With the demand and price of bitcoin miners continuing to rise, it is important to do your research before investing. A return on profit and risk association are two key things to keep in mind when making the decision on which miner to choose.
Here is a breakdown of two of the best bitcoin miners and things to keep in mind before purchasing.
Understanding Bitcoin Mining
When Satoshi Nakamoto created bitcoin, he assigned miners or nodes with the task of securing the bitcoin ledger. In the beginning, a single computer was able to do this.
Nearly a decade later, bitcoin is now mined by people all around the globe. As the number of miners grows, so does the difficulty associated with mining.
To successfully mine bitcoin for profit, miners now need to use Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). These are specialized computers that are built solely for a function. In this case, that function is bitcoin mining.
What Is The Best Bitcoin Miner?
The Antminer S9 13.5 TH/s is currently the best bitcoin miner available. The Antminer S9 has the highest hash rate of all bitcoin miners on the market. This makes it attractive because the more you hash, the more bitcoin you make.
Photo by Michael Hooper
Due to its popularity, the demand for the Antminer S9 is high. On Amazon and eBay, they sell for $5,000 to $6,900. You also need a power supply to run the Antminer S9, and they sell for $100 to $300.
As with all bitcoin miners, there are some complications with using the Antminer S9. It uses a lot of electricity and generates a lot of noise. As a result, the Antminer S9 is best located in a warehouse or climate-controlled room and not general living areas.
A More Budget-Friendly Alternative
Another popular miner is Canaan's AvalonMiner 741. This miner has a hash rate of about half the speed of the Antminer S9. However, it is a cheaper option, which makes it attractive to bitcoin miners starting out.
(Photo courtesy of Canaan.)
The AvalonMiner miner also comes with a cooling technology. Like the Antminer S9, the AvalonMiner miner is also in high demand. Amazon and eBay have listed it for $3,500 to $3999.99.
Bitcoin Mining Risks
Two of the main risks associated with bitcoin mining are price volatility and mining difficulty.
If bitcoin's price goes down 50 percent, then the profitability of mining will also come down. If the price of bitcoin drops further, it could result in profitability disappearing altogether.
Mining difficulty is determined by the time it takes a miner to create a new block. The more miners there are, the higher the difficulty level is. As more miners join in, the difficulty is raised to accommodate the increasing hash rate of miners.
Conclusion
When starting out in bitcoin mining, it might be best to start small and build up as your profits start to increase. Purchasing an affordable machine such as the AvalonMiner and breaking even for the first year is a good start. Keep in mind, it is a lot more difficult to mine bitcoin than buy it.
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