Is crypto mining still profitable in 2023 - Kalkine Media

April 19, 2023 06:08 PM AEST | By Arisha Tariq (Guest)
Follow us on Google News: https://kalkinemedia.com/resources/assets/public/images/google-news.webp

Although there is huge volatility in the crypto market, the cryptocurrency industry continues to flourish, luring a rising number of newcomers to attempt to get their hands on their own piece of the crypto cake, especially via crypto mining, which is currently achievable in many different methods.

It’s true that mining profitability calculations have become more complex because of the rising costs of computer gear, software, and electricity to keep mining rigs operational. Because Bitcoin is the first and biggest cryptocurrency to use a proof-of-work consensus method, it is often mined. Understanding the process and the benefits and drawbacks of crypto mining will help you decide whether Bitcoin mining is worth your time. So, let’s get your hands on it.

Pros and Cons of Bitcoin Mining

Here are several benefits and drawbacks of the practice of cryptocurrency mining.

Advantages

  • Safety: PoW might be the best bet for entrusting a network with substantial funds. Because of how difficult it is to exploit a PoW blockchain, many would-be hackers choose to become honest miners instead.
  • No bankruptcy: Even if cryptocurrency prices crash and lose 95% of their value, the coins you have stored away are still worth something. Not to mention the cost of mining equipment, whether you do it in your backyard or hire a service like Advanced Mining. In addition, cryptocurrencies don't have the idea of debt or fractional reserve.
  • Cryptocurrencies' volatility: A miner stands to make a once-in-a-lifetime profit if prices rise, which would secure his financial future. But that's not the end of the story. Because of its decentralised and worldwide character, cryptocurrency may be used as a hedge against inflation and as a cushion in the event of a financial crisis.
  • Private keys: You can't lose a cryptocurrency if you have the private keys to spend it. For financial transactions, private keys are required. In essence, they serve as evidence of ownership in the form of digital signatures. One private key cannot be deduced from another in a practical sense, which makes it unique.
  • No prior experience or knowledge: Several methods exist for acquiring cryptocurrency. Investors may directly inject hash power and strengthen the security of the network via trustworthy, reputable best Bitcoin mining companies, in addition to buying through exchanges.

Disadvantages

  • Energy consumption: The process of mining for bitcoins consumes a significant amount of power. For its detractors, this is PoW's fatal fault. Bitcoin's network may use as much power as a small nation. Although Bitcoin's total energy consumption is dropping and most of it now comes from renewable sources, this is still a major worry.
  • Obstacles to entry: PoW mining grows increasingly difficult with time, making it less appealing to the general public. One of the key principles of a decentralised PoW network is the equitable distribution of effort and rewards between the network's numerous participants. However, as mining grows increasingly sophisticated and demanding, a few very big businesses that can afford to construct massive warehouses full of mining machinery have grown to dominate the industry.

How to mine cryptocurrencies

People have already been trading cryptocurrencies using auto bots like Tesler App, they can mine cryptocurrencies too for the sake of earning money. To "mine" cryptocurrency, computers must run specialised software intended to decipher encrypted mathematical equations. Once upon a time, all you needed was the processing power of a regular home computer's central processing unit (CPU) to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. However, as the complexity of mining cryptocurrency has risen over the years, CPU chips have gotten more inefficient.

These days, a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) or ASIC miner is needed to successfully mine bitcoins. Furthermore, the GPUs in the mining machine need constant access to the internet. Each miner must also join a cryptocurrency mining pool on the internet.

Cryptocurrency mining alternatives

How long you'll need to invest in mining depends on the coin and the method you utilise.  For instance, most miners relied on central processing unit (CPU) mining in the first days of the technology. Today, many people believe that CPU mining is too sluggish and impractical since it takes months to accumulate even a little return due to the high power and cooling requirements and increasing difficulty across the board.

One other way to mine cryptocurrencies is to use a graphics processing unit. It boosts processing power by pooling together a number of graphics processing units (GPUs) into a single mining machine. If the system is going to be utilised for GPU mining, then it needs a motherboard and cooling system. ASIC mining is another way that bitcoin may be created.

Another technique for generating cryptocurrency is ASIC mining. ASIC miners, which are purpose-built to mine bitcoins, outperform GPU miners in terms of output. However, they are costly, making them quickly outdated as mining difficulty rises. With the price of GPU and ASIC mining hardware continuing to rise, more and more miners are turning to the cloud to generate income. Miners may pool their resources with those of large companies and specialised crypto-mining facilities via cloud mining. Cloud mining hosts, which provide cryptocurrency mining hardware for rent, may be found on the internet. When it comes to mining bitcoins, this is the most hands-off approach.

Mining pools

To boost their odds of discovering and mining blocks on a blockchain, miners might join together to form mining pools. In the event of a successful mining pool, the reward is split among the miners in accordance with the number of resources they put in.

While mining pools are included in the majority of cryptocurrency mining software, crypto miners are increasingly forming their own online. In light of the fact that different mining pools have different payout structures, miners are allowed to switch pools at any time.

Since official crypto mining pools often get updates from their hosting firms and consistent technical support, miners see them as more dependable. CryptoCompare is the premier pool-finding resource, allowing miners to easily evaluate and contrast mining pools based on their reputation, profitability, and support for the desired currency.

Why is mining profitable?

Here are a few reasons why mining might be a good option for passive income in 2023.

