It is not an easy task to find the easiest cryptocurrency to mine. If you want to mine Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH), you will need to use specialized mining hardware. This hardware tends to be very expensive and it would require you to buy several mining rigs.
However, understanding which is the easiest cryptocurrency to mine would help us get access to the mining industry without investing large amounts of money in mining rigs. The easiest cryptocurrency to mine would have one advantage: you would be able to mine it using CPU or GPUs. This is usually the easiest way to mine cryptocurrency.
What is Cryptocurrency Mining?
Cryptocurrency mining is a task we can perform in order to be rewarded with virtual currency. This task is related to providing computational power to the network of the virtual currency you want to mine. In order to do so for Bitcoin, for example, you would need several ASIC miners, which are usually very expensive.
When Bitcoin was created, however, a CPU was the easiest way to mine cryptocurrency. Users could do that directly from their computers. As the Bitcoin network expanded, it became increasingly difficult to mine BTC.
For the power they provide to the network, users get rewarded with cryptocurrencies. A Bitcoin miner that finds a block, receives 6.25 BTC and the fees paid by the users sending transactions. Miners are responsible for processing these transactions and confirming their validity.
Nevertheless, each virtual currency has a different mining system. The rewards on each of the crypto networks are going to be different. For example, Litecoin (LTC) miners receive 12.5 LTC per block (every 2.5 minutes). This is different from 10 minutes blocks on the Bitcoin network. In the next sections, you will also know which is the easiest cryptocurrency to mine.
Mining Allows for Decentralization
With a network of decentralized miners, it is possible for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin to be fully decentralized. Users can process transfers without relying on a trusted third party.
Miners confirm the transactions on blockchain networks. For sharing their computational power, they get rewarded with fees and block rewards. Centralized financial firms and companies control users’ funds and decide whether funds are transferred or not. Miners become, then, a very important part of blockchain networks all over the world.
In the coming paragraphs, you will also know what is Proof of Work (PoW) and why this matters to know which cryptocurrency is easiest to mine.
What is the Easiest Cryptocurrency to Mine?
If you are wondering, “which cryptocurrency is easiest to mine?” then you have a point. Each cryptocurrency has a different difficulty level to be mined. There is no clear answer to “what is the easiest cryptocurrency to mine?”.
However, there are several coins that are easier to mine than others. Although few valuable cryptocurrencies are now available for being mined with CPUs, there are several digital assets that can be mined using GPUs. GPUs are not as expensive as ASIC miners and are also widely available in the market.
Monero (XMR)
Monero (XMR) is one of the easiest cryptocurrency to mine. This cryptocurrency is offering users the possibility to send and receive private transactions. Over the last years, it became one of the largest around the world.
XMR has been in the news because of how it is mined. Indeed, hackers were installing malware on different websites and mining XMR with the CPU power of visitors. Moreover, other malicious parties were installing hidden viruses on users’ computers and mining XMR with their CPU power. Hackers were using it because it is the easiest cryptocurrency to mine with CPU.
Although Monero can be mined using a CPU, the best idea is to invest some money in GPU hardware. This would allow you to be more efficient and mine larger amounts of XMR. UNICEF Australia was also allowing users to mine XMR and donate the funds collected. As you can see, this can be one of the easiest to mine cryptocurrency.
Ethereum Classic (ETC)
Ethereum Classic (ETC) is also one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world. And what can be better than mining it at home? Ethereum Classic works with the Ethash algorithm. That means that it can be mined using GPUs.
If you have some money to invest, buying some GPUs to mine Ethereum Classic could be a good thing. However, we are not financial advisors. To find one of the easiest cryptocurrency to mine, you need to know which are the top virtual currencies. And Ethereum Classic is one of the oldest players.
Users that mine on the ETC network will find it very similar to Ethereum (ETH). However, considering that on the Ethereum network there are more miners, it becomes more difficult to earn rewards. Furthermore, you can boost your rewards mining Ethereum classic if you join a mining pool.
