Mining (staking) Solana (SOL). Step-by-step instruction

Solana coin (SOL) is not mined or mined with video cards or other specialized equipment. It works on the PoS (Proof of Stake) algorithm.

The abbreviation PoS stands for “proof of ownership”, that is, a person with a certain amount of Solana on his balance is allowed to participate in the creation of blocks in the Solana blockchain. For which he receives a reward.

In Solana (SOL) blockchain networks, and on other coins based on Proof-of-Stake, trusted nodes are responsible for confirming transactions and generating new blocks. Trusted nodes must have a certain number of tokens on their balance sheet and receive a reward for their work. This is a common Proof of Stake consensus algorithm. Unlike PoW (Proof of Work), where you need to have expensive equipment and constantly monitor it.

How to start mining on your home PC step by step.

Solana (SOL) mining algorithm

Below we will go through all the points in detail, how to do this and where.

1. Decide on the currency, in our case Solana (SOL).
2. Be sure to open your wallet from the official website. Let's look at it below.
3. Buy or transfer the required number of coins from the exchange to this wallet.
4. Find a validator you want to connect to. Let's figure out how to do this.
5. Confirm the retention of the selected amount for staking and the profit from Solana mining

Select and install the Solana wallet (solana wallet)

We go to the official website of the Solana project - https://solan.com/

Solana Ecosystem

Go to the Ecosystem tab. All tokens of the Solana ecosystem can be viewed on our website.

Solana Wallet

Select the Wallet tab. At the moment there are 30 wallets for Solana. You can choose any of them; for example, we will take one of the most used wallets for Solana - Phantom.

Phantom wallet for Solana

Selecting the Phantom wallet for Solana.

Phantom Wallet

Click on the link icon and go to the official website of the Phantom wallet.

Phantom Wallet

On the official website of the wallet (https://phantom.app/), click on the “Add to Chrome” button.

Phantom app in the Chrome web store

Install as an application for Chrome by clicking on the “Install” button.

Launching Phantom

After installing the wallet, you will need to click “Create a new wallet” if you do not already have a wallet for Solana from Phantom, or click “Use secret phrase” if you have already registered a wallet previously.

Secret recovery phrase

We save the secret phrase somewhere on a piece of paper. Do not store it on your computer. The secret phrase is 12 random words that will be responsible for access to your wallet. Do not give them to anyone.

We come up with a strong password.

Hotkeys

Phantom Wallet for Solana (SOL) will alert you to the ALT+SHIFT+P hotkey to open the wallet in the Chrome browser.

Adding the Phantom Extension to Chrome's Quick Access Icons

And click “Finish” in the last step of installing the Phantom wallet for mining or staking Solana.

hash - I don't understand what a hash salt is?

A salt is a random element that is added to the input signal of a cryptographic function in order to affect the processing and output explicitly on each call. The salt, unlike the “key,” should not be confidential.

A century ago, cryptographic methods of encryption or authentication were “secret.” Then, with the advent of computers, people realized that keeping the method completely secret was difficult because it meant keeping the software confidential. Something that is regularly written to disk or embodied as some kind of dedicated hardware cannot be confidential. Thus, researchers divide "method" into two different concepts: the algorithm (which is publicly available and becomes software and hardware) and the key (a parameter for the algorithm present in volatile RAM only during processing). The key concentrates the secret and represents pure data. When a key is stored in a person's brain, it is often called a "password" because people remember words better than bits.

The key itself was then split later. It turns out that for proper cryptographic security we need two things: a confidential parameter and a variable parameter. In principle, reusing the same key for different uses tends to create problems; he often flows with information. In some cases (especially stream ciphers, but also for password hashing) it leaks too much and leads to successful attacks. Therefore, there is often a need for variability that changes every time a cryptographic method is run. Now the good part is that most of the time, variability and secret don't need to be combined. That is, we can separate privacy from the variable. So the key was divided into:

• a private key, often called a "key";
• a variable element, usually chosen at random and called a "salt" or "IV" (as in "initial value") depending on the type of algorithm.

