Showing posts with label cryptocurrency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cryptocurrency. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Gemini's Thoughts on Solo Mining Miner Efficiency



Miner efficiency is crucial for solo miners, and it's not just about how much you're willing to spend on electricity. While a higher electricity budget allows you to run your hardware for longer, a more efficient miner will generate more hashes for the same amount of power, directly increasing your chances of finding a block and earning a reward.

Think of it this way: solo mining is like a lottery. The more tickets you have, the higher your probability of winning. In the world of cryptocurrency mining, your "tickets" are the number of hashes your hardware can produce, known as your hashrate.


The Role of Miner Efficiency

Miner efficiency is typically measured in Joules per terahash (J/TH or as I like to call it W/TH, watts per terahash). A lower J/TH value indicates a more efficient miner because it consumes less energy to produce one terahash of computing power. Here's why this is critical for a solo miner:

Maximizing Your Hashrate: For a fixed electricity budget, a more efficient miner will allow you to achieve a higher hashrate. This is because you are getting more computational power for every watt of electricity consumed. A higher hashrate translates directly to a greater share of the total network hashrate, increasing your odds of solving the next block and receiving the entire block reward.

Sustainability of Your Operation: Even with a significant budget, inefficient miners can quickly become unprofitable, especially as the network difficulty increases. A more efficient miner extends the economic viability of your operation, allowing you to continue mining for longer periods before your costs outweigh the potential rewards.


Beyond Just Electricity Costs

While electricity is a major operational expense, it's not the only factor. The initial investment in mining hardware is also a significant consideration. More efficient miners often come with a higher price tag. Therefore, a solo miner needs to find a balance between the upfront cost of the hardware and its long-term operational efficiency.

In essence, a willingness to spend a lot on electricity doesn't negate the importance of miner efficiency. An inefficient miner will simply waste a larger portion of that electricity budget, producing fewer hashes and diminishing your chances of success. For a solo miner, where the probability of finding a block is already low, maximizing your hashrate through efficient hardware is a critical strategy for improving your odds.

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Tuesday, March 26, 2024

What is a waste of electricity/energy?

Public Service Announcement: Bitcoin mining uses electricity to mine Bitcoin which also keeps the network secure. This is as useful to people using Bitcoin as is the "security" of using the Visa payment network, which is also pretty power hungry. Many crypto miners use alternative energy sources and direct mining heat to their homes or swimming pools. But there are many things that can be perceived to waste energy in this world, right? Here are a few:

video gaming
amusement parks
recreational boating
recreational vehicles
JetSki's
wars
aircraft carriers
cruise ships
manufacture of happy meal toys
comic books
most television shows
most news networks
most romance novels
most YouTube videos
car washing
rap music
subwoofers and 1000 watt amplifiers in cars
car mods for looks or performance
toilet seat warmers
bidets
heated steering wheels
heated car seats
exotic automobiles
adult toys
greeting cards
candy
fish aquariums
marijuana production
bongs
social media networks like Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, etc.
the comments sections on YouTube 


Monday, June 21, 2021

Bitcoin Since 2015 Chart

 
Bitcoin price chart
Click to enlarge

 
If anyone is worried about the price of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in this current bearish atmosphere let this chart reassure you about Bitcoin price direction. The chart looks the same for many other cryptocurrencies as well. Don't let the FUD get you down. The chart removes the intervening highs (volatility) to emphasize price direction. Bitcoin (after rising 18,000 percent since 2015) is still sitting pretty and still works as a longer term investment (not investment advice).
 
And here's Ethereum!
 
Ethereum Chart
Click to enlarge
 

Prices from coinmarketcap.com

Check out: The Essential Guide to Bitcoin Mining: A Cryptocurrency Tutorial

Paperback, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Google Play

Thursday, January 7, 2021

Bitcoin Moons Based on Solid Fundamentals

 

Bitcoin currently sits at about $39,666 (for one Bitcoin) at 12:30 pm EST on January 7, 2020. The all-time highs are happening every day (even every hour) recently. None of the crypto prognosticators predicted so much moon so fast. I do believe that the present bull-run for Bitcoin is supported by fundamentals which are 

  1. institutional investment, 
  2. economic uncertainty (extreme U.S. government debt, extreme dollar printing) so that Bitcoin is viewed as a safe harbor, 
  3. limited supply.

However, most other cryptocurrencies which have seen a rise on Bitcoin's coat-tails as well do not have the same fundamentals supporting them and if one wants to apply the labels of "irrational exuberance" or "bubble" to them, the labels would be more appropriate than to Bitcoin. Actually some of the larger market cap altcoins like Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and one or two others have some institutional investment in them as well, so their gains may be sustainable and credible, but if you're seeing lower market cap coins making huge gains, sell on the highs because those altcoins are less likely to hold any recent gains because there aren't any supporting fundamentals, in most cases, to justify large price gains. (Of course you should keep/hold any coin which you believe in, I'm just saying for investment purposes most altcoins will not keep up with the Bitcoin price increases.)

Bitcoin always has price pullbacks and that should be expected, but the trend is always going to be up until we get closer to the last minted/mined Bitcoin in the 2100s.


Check out: The Essential Guide to Bitcoin Mining: A Cryptocurrency Tutorial

Paperback, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Google Play