If you firmly believe in Bitcoin Cash, you have a chance to support the network, while earning BCH. Additionally, if you want to mine Bitcoin cash, this guide will help you through the process.
Miners play a vital role in every digital currency, as they confirm transactions and put new tokens into circulation. They receive rewards after solving these puzzles. The reward also includes transaction fees within the block.
Let’s go through the process of how to mine Bitcoin Cash.
Why You Should Mine Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin Cash is one of the largest cryptocurrencies in the market, and it’s a newer coin compared to Ethereum and Litecoin. Given the platform’s updates, namely the increased block size, this is an interesting opportunity for anyone looking for more transaction verifications and in turn, frequent cryptocurrency mining profits.Â
According to experts, Bitcoin is getting harder to mine, and less worthwhile, which leaves Bitcoin Cash as a better alternative.
The process of mining Bitcoin Cash is similar to mining Bitcoin; nonetheless, there are few differences. For instance, the block size limit of Bitcoin is 1 MB, while that of Bitcoin Cash is 8 MB, which means that you’ll need more computing power and investment to mine BCH.
However, bigger blocks contain more transaction fees, which go to the miner.
Best Way To Mine Bitcoin Cash
Since it’s a proof-of-work coin, you can mine Bitcoin Cash with your computer’s GPU or CPU. Nonetheless, the current difficulty of the network means you may not get any returns from this. To ensure that you get some profits, you should consider a specialized mining rig called Application-specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). These machines are made for one task, mining. They are the best way to make profits mining BCH today.
One advantage of these machines is that they are bought with pre-installed mining software, which makes it easier to prepare them for mining.
Another thing you need to mine effectively is a stable internet connection, and with low latency, to ensure you’re always connected to the blockchain and report found blocks as fast as possible. You should consider unlimited internet traffic because, on average, a miner consumes 500MB per month.
Additionally, you should have stable electricity, and a Bitcoin Cash wallet to manage your coins.
At this point, you should choose between mining alone or joining a mining pool.
A mining pool consists of several miners who have agreed to combine their efforts and resources to increase their chances of solving the mathematical puzzles. Each member in a mining pool receives small and less complex puzzles to solve, which increases the pool’s chances of solving the larger and more complex puzzles.
Rewards are shared equally among each pool member, based on their effort, and resource they contribute to the pool.
On the one hand, if you’re capable of successfully mining BCH blocks alone, you’ll receive the full reward. However, you’ll need a very powerful mining rig, and this requires a lot of money.
Before choosing a mining pool, ensure you consider factors such as, how big the pool is, how often they find blocks, the structure of their payout, the fees they charge, as well as the kind of stats they provide to pool members.
Set-Up To Mine Bitcoin Cash
First, connect the ASIC to its power supply unit and turn it on. Then connect the ASIC to the internet through an Ethernet cable connected to your router.
Second, download and install a BCH wallet if you don’t have one.
Third, choose a mining pool that is suitable for you. Most mining pools smooth out your earnings, and they are anonymous; thus, you don’t have to share your personal information.
In most cases, a BCH wallet is all you need to use a mining pool.
Fourth, find you ASIC rig’s IP address. You’ll need this to access the mining configuration software. If you’re’ using Antiminer, it’ll automatically provide the IP address immediately after you connect it to the internet. Also, read the documentation to find guidelines on how to obtain the IP address.
Fifth, Login to the miner’s web interface. A browser, type the IP address. You’ll be presented with a login page. For an ASIC, read the documentation to find the user ID and password. However, for Antminers, the default user ID is ‘root,’ and the default password is ‘root.’
After logging into the ASIC, click the Miner Configuration page to set up the timer. This is the place you’ll provide your mining pool information. After providing this information, click Save & Apply. The miner will restart, and you can begin mining BCH.
Software Needed To Mine Bitcoin Cash
There are several programs available that are used for mining BCH, but perhaps the two most popular entail BFGminer and CGminer, and they are command-line programs.
If you can’t handle a command-line interface, you can use EasyMiner which is used for pooled mining.
The hardware you choose will determine the software you’ll use; as such, you should choose programs that are compatible with your miner.
Bitcoin Cash Mining Pools
Mining pools are a way of combining efforts and resources to stand a better chance of winning the mining reward.
It’s like a tag-of-war, on one side is five people, and the other is 10,000 people. In this case, it’s obvious that the side with 10,000 people will win. This is the main reason mining pools are great!
Nonetheless, keep in mind that these pools hold a lot of control. Although you’re providing your resources, each pool has its terms and conditions of control. What this means is that they have the authority to increase the membership fee or reduce the rewards given to each member.
An example of a mining pool is Antpool.
Consider the factors listed above before joining a mining pool.
Final Thoughts
The days of mining popular coins using basic CPU devices are long gone. Back then, anyone could get involved in mining. Nonetheless, the only chance you have now is investing a lot of money on mining hardware or join a mining pool.
It remains to be seen if the BCH community will make changes to the code, which will ban ASIC devices from connecting to the network. Until then, the ability to win is in the hands of a few mining companies.