Only the key must be secret. The variable element must be known to all parties involved, but it can be public. This is a blessing because sharing a private key is difficult; systems used to propagate such a secret would find it expensive to accommodate a variable portion that changes every time the algorithm is executed.

In the context of storing hashed passwords, the above explanation becomes:

• "Key reuse" means that two users choose the same password. If passwords are simply hashed, then both users will get the same hash value and this will show. Here's the leak.
• Likewise, without hashing, an attacker can use precomputed tables for fast lookups; it can also attack thousands of passwords in parallel. This is still using the same leak, just in a way that shows why this leak is bad.
• Salting means adding some data variables to the input of the hash function. This variable data is the salt. The point of salt is that two different users should use as many salts as possible. But password verifiers must be able to recalculate the same hash from the password, hence they must have access to the salt.

Since the salt must be accessible to verifiers but does not need to be secret, it is common to store the salt value along with the hash value. For example, on a Linux system I can use this command:

openssl passwd -1 -salt "zap" "blah"

This calculates a hashed password with an MD5 hash function suitable for use on the file

/etc/password or /etc/shadow for the password "blah" and the salt "zap" (I'm choosing the salt explicitly here, but in practical terms it should be chosen randomly). The output will be as follows: $1$zap$t3KZajBWMA7dVxwut6y921

in which dollar signs serve as delimiters. The leading "1" identifies the hashing method (MD5). The salt is there, in clear text. The last part is the output of the hash function.

There is a specification (somewhere) about how the salt and password are sent as input to the hash function (at least in the glibc source code, perhaps elsewhere).

Edit: In a "login-and-password" user authentication system, "login" can act as a passable salt (two different users will have different logins), but this does not reflect the situation of a given user changing their password (will the new password be identical high password).

site

Buy or transfer Solana coin (SOL) to the created wallet

As we said above, to mine or stake Solana, you need to have this coin. The more coins you use to mine Solana, the more coins you will receive.

Phantom wallet

Click “Deposit” and select a coin. We need Solana (SOL).

Solana coin input

If you do not have a coin on an exchange or in your wallet, you can buy using a credit card through the Moonpay service. The screenshot above is “Buy with Moonpay”. Or transfer from the American FTX exchange.

If you are from the CIS, most likely you use the Binance exchange. If you are not registered on Binance, we recommend that you do so right now using this link (register on Binance). This is the best option for input and subsequent output of Solana.

We are looking for the ticker SOL

In the search, type in SOL and click on Solana.

Copying the Solana wallet

Click “Copy” and copy the Solana wallet.

We go to the Binance exchange. If you don't have an account, register. We go to “Wallet” - “Fiat and Spot”. We are looking for the SOL coin.

Solana

We look for the Solana coin and click “Withdraw” opposite it.

Solana Conclusion

In the “Address” line, enter the address of your Solana wallet in Phantom, which we copied earlier. Click “Output”. The commission for withdrawing Solana will be 0.01 SOL.

How to determine the hashrate of a video card

It represents the speed at which the selected mining rig operates.

Hash rate is calculated in hashes per second. The abbreviations giga, peta, etc. are often used.

• 1 kH/s, kilohash - 1000 - thousand hashes,
• 1 MH/s, megahash - 1000000 - million hashes,
• 1 GH/s, gigahash - 1000000000 - billion,
• 1 TH/s - 1000000000000 - trillion,
• 1 PH/s - 1000000000000000 - quadrillion,
• 1 EH/s - 1000000000000000000 - quintillion.

The devices used to mine cryptocurrencies do not have the same hashes for each coin. For example, a Bitcoin mining rig has a different hash rate compared to the Ethereum hash rate. This depends on the algorithms, as different options use different amounts of memory and other metrics. Here is the hashrate of the video cards, including the low variant. The table is sorted by algorithm.

You can also use a large calculator to calculate mining profitability, in which you will find almost all video cards. You can determine the exact hashrate of your rig using mining software. Before purchasing, you can only rely on reviews from the owners. Calculators take an average value, so actual power may vary.

