Mining methods

In English, the word “mining” means mining. In the cryptocurrency community, the meaning of the word does not change much. It still means mining, or in some sense, even the creation of digital coins. A special algorithm is used in the process. It requires a computer (sometimes even a home PC is enough). A unique block of information is created on it, which provides validation of the payments.

The block has a hash, a table of contents of the block that is presented earlier, a random number, and a hash of the transactions. All the components form a complete chain, which is called a blockchain. The user receives a reward for the blocks found. The amount varies depending on the cryptocurrency itself. The efficiency of the process depends on the computing power of the computer hardware.

Mining equipment and pools

It is possible to engage in mining as long as certain attributes are in place. These include:

1. A GPU graphics card – must be powerful enough to handle a high workload. Ideally, it is best to have more than one.
2. Farm – by this we mean a computer that has a decent cooling system, motherboard with a decent set of slots, 4GB RAM.
3. Operating system – the recommended operating system is Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit or the one designed specifically for mining the desired cryptocurrency.

Naturally, a stable Internet connection is required. But if such a set is not available, you can give preference to a pool. There are quite a few of them today. The choice is made based on power, ping, protection, miner settings and other attributes. It is worth noting that you will have to pay a commission on the transfer of the received coins to the wallet if you use a pool for the process.

How to choose a cryptocurrency and a fork

The choice in favour of the cryptocurrency one intends to mine depends on the video card. Today, Monero, Zcash and Ethereum are often mined. Top-end Litecoin, Bitcoin are mined using special devices, so an ordinary video card, even a smart one, will not do.

The notion of a fork emerged literally as soon as bitcoin became popular. The latter has a code that is open to the world. Developers take that and create new coins, called forks or altcoins. When it comes to choosing such tokens, one has to keep an eye on the predictions of miners, or more precisely, the experts in the field.

Regardless of how one plans to set up the mining process, what the goal is and other things, one should always trust reputable sources. It is not a bad idea to do some analysis on your own to get an idea of the current situation in the crypto industry.

Even the smallest mistake in this area can be quite expensive, if not costly, and can even result in the loss of a fortune. The only way to avoid losses, as well as to get closer to the desired result, is to have a thoroughly studied approach, environment. Preparation should not be forgotten.