Bitcoin mining with your own computer – this is how it works in 2022

Bitcoin is by far the most popular cryptocurrency. You can not only buy bitcoins, you can also create them yourself. This process, which runs on the processor of the graphics card, is called mining. Bitcoin mining is particularly worthwhile when using modern, powerful graphics cards.

Important note: According to studies, mining is problematic due to its harmfulness to the climate. You can find more information on this in the PC-WELT video: The dark side of Bitcoin Mining.

When mining, more blocks are added to the Bitcoin blockchain and the miners receive a reward in the form of Bitcoins. However, the production of bitcoins is no longer easy – the production takes longer and longer, the more bitcoins are produced.

Tip: You can mine very easily and free of charge at Stormgain . With this platform, you don’t need any special mining hardware because it doesn’t use your hardware: mine and trade on the all-in-one crypto platform Stormgain (More on that below).

Bitcoin has a hard cap of 21 million coins set by its anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto . The total supply of Bitcoins (BTC) in circulation has now reached 90 percent of the maximum total supply. That took about 12 years. However, it will take longer for the remaining almost 10 percent to be mined because the arithmetic tasks required to mine a bitcoin are becoming more complicated. This also poses major challenges for computer hardware.

The right hardware for mining bitcoins

In order to produce bitcoins, but also other cryptocurrencies such as ether, you need a very fast computer with a suitable graphics card. Popular graphics cards include Geforce RTX cards, for example Computer with a suitable graphics card. Popular graphics cards include Geforce RTX cards, for example Geforce RTX 3080. In many cases, parallel graphics cards of the design Geforce GTX 1080 Ti used. Also RTX 2080 and other Nvidia RTX cards are commonly used. Other popular graphics cards are Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti or Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 .

A good source of information about good graphics cards for mining are the mining operating systems that can be used to mine. For example Minerstat Mining OS. Read more about this below.

Nvidia naturally wants to serve the miner market and offers graphics cards that are suitable for mining, but not necessarily for gaming. Examples are CMP 30HX and CMP 40HX.

Before you buy expensive hardware, you should first deal with the calculation of bitcoins and test the software and access to the individual providers. In general, the software for managing bitcoins (wallet) is free and applications for creating bitcoins are often free. Most applications are open source. The first and most important entry point for creating and using bitcoins is bitcoin.org . Here you will also find the providers of digital wallets.

This is how bitcoin mining works

Calculating bitcoins takes a long time and you need to dig deep to succeed.

First of all, you should know that while you can create Bitcoins for free and thus benefit from the cryptocurrency boom, there are other costs to consider. The production of bitcoins costs a lot(!) of electricity, since you have to leave your computer running almost continuously. You also need a matching graphics card, which is expensive. Therefore, when buying, also pay attention to the power consumption of the hardware and a suitable electricity tariff. A comparison page for cheap electricity providers can be found at PC Welt. computers have to run almost non-stop. You also need a matching graphics card, which is expensive. Therefore, when buying, also pay attention to the power consumption of the hardware and a suitable electricity tariff. A comparison page for cheap electricity providers can be found at

Of course, the rest of the PC has to be able to keep up with the performance of the graphics card, which further drives up the price of the deployment. And you need to install a tool that you then use to log into the pool and then do the bitcoin calculation.

Alternative to mining alone: ​​Register at the mining pool

You can also create an account with a mining pool to create bitcoins. Then you don’t mine alone, but calculate the bitcoins together with other participants. All bitcoins calculated together are divided between the participants. However, if there are several computers in the network that calculate bitcoins, it becomes more difficult to create the bitcoins and you will receive fewer bitcoins. However, computers on the network that calculate bitcoins will make it more difficult to create the bitcoins and you will receive fewer bitcoins.

Mining pools used by many applications to produce Bitcoins include IQMining, Genesis Mining, Ecos, AntPool and Slush Pool. Ecos not only allows Bitcoins to be mined, but also has its own wallet. The platform is therefore also available as an app on Android and iOS. You can test Ecos for free for up to one month. Android and iOS available. You can test Ecos for free for up to one month.

