Everything about cryptocurrencies is still relatively new, but when it comes to mining, there isn’t a person who at least doesn’t know what it is or has heard about it. On the other hand, many still don’t understand how mining actually works and why mining BTC is much harder and more time-consuming today than it was just a few years ago. So, in order to give you the answer, let’s first focus on the basics of how it all works.
The basics of the mining process
Mining has never been more popular since the 1920s, but understandably, this term today is used to describe something entirely different. Yes, we all know how mining can earn us a fortune if we do some research and pick the right coin to mine, which isn’t easy, especially today when there are thousands of coins available.
The offer and the number of cryptos out there is something that very few expected when digital coins first emerged. Many were skeptical about whether it was all just some hoax or not and whether this was yet another way to get people’s money.
Of course, like with most things that we are skeptical about, it was all mostly because people were not familiar with the technology behind it and how everything works. Everything changed today, as there isn’t anyone who hasn’t at least heard about Bitcoin, meaning that the expansion and influence of digital coins are steadily growing.
The popularity of BTC changed the game
When we look at when cryptos really became globally popular, that’s when the value of BTC skyrocketed, as it all happened in a matter of a month or two. Understandably, even then, some people were skeptical, but with time and with more information available to the people on how cryptocurrencies work and that anonymity definitely is granted, all this has changed a lot.
That brings us to mining BTC, as when it all started, it was far from a difficult thing to do, and anyone can do it, as all that’s needed is a bit stronger graphic card and machine in general. Those were much simpler times because as soon as it was clear that this crypto was something that would mark our future and last for quite some time, mining became globally popular, and even companies that are global giants decided to mine coins. All of that led to many farms with thousands of machines with only one purpose, to mine as many coins as possible. That meant that this type of competition became unfair.
Proof of work
In order to give the best and most accurate possible answer on how much time is needed to mine BTC, we need to take a closer look at how mining works. Namely, even though there are coins today that are much easier to mine because most things revolve around luck, with BTC, it’s a bit different.
That’s because it uses the proof of work as a way to give miners a reward in terms of tokens. It means that the first one that solves cryptography and verifies some transactions gets a reward, which seemed great in the beginning, but since doing so is much tougher now with so many farms, this is something that might influence how much time you will need to mine one token.
Decentralized network
Yes, a decentralized network is huge in terms of anonymity, and it brought something new to our world. We all have private info online that we would want anyone to get a hold of, and that anonymity is precisely what helped BTC to become a coin of such vast importance.
No governing authority will monitor transactions, how many coins someone has, what they are doing with them, etc., which isn’t the case with banks, as all of them are closely monitored by governments, and banks work by the rules of the state and country in which they are placed. That’s what makes blockchain technology such a great innovation, as the integrity of new data is ensured.
Proof of Stake
A much more fair crypto technique to reward miners for their effort is PoS, as it’s based on the validation of blocks based on the amount of staked coins. It was an alternative that came after the first one because many saw how those with powerful machines were favorable by the first technique, and something needed to change. That is why most newer cryptos are based on this technique, making everything fairer for all crypto owners and miners, as they can actually expect to be rewarded for solving high-tech cryptography puzzles and validating transactions.
Of course, in order to verify transactions, one first needs to stack their coins, which are still available to the owners if they decide to use them for trading. It’s a bit different technique that might seem complicated at first, but it’s easy to learn how it works, so this shouldn’t be a problem for anyone who decides to mine coins based on PoS.
It all depends on how powerful a machine one has
From everything mentioned above, it’s pretty clear that mining BTC today is much different and also much more challenging than before. There are certain rules you need to follow and basics you need to cover in order to mine BTC, but even today, doing so isn’t as difficult as some might say. Of course, investing in top-notch graphics cards and computers whose entire purpose will be to mine coins is a must, as only by doing that you can expect a positive outcome. Overall, it depends on the hash rate, and if some individual miner contributes 1 percent of the entire hash rate, they could earn approximately 1 BTC in a matter of days.
Now, this can be a problem as this coin is highly popular, meaning that one needs to have a really powerful machine to be competitive in this sometimes cruel mining world. Going with mining rigs is yet another option, but it costs much more, which is why most people tend to go solo. Of course, there is no guarantee that you will as often get rewarded when mining solo, but the reward will definitely be much higher than with mining rigs. On the other hand, you can always focus on trading cryptos, and with so many renowned apps like bitcoineranew.com, this should be much easier and more profitable.
