When considering the top five cryptocurrencies relevant for mining, investments, and other financial transactions, Ethereum undoubtedly has promising prospects. The tokens of the system are its main energy source, used by network participants for paying services, smart contracts, and other transactions. The advantage of this crypto is that ETH can still be mined using graphics processing unit (GPU) despite the rise of Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) devices.
Features of Ethereum Mining
Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) are rapidly replacing GPUs in the mining environment, demonstrating high efficiency. However, GPU farms still have enthusiasts actively using systems for solo mining. Why mine tokens of this crypto in the first place? It's simple: mining ETH ensures the stability of coin values. If mining stops, the value of Ethereum will rise, but at the same time, using the coins will become disadvantageous.
To ensure longevity and maximum stability of the working scheme, developers did not limit the number of tokens that can be mined. However, there are nuances. The system is currently transitioning to the new Ethereum 2.0 protocol, which operates on the Proof-of-Stake algorithm. This means that the right to mine the next node will be determined by stakes. Meanwhile, the original Ethereum 1.0 protocol will continue to operate for some time, using the classical Proof-of-Work protocol. Tokens from the old protocol can be exchanged for new ones, but not vice versa.
Choosing a GPU
Mining is evolving, and with it, mining methods. Just four years ago, it was sufficient to use a CPU to mine a block in the Ethereum system. Today, such a method is obsolete. For a long time, the right to mine ETH belonged to GPU farm owners, but today they are gradually being replaced by versatile, specialized ASICs. However, GPUs can still be used in both solo and cooperative mining. When choosing a GPU, consider:
- hashrate of the computing system;
- power consumption;
- device memory size;
- equipment price;
- probability of failure.
Starting from December 2020, token mining in the Ethereum network on GPUs with 4GB of memory will be completely discontinued. Although mining programs adapt, utilities are released to allow mining and working with 4GB of memory, this is still associated with difficulties in subsequent consolidation.
AMD products remain the most demanded in Ethereum mining. This is due to a combination of the aforementioned aspects. Popular models include AMD Radeon Rx 470/480/570/580/590. However, Nvidia GPUs, starting from the 1660 model, also demonstrate high productivity. If Innosilicon integrated circuits can demonstrate a computing power of 1 Gh/s in the next update, the product will push GPU farms out of the market.
Ethermine Pools
Once the ETH mining device is assembled, you can start choosing a location (pool) for mining. Important criteria for choosing a coin mining location include stability, system uptime, and pool hashrate capabilities. Statistics and the number of participants in the system should also be taken into account. Special attention is paid to the method of payment.
Owners of one or two GPUs should pay attention to PPS (fixed fee for each mined share) or RBPPS (percentage calculation of the contribution of computing equipment to mining) pools. For full-fledged farms, PPLNS (payment based on the actual mining of the last N shares) can be considered. Popular Ethereum pools can be easily found online, where a higher percentage of ETH tokens are mined. As for solo mining, the average time for a GPU processor is 80 days.
What else needs to be done?
The next step in the token mining system is to register a wallet. Although coins can be stored in other ways, an online digital account is a secure format. However, in this case, it is necessary to ensure the security and preservation of login data, keys. If data is lost, such a wallet will be blocked. Cryptocurrency reserves can also be stored on exchanges.
Next, you need to choose mining software for ETH. The utility Clamore demonstrates productivity and convenience in this case. To work, download the program on the Ethash algorithm, run it, and create a special file with a bat extension, which will contain data based on the chosen pool. The bat file includes the following information: pool address, username, wallet address, password, and other parameters variably. Correctly entered data is a guarantee that a special command line will be launched. Users have access to statistical information on the work done.