Slush Pool has a special role because it is the first mining pool for bitcoins ever. It dates from 2010 and is one of the largest pools. About 4 percent of all bitcoins are mined in this pool.

Slushpool also has an app for iOS and Android. However, this app only allows you to monitor your account and not mine. For more security, you can also enable multi-factor authentication on the platform. SlushPool has Bitcoin mining servers on every continent: USA, Europe, Canada, Japan and Singapore. iOS and Android. However, this app only allows you to monitor your account and not mine. For more security, you can also enable multi-factor authentication on the platform. SlushPool has Bitcoin mining servers on every continent: USA, Europe, Canada, Japan and Singapore.

Also very common pools are F2Pool and BTCC Pool. But even within mining software, there are many pools that you can join.

A selection of the best mining pools – also free

In addition to the pools in the previous sections, there are other providers that can be used to mine bitcoins.

A free and very simple option is the StormGain platform. You don’t need any special hardware to mine with StormGain, as the platform doesn’t use your hardware. You can also trade Bitcoins on StormGain. To use the platform, you need to click every 4 hours for the miner to activate. However, it only makes sense to use the platform if you also trade Bitcoins via StormGain.

If you have registered on the platform, you can already buy and trade bitcoins. For mining through the platform, use the “Miner” link.

Another well-known cloud solution for mining Bitcoin is Shamining. Mining on the platform is the same as on other platforms. Shamining also offers a German interface. After registering, log in and start mining. After registering, you can select which contract you want to conclude on the mining platform under “Your miners”. Payment to participate in the pool is daily.

Tools and operating systems for mining Bitcoin and Co.

There are tools that work directly with a mining pool provider and are made available by the relevant mining pool. Minergate’s Mining Pool can also calculate other cryptocurrencies, for example Ethereum. The manufacturer’s software is therefore optimized to work with the pool.

There are also dedicated Linux distributions for mining. A well-known example of this is ethOS Mining OS: The operating system is optimized for mining cryptocurrencies. With ethOS you can mine Ethereum, Zcash and Monero. The operating system costs $39. The necessary software is already included.

Another example is MinerOS: the system can be used free of charge for three hours a day. Of course, if you want to mine permanently, you have to dig deeper into your pocket.

Minerstat Mining OS is also a popular operating system for mining cryptocurrencies. The system may be supported on computers that have compatible hardware installed. The supported hardware is on the download page to see. Various miners, i.e. mining tools/mining software, can be installed on the operating system. Mining OS supports most known cryptocurrencies. The operating system is also available via a free “Free Plan” for test purposes.

For operation, download the installation files of the operating system and transfer the files to a USB stick using the Etcher tool. With this stick you start the PC with which you want mines. To do this, log in to the dashboard and register a new account with the provider. The developers show the precise setup of the operating system in a video.

Coinfly: Mine bitcoins with live USB stick

Another operating system in this area is Coinfly. Again, you install an operating system on a computer. You have the option of installing it as the main operating system on a computer, or using the system as a live stick if you don’t want to be mining on a computer all the time, for example. Here, too, the download takes place as an image. Copy this to a USB stick with tools such as Ether or Rufus and then start a computer with the system. computers . You have the option of installing it as the main operating system on a computer, or using the system as a live stick if you don’t want to be mining on a computer all the time, for example. Here, too, the download takes place as an image. Copy this to a USB stick with tools such as Ether or Rufus and then start a computer with the system.

Awesome Miner and Co.: Mining with Windows and Linux

With the initially free tool Awesome Miner you get a miner that is also available free of charge to a limited extent. The installation takes place on a Windows computer. The developers also provide software for Linux. Once downloaded, the agent must be installed on Linux or Windows.

After installation, you can add new PCs to your own mining pool. An assistant is available for this. Up to two miners can be used free of charge. The miners can also be managed via the cloud. However, you must take out a subscription to do so.

Create the digital purse: the wallet

Bought or created bitcoins are stored in a wallet. You can also store your address in the mining software. Providers for wallets can be found on the Internet as well as in the mining pools. If you search for “Bitcoin wallet”, you will find numerous pages that compare the different wallets.

