Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular in the capital markets, given the amount of returns some people have accrued over the past few years. While most focus is usually on price speculation, it is also possible to make some passive income from these innovations. For anyone who is not fond of extreme volatility levels, crypto mining offers an exciting way of gaining exposure in the burgeoning space.
Understanding crypto mining
Crypto mining is essentially a process through which new units of an underlying cryptocurrency are created. Unlike the conventional mining process, it involves the use of computer processors to solve complex mathematical puzzles from which the correct answers are entitled to rewards. For every crypto mined, one is usually rewarded by a fraction of the unit mined.
Crypto mining is sometimes carried out by specialized equipment such as Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), known to compute complex mathematical puzzles with ease. ASIC is a computer component built for a specific application.
GPU mining is another type of cryptocurrency mining that is video-card-based. It is more flexible and allows people to mine different types of coins. However, the method can usually generate lower hash rate than ASIC.
The best cryptocurrency to mine are those supported by a number of exchanges. If a coin is popular, then more exchanges would have it integrated. The more exposure a coin has on exchanges, the more likelihood of it becoming valuable in the future.
Below are some of the top cryptocurrencies to mine.
Monero
Blockchain technology use cases are increasing thanks to the privacy and security features that the ledger technology offers. Monero is arguably one of the best cryptocurrencies to mine, given its privacy profile. It stands out as one of the best on the risk-reward because one does not need to spend much on buying equipment for mining.
Monero mining does not require heavy-duty technology, allowing one to save money on equipment, thus increasing net profit. The coin can be mined solo, using GPUs but also on pools.
In addition, the mining of Monero does not consume too much power. The process relies on the proof of work algorithm, and 1 Monero can be mined every 24 seconds. Monero is one of the biggest cryptocurrencies, and is currently listed in a number of exchanges.
RavenCoin
RavenCoin is one of the most profitable coins to mine, given the limited supply, it comes capped at 21 billion coins. The native coin powers the Ravencoin network that acts as a peer-to-peer network for facilitating the transfer or trading of assets from one party to another.
While the coin is not ASIC compatible, it can be mined using specialized software such as BMiner, NBMiner, and DamoMine. Ravencoin can be mined using an average computer thanks to a special algorithm. The coin can also be extracted using multiple pools.
It is one of the best options, given the low initial costs. The costs of energy used to mine the coin are relatively low compared to the revenue one stands to earn. When it comes to rewards, miners earn up to 5,000RVN or $333 for each block mined.
Ethereum
Being the second most valuable cryptocurrency, Ethereum also stands out as one of the best cryptocurrencies to mine. The rewards that one gets to earn from mining ether are quite high, given that the network is at the forefront in the development of smart contracts and decentralized applications.
The reward for mining one ether currently stands at 2ETH per block, which is extremely high considering that one ether goes for thousands of dollars. At the start of 2022, a miner ended up with $540,000 or 170 ETH for mining a whole block of ether.
Unlike Bitcoin, which relies on ASIC mining, ether can be mined with ease using CPUs and GPUs, which are less costly.
Dogecoin
For anyone looking to participate in the hype around meme coins, Dogecoin might be the answer. The coin has been the subject of intense speculation in the market. Touted as the next big thing by industry-heavy hitters, the coin might as well offer some of the best returns on the mining front.
The best thing about mining Dogecoin is that one does not require powerful or complex hardware. Instead, it can be mined seamlessly using GPU/CPU. Some of the best software for mining includes CudaMiner, Cgminer, and GUIminer.
The reward for mining each block on the Dogecoin blockchain is 10,000 DOGE, which can be extremely valuable given the hype around the coin.
Litecoin
Mining Litecoin offers an opportunity to participate in a robust cryptocurrency with tremendous prospects of rivaling other high-flying coins. Additionally, it is relatively cheap to mine the coin as one does not require specialized equipment such as ASIC.
The cryptocurrency can be mined with ease using GPU. Some of the best software to mine the coin include MultiMiner, GUIMiner Scrypt, and CPUminer. In addition, miners with ASIC equipment can still generate the coin.
It takes approximately 2.5 minutes to mine one block of Litecoin blockchain. In return, miners stand to earn 12.5LTC per block mined.
Final thoughts
The best coins to mine are those that come with low-cost options. In this case, they don’t require one to spend thousands of dollars in acquiring specialized equipment to launch a profitable mining campaign.
The best, in this case, are those that allow GPU and CPU mining, given the low costs involved in setting up an operation. Additionally, such operations spend the least energy compared to powerful ASIC-powered operations.
The cheapest cryptocurrencies to mine are Monero and Ravencoin. However, those looking for higher rewards upon mining a block will have to settle on Ethereum and Litecoin. While mining, it is important to carry out your homework to understand all the aspects of the business for a successful campaign.
