Beginner Bitcoin Mining Guide (Part 3)
9/21/2017
Hello, fellow Steemians! My followers have seen my journey with Genesis Mining (cloud). It's gone as expected and has a decent payout for the investment. The return on investment has been slow though (10 months- to a year).
CLOUD MINING IS BORING.
BUT is probably better on the SMALL Scale.
However, I'M BORED. I want my hands on the MINING. So, here's what I'm doing now.... I want to start mining cryptocurrencies with my own equipment. In my last newsletter, I mentioned China's news effect on the currency market. I also mentioned Bitmain's release of the Antminer D3 ($1500) the most profitable miner today. They sold out in ten minutes to people who were hoarding them (buying 10-50 at a time). A lot of those people are now selling them on eBay for $7000-$10,000. It sucks because people like me can't get one at a fair price.
ANTMINER D3. $2,000, $5,000?!
Anyway, I found a way to get one from another cloud mining operation that hasn't started their farm yet. I may let them run it for me, but I really want it in my possession for the experience. But it won't show up until December or January!! I CANT WAIT.
NICEHASH BABE!!
I wanted to get my first experience mining with my own equipment - without spending much if any.
So, I went to www.nicehash.com and downloaded their Nvidia software onto my windows computer (Intel i3 processor) and started mining with nicehash. Easy to setup. It's called CPU mining. It is NOT profitable- but I already had the equipment (a desktop) AND it cost me NOTHING. It mines about 2 cents per day (less than the cost of its electricity). If you leave your computer running - big deal. If not, you're wasting electricity. I just wanted to do it for the experience. Also, using your CPU hogs any performance while mining. So, it is a bad idea for long term.
CPU & GPU MINING
After research, I found that using a GPU (your computer's graphics card) is better. But only gaming computers have good enough make that worthwhile. We are talking $500+ just for the cards (Nvidia GTX or AMD RX). Most mining "rigs" are made up of multiple GPU's. This is a thousands investment- while you can buy used Baikal or Bitmain self-contained, pre-built, dedicated mining boxes for less.
eBAY MINERS & SCAMS
Having done that, I decided to get on eBay and move to the next level. After visiting Cryptocompare and Nicehash sites, I found that the only profitable machines from Bitmain were the Antminer S7 and higher; while Baikal Mini & Cubes and higher were as well. The USB miners are not; and the S3 and S5 are not. Be CAREFUL on eBay and Craigslist- people are being deceitful selling older miners that will only make you burn more electricity with ZERO returns. ALSO, there are a bunch of frauds on eBay and hosting websites pre-selling Antminer models when they don't even have them in hand. One such website is "Boston Hardware Inc" (Boston-electronics.us). They stole the name of a small mom and pop hardware store, have a parking garage address as their main address - AND their phone number is a disconnected mobile number. Talking to their ZenDesk support chat, I was convinced of their ability to sell me a D3 (before I checked out their address and phone). I tried to buy one with a credit card online. The website rejected the card and immediately offered to take BTC payment. That's when I paused and started digging. I found the truth and ceased communication with them.
BAIKAL MINI & CUBE
WHEW. So, I found a Baikal Mini 150 MH/s X11 miner (40 watts) on eBay. The seller had 100% positive ratings. So, I bought it for $500. I had to acquire a power supply ($25). I'll have $550 into it. Should be delivered tomorrow 9/22/17. Research projects about $30-$50 per month (according to NiceHash). I think that is Grossly over estimated - but I'm going to find out. It's dependent on cryptocurrencies prices and difficulty. My electricity is only $0.085 per kWh. That's low. The Baikal CUBE puts out 300 MH/s X11 algorithm and uses 80 watts. They go for around $800-$1000 on eBay. The Mini should get a return in one year. At least it covers $30 over and above the electricity it eats per month. BUT I didn't buy it to make money. It's a real miner (vs CPU) and at least CAN be profitable at some point. So, if it pays for itself - I'll be happy to use it as a leaning experience before I get my hands on the Bitmain Antminer D3.
Today, the D3 pays for itself in less than 2 months - ONLY IF YOU DONT PAY $7000-$10000. One big thing to remember: if cryptocurrencies keep going down, you'll be unprofitable. But I don't see that happening. China is going to pull out of their negative campaign. Another thing is the "difficulty" goes up the longer a coin is mined. The more coins there are, the harder it is to find solutions in the block chain.
CONCLUSION
After I set up the Baikal Mini, I'll run it a few days and update you.
If you made it this far...
THANK YOU.
I appreciate your listening and learning on this journey with me. Together- may we be profitable and gain knowledge. STEEM-ON :-)