrency rate. This factor is the most unpredictable of all, and there is always a chance that the mined coin will depreciate in value. Thus, there is no guarantee that the investment will pay off even if the cryptocurrency market goes up.
Is it legal to mine cryptocurrency?
Over the past five years, legislators have tried everything they can to do with digital assets. In particular, the following options were proposed: “Legalize mining and turnover on the territory of the Russian Federation”, “Ban and establish fines, as well as prison sentences”, “Issue a national cryptocurrency”, “Wait until these assets become illiquid”.
Let's look at what we have today. On July 23, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the bill “On Digital Financial Assets,” which defines the concept of cryptocurrency, but prohibits its use to pay for goods and services. Accordingly, mining and trading of assets is not prohibited.
As for the global situation, the authorities are actively seeking to establish control over the situation. They are fighting in every possible way against the development of analog money and anonymity. However, in many countries, cryptocurrency has been recognized as a means of payment, in some places as a monetary unit of account, in others as a commodity, and in others as an investment or virtual asset.
The main risk in mining is associated with constant fluctuations in the rate of mined coins. Photo: pexels.com
What cryptocurrencies to mine on a farm in 2021
What cryptocurrencies to mine in 2022
Before you start mining any cryptocurrency, it is worth studying its rate and assessing its development prospects. A useful tool for this is the analytical service CoinMarketCap.
☝️
Read the full article: CoinMarketCap - review of the official website. Cryptocurrency rating CoinMarketCap
Below is a list of the TOP 5 coins interesting for mining in 2021:
Grin
Grin is a relatively new cryptocurrency based on the Cucatoo31+ and CuckARood29 algorithm. It is interesting from the point of view of ensuring the confidentiality of transactions based on the MimbleWimble technology.
Grin has an unlimited number of coins, which certainly attracts miners. Mining difficulty changes dynamically according to the network hashrate. Mining reward: 60 GRIN per block. Current market value is $0.44 according to CoinMarketCap.
☝️
Read the full article: Grin mining: equipment, pools and profitability calculator
Bitcoin Gold
The Bitcoin Gold project officially launched on October 24, 2022. The main task is to return mining from large farms to PCs, for which a transition was made from the SHA-256 algorithm to Equihash.
☝️
Thus, Bitcoin Gold does not support ASIC mining.
Mining reward: 12.5 BTG per block. The current market value is $27.9 according to CoinMarketCap.
Zencash
Mining Zencash
Zencash
is a representative of a fairly extensive family of cryptocurrencies based on the Zerocoin protocol, released in May 2022. At the same time, the cryptocurrency was formed as a fork of Zclassic (fork of Zcash). Zencash can be called an intermediate solution between the previous two. ZEN miners get 88%. The current market value is $46.14 according to CoinMarketCap.
Zclassic
Zclassic is another fork of the popular and widely used cryptocurrency Zcash. The fundamental difference from the mother coin is that the entire reward goes to the miners, and 20% of the mined ZEC goes to the addresses of the developers. The current market value is $0.28 according to CoinMarketCap.
RavenCoin
This Bitcoin fork appeared in 2022 and already boasts high liquidity. Today, the cryptocurrency ranks 57th in the CoinMarketCap ranking with a market capitalization of over $159 million. It uses the X16R algorithm and the PoW protocol. Mining reward: 5000 RVN (blocks are mined every minute). Current market value is $0.15 according to CoinMarketCap.
In addition to the cryptocurrencies presented above, dual mining of coins like LBRY or DECRED on additional GPU memory may be of interest. It is better to mine coins such as Loki, Monero or Sumocoin on a CPU.
Watch a useful video on how to properly assemble a mining farm and make cryptocurrency mining more profitable in 2022:
Profitable mining farm in 2022
Farm setup
Once you have assembled the basic structure, you need to set up the truss. In fact, setting up a farm comes down to completely tearing down the system, installing new drivers and then working with programs.
After installing the operating system, we immediately update the hardware drivers to the latest versions. Then download MSI Afterburner from the official website to overclock your video cards. Next, install Teamviewer to work with the farm remotely, set the swap file to 20 GB and install.
We go to the site through which you will mine, select the pool (the network through which we will mine) and download the program itself. Then we open it like a notepad and write in it our wallet number, the name of the farm and the email to which notifications will be sent. We close it, click start, and the mining farm starts working.
Add the miner program to the autostart of your farm so that immediately after turning it on, it starts mining cryptocurrency.
This is roughly how a mining farm is set up from scratch. Almost all of the setup time will be spent installing the operating system.
To understand this better, watch the video:
DIY mining farm - useful tips and guide
Do-it-yourself mining farm
Creating a do-it-yourself mining farm may be of interest to those miners who do not want to spend money on purchasing a ready-made structure.
Housing Installation
The first thing we need is a body. It is recommended to use an aluminum frame, as they are more rigid and flame-repellent than wooden ones. It will help hold the equipment. If the farm consists of 4 video cards, you can use an old computer case, box, rack, etc. as a frame.
Installing the motherboard
Place the motherboard on a flat, non-static surface and carefully insert the cable into the connector. Place the motherboard into the case and secure it with screws.
☝️
Be careful not to let the motherboard touch a metal surface, as metal surfaces conduct current.
Installing the power supply
Assembling a mining farm from video cards
You need to connect the motherboard to the power supply. It is advisable to bundle all additional cables that may interfere. Sometimes it can be difficult to secure the wires neatly, so be patient.
The next thing is for the GPU. This is to take the power cables and place them near each GPU location along the structure.
Adding a GPU
Before you start connecting the GPU to the motherboard socket, secure them in the case. After that, connect all the cables to the GPU. The benefits of GPU mining will outweigh CPU mining. So, a GPU mining rig will cost more than a CPU, but it will have higher hashing power. It will also support mining a wide range of cryptocurrencies with different hashing algorithms, which also brings additional benefits.
☝️
A mining rig assembled by yourself may be cheaper from a financial point of view, but it is unlikely to justify itself in terms of time and labor costs compared to a ready-made structure. Therefore, before choosing a solution, you need to carefully calculate everything.
Option 1: lazy heating from inside the house
The central ventilation system not only brings fresh air into the house, but also sucks out used air, using it to preheat the outside air in the heat exchanger.
Suction pipe before transfer to the heat exchanger
If you place the miner in the room, warm air will be sucked in and transferred directly to the heat exchanger along with the used air from the rest of the house. This is a lazy way because I can just put the miner in the same room as the heat pump, but it has a disadvantage.
| pros | Minuses |
| Ease of implementation | The room gets too hot, which reduces mining performance |
| No additional investment required | Limited space in the heating room |
Farms on video cards and ASIC farms - what to choose in favor of
For the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, the optimal hardware is ASIC.
Some sites are ready to give you detailed calculations of examples of the payback of using video cards.
You just need to indicate the power, type of video card and the calculation is almost ready. The cost of the BTC cryptocurrency (bitcoin) plays an important role; now it is becoming increasingly difficult to mine, and therefore, miners have to weigh the pros and cons in favor of one or another video card.
Let's consider this point: the cost, for example, of ASIC Antminer s9 from the manufacturer is approximately 120 thousand rubles.
In Moscow you can order it for somewhere around 250 thousand rubles, then you have to wait 2-3 months for it to be delivered, during which time you can lose profit.
There is an option to outbid, but then you will have to overpay 2-3 times more, but the payback will come faster.
In principle, you can order an ASIC from the manufacturer, then you will have to wait several months (let’s say right away that the queue for new video cards is several months in advance. The recorded record is 9.5 months).
go