Important: Never lose the address and access data to your wallet. Otherwise you will no longer be able to access your Bitcoins under any circumstances. Write down the data, back up the certificates and make a note of the access data. There are estimates that at least 3.7 million Bitcoins are no longer usable because the owners no longer have access to their wallets. Some examples :

German forgets password and loses Bitcoin worth 200 million euros

Bitcoin bad luck: 54 million euros thrown in the trash

Prosecutor missing password for 1,700 bitcoins

Investing in bitcoins is also possible without a wallet

If you don’t want to mine Bitcoins yourself, but only want to buy them, then you don’t necessarily need a wallet. You can also deposit the purchased bitcoins with a “crypto bank” aka bitcoin marketplace aka bitcoin exchange or bitcoin bank such as Coinbase. Such bitcoin trading places can also go bankrupt:

Mt. Gox: Japanese police suspect giant scam

Mt. Gox is closing for good

Mt. Gox finds 200,000 missing bitcoins

Police warn of Bitcoin fraud – this is how the scam works

Bitcoin bank Flexcoin closes after theft

Tip: If you notice that your bitcoin bank is having problems, you should immediately transfer the bitcoins you have deposited there to a wallet on your computer! Transfer computer !

Buy bitcoins securely with VPN – how it works

Blockchain: This is how the basis of Bitcoin works

Crypto Scalping: Gambling with Bitcoin on the stock exchange

The Bitcoin price is extremely volatile, as our reporting shows. The price rises and falls constantly. Because of this, resourceful bitcoin experts can not only make money from mining bitcoins, but also from trading them. Bitcoin price increases when more traders are buying than selling. That was the case, for example, in February 2021, but it can change very quickly. Here it is worth listening to statements by celebrities such as Elon Musk or Bill Gates, as they can have a strong influence on the Bitcoin course with just a few sentences.

If the price is rising and heading towards “stock market resistance” you can sell bitcoin and hope for price gains. Such “resistance” is a specific historical price that Bitcoin has not been able to break and at which the price can be expected to fall again. Such resistances are calculated in the analysis of charts and require some stock market knowledge. The opposite of resistance is support to the downside. If a price falls to a support, it should then rise again. So such a “support” level could be a good time to buy.

If you can identify where “resistance” and “support” lie, you can make money from daily price action, just like stocks.

Mine in the cloud

Due to the constantly rising electricity costs in Germany, mining on home computers is hardly worthwhile anymore. Many professional miners now rely on the cloud. A prominent example is the aforementioned Genesis Mining pool. Another example in this area is BitDeer. Computers hardly any more. Many professional miners now rely on the cloud. A prominent example is the aforementioned pool This mining does not require your own hardware, you have to pay a fee for it.

Mines using the Chromium-based CryptoTab Browser web browser

With the CryptoTab web browser you can mine bitcoins while surfing the internet. The browser is available for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. The use of optimized hardware is of course ideal, since CryptoTab Browser also needs hardware basics for the calculations of the Bitcoin blockchain. After downloading the installation file and starting it, the installation begins immediately. After the installation, the Chromium-based browser starts again and you can start mining immediately. There is an icon in the top right corner of the browser that takes you to the mining interface of the browser.

In summary: This is what you need

There are four main things you need to create bitcoins:

  1. Appropriate hardware including a powerful graphics card optimized for mining. Some manufacturers now even offer their own mainboards on the Internet that are suitable for calculating cryptocurrency. Optionally, you can use a cloud service such as Genesis Mining or BitDeer.

  2. A digital wallet

  3. Optional: Membership in a mining pool

  4. A software that performs the calculations. This is not the wallet (which is where your bitcoins are stored).

Once you have set up the necessary hardware and software, you can start mining. You can of course switch providers at any time. You can also transfer the content of your digital wallet to other providers. You can also install apps on smartphones to have mobile access to your bitcoins.