However, when calculating profitability, it is not enough to take into account the power of the device; it is necessary to compare the energy costs associated with mining. This is called miner efficiency. Increasing complexity increases the cost of electricity. For example, a mining rig with a hash rate that is 10% higher than another, but at the same time it uses 50% more electricity, which does not make it more profitable. So while hashrate is an important factor, always keep in mind that at the end of the day, efficiency needs to be considered.

Exchange or swap currencies in the Phantom wallet

If you have another coin, not Solana, perhaps USDT, you can make the exchange in your wallet.

Exchange in Phantom wallet

Open your Phantom wallet, click on the exchange icon (bottom center) and select which currency you want to exchange for.

It’s more profitable to do all these exchanges and purchases of currencies on the Binance exchange, but if you don’t have an account or don’t want to bother, do it directly in your wallet, the commission will be a little higher.

The slippage limit is 1%, what is it? This is the percentage of price slippage at the time of exchange. Rates on the cryptocurrency market change very quickly, the % slippage limits the range of changes in the exchange price. Those. if the price changes by more than 1% at the time the “Show Order” button is clicked, the exchange will not occur.

Next, click “Show order” and “Swap”.

Mining Solana

Now let's move directly to Solana mining.

We have already said that in coins based on Proof-of-Stake, trusted nodes are engaged in confirming transactions and generating new blocks. Trusted nodes must have a certain number of tokens on their balance sheet and receive a reward for their work. This is a common Proof of Stake consensus algorithm.

There is no point in solo mining Solana; you need amounts of $500,000 or more. It is much better to connect to the Solana mining pool. How to do it?

Mining Solana

After you transfer or buy Solana, go to this coin in your Phantom wallet and you will see “Earn SOL”.

Validators Solana

You will see a list of different validators that produce blocks. You need to choose a validator with the largest number of SOLs. The more coins a validator has, the greater the chance of confirming the transaction and generating a new block.

We can give our funds to the validator and receive% of his rewards from blog generation. The % reward depends on the percentage of your money in the validator pool of the total volume.

The commission as you can see is 10%.

It is very important that you do not give away your money, but delegate it through a stake account, which will be created at the time of delegation of coins.

Delegation and return of money lasts one era. How much time is left until the end of the era can be seen on the website https://solanabeach.io/

After selecting a validator, select the number of coins and click “Stake”.

Maximum speed: Crucial Ballistix MAX 32 GB (2x16 GB) DDR4-4000

Speed : DDR4 4000 MHz | Timings : 18-19-19-39 | Operating voltage : 1.35V | Capacity: 2 x 16 GB

• Outstanding overclocking potential
• Very high operating frequency
• Built-in temperature sensors
• Low profile form factor

• Very high cost per gigabyte of RAM
• Not available in 32 GB variant

Most PCs and workstation servers are equipped with RAM that operates at frequencies between 3000 and 3200 MHz. These frequencies are considered the "sweet spot" for most high-end computers, and anything higher is considered overkill. However, if you plan to build a Solana validator node that validates blockchain transactions as quickly as possible, you may want to invest in even faster RAM. That's why memory kits like Crucial Ballistix MAX exist. Designed specifically for high-performance PCs with AMD Threadripper processors, Ballistix MAX memory modules are designed to operate at mind-blowing frequencies up to 4000 MHz.

With simple automatic XMP overclocking, Crucial Ballistix MAX memory cards can easily reach 4 GHz operating speeds. Operating at such high speeds significantly increases heat dissipation, so these sticks come with high quality extruded aluminum heat spreaders as well as a precision temperature sensor on each DIMM designed to monitor temperatures when performance thresholds are reached. With proper cooling and tuning, these modules can be boosted to 4444 MHz, but only on some motherboards. However, the high speed of operation has some disadvantages. Firstly, these memory modules are very expensive due to their high-quality components and secondly, they are only available in 8GB and 16GB variants.

How to choose a validator for mining or staking Solana

To select a validator, go to the same website https://solanabeach.io/. We are interested in the “Validators” tab.

List of validators for Solana mining

Here you can see the same list of validators as in the Phantom wallet. But with more complete information.

Validator details

You can see how many people have delegated their coins to him, how many coins are staked, and a lot of other information.

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