1.    Derivative products

The prospect of earning fresh PoW currencies via mining rather than acquiring them on secondary marketplaces (such as an exchange) might be quite alluring. Several derivative goods, some of which are currently on the market, are gaining traction and may help level the playing field. Tokenized shares of mining equipment producers, sellers, cloud mining businesses, and more may be utilised to get exposure to the price movement of these companies, while cryptocurrency futures and options can be used to bet on the value of an asset at a later date.

2.    Chips that use less power

The yield of mining cryptocurrency chips is commonly stated in terms of hash rate per kilowatt or joules per kilowatt hour because of their typically high-power requirements.

While the operational effectiveness of ASIC chips has been steadily improving as manufacturers transition towards smaller chip designs their absolute power consumption has risen as they have gotten more proficient.

There are other ways to improve efficiency for miners, despite the fact that it is generally true that going from a 7nm to a 5nm (and ultimately smaller) design process leads to higher power efficiency and quicker performance. Some approaches to do this are to improve mass manufacturing and adopt energy-efficient designs. Recent Intel Blockscale processors, for example, offer a maximum performance of 26 J/TH and an absolute performance of 148 TH/s. (with 256 chips).

3.    Increased long-term viability

Many sceptics have claimed that mining only proof-of-work currencies consumes as much energy as a small country, and this concern about the long-term viability of cryptocurrency mining has grown in recent years. This does occur on occasion, however many Bitcoin miners currently use renewable energy sources. Sustainable energy is defined as reducing carbon emissions by geothermal energy, solar, wind, or hydroelectricity, and according to research by the Bitcoin Mining Council, 58% of Bitcoin miners use renewable energy. Therefore, the Bitcoin mining industry makes use of some of the cleanest energy in the world.

There is still a strong push towards transitioning the Bitcoin mining sector to 100% renewable energy. As a result, a wide range of 100% renewable mining activities are getting off the ground across the globe. Increasing government oversight provides a substantial incentive for mining corporations, both now and in the future, to adopt environmentally friendly practices. In the future, sustainable mining practices are expected to become the rule rather than the exception.

Which coins can you mine?

Cryptocurrencies that rely on "proof-of-work" should all be mineable in theory. Altcoins, like Litecoin and Dogecoin, are alternatives to Bitcoin. Some, like Monero, can even be mined on a personal computer. Some tasks may be performed on a regular computer, while others need specialised hardware such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or graphics processing units (GPUs), which were first designed for games but are now used in more demanding contexts.

On the other hand, several digital currencies do not enable mining. Staking is a more energy-efficient mechanism used by several of these "proof-of-stake" cryptocurrencies. To submit a fresh block and get a reward, you must be willing to risk some cryptocurrency.

To be sure, the second-most-valuable cryptocurrency, Ethereum, has just completed the transition to proof of stake.

Solutions to the problems with mining

To lessen the impact on the environment that the usage of coal and other fossil fuels has on the world, we have shown that Bitcoin can be mined using renewable energy.

In addition to helping miners increase their profits, using renewable energy has a major impact on the environment. As we've already mentioned in this paper, electricity is the primary source of energy for cryptocurrency mining. To cut down on electricity use, miners can make use of hardware optimisations like running their mining rigs at lower temperatures.

Mining gear is pricey, and it may be damaged or destroyed under the intense conditions under which it must operate if its configuration is irrelevant to the cryptocurrency being mined. We have gone through the process of mining-specific hardware configuration in an effort to lessen these concerns.

To reduce this energy consumption, we have demonstrated two different techniques, namely undervolting and overclocking, which do not compromise the performance of the card. The energy consumed by GPUs is typically high when mining cryptocurrency and the cards consume more energy when mining.

Bottom line

Although crypto mining is still viable in 2023, it is not as successful as it once was due to the decline in cryptocurrency values and the rising costs of mining operations. That doesn't mean would-be miners can't earn money, but there are more variables to think about than in the past.

Mining is a high-stakes, high-complexity endeavour. Most cryptocurrency miners may find it more profitable to join a mining pool rather than trying to mine alone. However, one's cryptocurrency holdings may be expanded by means other than Bitcoin mining. The SoFi app may also be used to purchase and sell cryptocurrency. It's safe and easy, and you can monitor your whole portfolio from one screen.

 

Risk Disclosure: Trading in cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory, or political events. The laws that apply to crypto products (and how a particular crypto product is regulated) may change. Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading in the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed. Kalkine Media cannot and does not represent or guarantee that any of the information/data available here is accurate, reliable, current, complete or appropriate for your needs. Kalkine Media will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading or your reliance on the information shared on this website.


Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media Pty Ltd (Kalkine Media, we or us), ACN 629 651 672 and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. The principal purpose of the Content is to educate and inform. The Content does not contain or imply any recommendation or opinion intended to influence your financial decisions and must not be relied upon by you as such. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable, but is NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stocks of the company(s) or engage in any investment activity under discussion. Kalkine Media is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice through this platform. Users should make their own enquiries about any investments and Kalkine Media strongly suggests the users to seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice), as necessary. Kalkine Media hereby disclaims any and all the liabilities to any user for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising from any use of the Content on this website, which is provided without warranties. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music that may be used on this website are copyright to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music used on this website unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used on this website are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have used reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated as or found to be necessary.

5 ASX Companies Leveraging AI to Drive Growth in 2024



We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.