Alternatives to Bitcoin

Bitcoin versus Bitcoin Cash

In addition to the classic variant of Bitcoin (BTC), there is the Bitcoin Cash (BTH) version. Bitcoin Cash is a fork of Bitcoin. Because the production of Bitcoin is now very lengthy, the developers have split off with Bitcoin Cash. Here the creation is faster, but the price is also lower. So before you start creating bitcoins, you should do a little more research on both bitcoins and bitcoin cash.

ether

Ether making may also be something for you. The Ethereum platform works with the cryptocurrency Ether. As with Bitcoin, efficient graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia are used to calculate the currency when generating Ether. Ether is the second most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. The underlying blockchain “Ethereum” is also used a lot by companies, for example for smart contracts in supply chains. AMD and Nvidia used to calculate the currency. Ether is the second most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. The underlying blockchain “Ethereum” is also used a lot by companies, for example for smart contracts in supply chains.

Tip: If you want to mine Ethereum, you should use AMD graphics cards, as these are better suited for Ethereum. Examples include AMD Radeon RX 580, AMD Radeon RX 480, and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT. The graphics cards can also be used for Bitcoin. Other graphics cards in this range are RX 460, RX 470, RX 560, RX 570, RX Vega 56, RX Vega 64, Radeon VII, RX 590 Vega Frontier Edition, RX 5600, RX 5600 XT and RX 590 GME. Put AMD , because they are better suited for marriage. Examples include AMD Radeon RX 580, AMD Radeon RX 480, and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT. The graphics cards can also be used for Bitcoin. Other graphics cards in this range are RX 460, RX 470, RX 560, RX 570, RX Vega 56, RX Vega 64, Radeon VII, RX 590 Vega Frontier Edition, RX 5600, RX 5600 XT and RX 590 GME.

What is bitcoin mining?

Bitcoin mining is a process in which computing power is made available to process transactions, secure and synchronize all users in the network. Mining is a kind of decentralized bitcoin data center with miners all over the world. This process is called mining, analogous to gold digging. Unlike gold prospecting, bitcoin mining has a reward for useful services. The payment of the respective bitcoin shares depends on the computing capacity made available.

In traditional fiat currency systems, governments or central banks print more money when needed. With Bitcoin , on the other hand, no money is printed. Rather, Bitcoin is mined itself or in the cloud (cloud mining). Around the world, computers mine (calculate) bitcoins and compete with each other.

How does bitcoin mining work?

Around the clock, people transfer bitcoins over the bitcoin network. The Bitcoin network handles these transactions by collecting all transactions of a certain period of time and putting them together in a list – the so-called block . It is the miner’s or prospector’s job to confirm and record these transactions in an ledger. He is paid for this in Bitcoin (the Bitcoin transaction fee).

Bitcoins Mining: Powerful hardware required

Hardware is one of the main arguments against mining as a source of income. To make real money, you need all kinds of equipment – you compete with companies that specialize in Bitcoin mining in large warehouses. The mining itself depends on a few factors. You need to consider various aspects such as your electricity bills, the cost of the related hardware, and other variables:

  • The more bitcoin miners there are in a network, the more difficult it becomes to generate bitcoins.
  • Bitcoin mining consumes a lot of electricity. With high electricity costs, mining is often not worthwhile.
  • To start mining bitcoin, you need to join a mining pool, which incurs additional costs.
  • For mining, you need the appropriate hardware – a so-called ASIC miner. Your desktop PC is usually not sufficient for this, since the electricity costs would be far too high to be able to operate the mining efficiently.
  • Such an ASIC miner costs between 1,000 and 3,000 euros.
  • When purchasing, be sure to check the “hash rate” of the device. This indicates how many hashes can be created per second.
  • Of course, you should also pay attention to the efficiency of your ASIC miner: If the device consumes too much power, you may be making a loss.
  • You also need a so-called bitcoin wallet on which you can store your bitcoins.

Register for bitcoin mining with a mining pool provider

Bitcoins mining is organized via so-called mining pools, in which users share their computing power together. When a bitcoin block is created, each user gets their fair share. In order to become a member of a mining pool, you must create an account there. We list two well-known mining pool providers here:

  • Probably the largest mining pool is called Slush’s Pool. However, the provider is not undisputed .
  • IQMining is also a popular mining pool where you can cash out not only in bitcoins, but other cryptocurrencies as well.
  • Note: In addition to the appropriate hardware and a mining pool, you need suitable software for mining. These are, for example, the free command line programs CGminer and BFGminer.
  • If you prefer a graphical interface, EasyMiner and GUIMiner are suitable . Finally, you need to set up your bitcoin wallet through a mining client. You can read more about this in the following chapter.

Set up a mining client

The mining pool account alone is not sufficient to successfully participate in bitcoin mining. You usually need a mining client for this. In this you log in with your previously created Miningpool account. Among other things, the mining client secures your bitcoins in a bitcoin wallet.

  • Bitcoin-Qt is an open source project and currently one of the most secure mining clients. Here you do not have to worry about possible attacks on your virtual money.
  • Electrum is also open source and trustworthy . The tool scores with 2-factor authentication, support for add-ons and the option to export your keys to other Bitcoin clients at any time.
  • More experienced users check out Armory , which even allows you to manage multiple wallets on one computer.

If you are unsure whether Bitcoin mining would be profitable for you, you can use a calculator in which you enter your data. Here is the Bitcoin Mining Calculator .

How Much Does Bitcoin Mining Bring?

Bitcoin mining has grown in popularity in recent years. This makes it increasingly difficult to make a profit from mining. Bitcoin mining brings in around one million US dollars an hour for companies specializing in it (as of December 2020). However, bitcoin solo mining is less worthwhile. The success rate of hitting bitcoins is far less. Most solo miners cannot make money from bitcoin mining.

Is bitcoin mining worth it?

In order to make money from bitcoin mining, quite a bit of capital and time is required. They compete with companies that specialize in Bitcoin mining in large warehouses. For mining you need special hardware – a so-called ASIC miner. This hardware costs several thousand euros. In addition, Bitcoin Mining consumes huge amounts of electricity. If you consume too much electricity, you will make a negative deal with bitcoin mining. Solo mining isn’t worth it. Most of the time you will not be able to earn any income.

What did Bitcoin cost in the beginning?

In 2010, a bitcoin cost 0.08 cents. It wasn’t until February 2011 that Bitcoin became known in the mainstream media. At that time, the price rose slowly but steadily.

What is Bitcoin cloud mining?

A simple way to mine Bitcoins (BTC) or other digital currencies such as Ethereum (ETH) or Dash yourself is so-called cloud mining.

With cloud mining, computing power is booked in a cloud server and Bitcoins or other digital currencies are distributed daily into the personal wallet according to the booked computing power.

Cloud mining is therefore particularly interesting for users who do not want to buy any hardware themselves or who are simply too expensive to get started.

Bitcoin cloud mining can be operated at Genesis Mining , for example .

Generate a hash

The ledger is a long list of all the blocks. Accordingly, it is also called blockchain . The blockchain is used in bitcoin mining to be able to track all transactions at any time. Whenever a new block is created, it is added to the blockchain . This results in an almost endless list of all transactions ever made. The blockchain is visible to everyone. Accordingly, each user can see which transaction is being carried out. However, it is not possible to see who is carrying out this transaction. Bitcoin is thus transparent and pseudo-anonymous at the same time.

How to ensure that the blockchain remains intact and is never tampered with?

This is where the miners come into play. When a block of transactions is generated, miners put that block through a process. They take the information and apply a mathematical formula that converts the transaction into something much shorter, actually just a string of letters and numbers. This is also called a hash. This hash is kept in the block at the end of the blockchain .

Hashes have some interesting properties. It is quite easy to create a hash from the bitcoin block information , but nearly impossible to see what the hash was before. Also note that each hash is unique: if even one character in the block is changed, the entire hash changes.

To create a hash, the miners not only use the data of the transaction in the block , but also other additional data. Part of the data is the hash in the last block of the blockchain .

Since each hash of a block uses the hash of the previous block , a kind of wax seal is created. It confirms that the current block and the one before it are valid. If someone tried to manipulate a transaction by changing the block that is already on the blockchain , they would also have to change the hash. If someone checks the authenticity of the block with the hashing function, you would immediately notice that the hash does not match the one in the blockchain . The block would be immediately exposed as a forgery.

The competition for bitcoins

The miners compete with each other in the search for new blocks . Every time someone successfully creates a hash, they currently receive 6.25 bitcoins. The blockchain gets an update through the hash and everyone knows about it. With this incentive system, mining that keeps transaction processing going is rewarded.

The problem is that it’s very easy to hash a collection of data. So the bitcoin network has to make it harder, otherwise everyone would hash hundreds of blocks a second and all the bitcoins would be mined in a few hours. The Bitcoin protocol intentionally makes it more difficult for the miners by introducing a so-called proof of work – the mining difficulty increases over time.

The Bitcoin network would not simply accept any old hash. Rather, the block hash must have a specific appearance, such as a specific number of zeros at the beginning. There is no way of knowing what a hash will look like until it has been produced, as it completely changes its appearance with each piece of data set that is added.

Miners should not interfere with the transactions in the block . However, they must alter the data they use to create a new hash. They do this by using another piece of data again. This record is also called a nonce. It is used along with the transaction to create a hash. If the hash doesn’t find the desired format, the nonce is changed and the whole hash changes again.

Many attempts are usually necessary to find the right nonce. Therefore, the miners mostly work on the same network at the same time. If the nonce is found, the bitcoins are divided among all miners according to their performance. This is how miners ultimately earn bitcoins .

What do you need to mine Bitcoin?

There are different ways to mine Bitcoins . On the one hand, you can mine bitcoins from home with so-called ASIC miners.

Mine Bitcoins yourself

Popular Bitcoin miners are the Antminers. The miners are simply connected to a router via a LAN cable. These can then be configured via the web browser. No additional device or software is required as it is a standalone miner. The latest miners now also have an integrated power supply.

If you want to mine Bitcoin yourself from home, you need the latest Antminer.

The most efficient bitcoin miner at the moment is the Antminer S19 with up to 110 TH/s. The miners are simply connected to a router via a LAN cable. These can then be configured via the web browser. No additional device or software is required as it is a standalone miner . The latest miners now also have an integrated power supply.

Of course, mining can also be done professionally and on a larger scale. Miners.de eg. offers a complete package. Here the miners are securely hosted and managed and optimized by experts. In addition, customers benefit from lower electricity costs and savings in space and noise compared to self-administration.

What is a mining pool?

Mining pools work on the idea of ​​collective mining . After all, those who dig alone need much longer to find new blocks. It is almost hopeless, since the required computing capacity would be far too large. The so-called mining pools provide a remedy here. The required computing capacity of all users is bundled here. This way you can find new blocks much faster. The remuneration in Bitcoin is divided among the individual users according to the computing capacity they have provided.

With the necessary hardware, you can now register with a reputable mining pool and start mining Bitcoin there as a collective .

Cloudmining and Ponzi

While it is increasingly difficult to mine bitcoins, cloudmining companies are multiplying. The principle is simple: you buy computing power and we promise to return to you, in the form of an annuity, a fraction of the bitcoins mined (after deduction of electricity and equipment maintenance costs).

The problem is that the vast majority of companies that offer this formula are simply scams. They do not have the slightest miner and are content to remunerate investors with bitcoins from the latest entrants, which is the exact definition of a Ponzi scheme.

The story usually ends after a few months, when there aren’t enough newcomers and the site owner decides to run away with the cash.

The list maintained by  Puppet , a bitcointalk forum scambuster , is telling. Of the forty active cloudmining sites he has listed, only 10% really find favor in his eyes: Hashnest and KNCcloud first, and, to a lesser extent,  Bit-x.com and Pow88.com . Puppet’s choices are based on eight criteria such as the presence of a public mining address, the support of a hardware vendor and the plausibility of the promises made.

How to generate bitcoins?

At first, your bitcoin client is going to have to download and verify the entire blockchain. This process is indicated by the rapid growth of the number of blocks (visible in the status bar). On a modern computer, it may take a few hours, after which it will start generating coins.

Your average coin making rate will be (6 * 25 coins/hour) * (the CPU speed / the total Bitcoin network CPU speed). Currently, generating parts  can take years  !

How long will it take you to create your first block and collect your first 50 Bitcoins? It really depends on your system, your luck, and the current state of the network. If you enter your hash rate below, this page will estimate your expected earnings per day, week, and month.


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