Mining pools allow users to join efforts and mine virtual currencies together. This would allow them to find a larger number of blocks and increase their potential rewards.
Electroneum (ETN)
Another popular cryptocurrency that can be mined at home is Electroneum (ETN). This can also be considered one of the easiest cryptocurrency to mine in the world. Besides being one of the first KYC compliant digital assets, it was created to help users mine the digital asset.
Nowadays, you can mine Electroneum with your computer or with dedicated GPU hardware. This would make it much easier for you and have an advantage over other users. The easiest way to mine cryptocurrency is by always having a dedicated mining rig. If you buy some GPUs or you have older GPUs, you can recycle them and start mining Electroneum.
As we mentioned before, joining a mining pool could increase your rewards. Most of the coins in the market are now mined through mining pools. Solo mining can be done if you have massively large mining power or it could also be done in the past.
Horizen (ZEN)
Another cryptocurrency that users can start mining is Horizen. This virtual currency works with an Equihash algorithm. That means that the virtual currency will be 100% ASIC resistance. Thus, it can be very useful for those users that want to start mining using GPUs or CPUs.
Users can easily download the official client on their desktops and start mining with a GPU. This would make it very efficient for you to start earning Horizen. Remember that the larger the price of the virtual currency, the larger your rewards if the difficulty remains the same.
When you mine virtual currencies, you should always pay close attention to the difficulty of the network. Sometimes it can become unprofitable to mine digital assets.
Vertcoin (VTC)
Finally, Vertcoin is one of the easiest cryptocurrency to mine. Indeed, this cion works with a proof of work algorithm called Lyra2RE. With this algorithm, users can only mine VTC using CPUs and GPUs. This is why this could be one of the easiest cryptocurrency to mine.
Miners that want to get exposure to the crypto market will be able to do so with Vertcoin. Nevertheless, Vertcoin trading volume and price fell in recent years. Nowadays this is not one of the most profitable networks to mine. In the future, if the project revives, it could become a good solution to use.
If you want to mine cryptocurrencies, these are just some example. There are many other coins that can be mined. You should search for them and try testing whether they are profitable or not. Vertcoin is, in simple words, one of the easiest cryptocurrency to mine.
Which is the Easiest Way to Mine Cryptocurrency?
The easiest way to mine cryptocurrency is by using your CPU. That means you can use your computer to mine digital assets. Despite that, it becomes very difficult to do so. This happened because there are thousands of miners in most of the networks.
Miners compete for the rewards, which are usually fixed. This is why cryptocurrency miners move to GPUs. They become much more efficient at processing these difficult puzzles to approve transactions.
The easiest cryptocurrency to mine will be the one that would allow you to mine with CPUs and GPUs and remain profitable. In general, small coins allow you to mine with CPUs and GPUs, but the rewards are literally pennies.
This is where investing in large ASIC mining makes sense for BTC miners. Nevertheless, for small and retail investors, CPUs and GPUs in recognized digital assets could be one of the ways to increase profits.
Merged Mining
Although merged mining might not be the easiest way to mine cryptocurrency, it could help users to become much more profitable. Bitcoin miners, for example, are making their mining activities much more efficient.
This can be done by performing merged mining. This is something that helps users increase their earnings by mining at the same time in two different networks. One of the networks that are now allowing Bitcoin miners to do merged mining is RSK.
RSK is now the largest merged mining network in the world. While users confirm RSK blocks, they also earn BTC rewards. In the future, merged mining could become a common thing for most of the miners. RIF is also one of the easiest cryptocurrency to mine. RIF is the cryptocurrency that runs on top of the RSK blockchain.
Defi Mining
Users can also mine virtual currencies by providing liquidity to mining pools. The decentralized finance market has been growing over the last years. Nowadays, users can provide liquidity to mining pools and receive rewards in new digital assets.
Although this would not require you to share mining power with the network, you will be risking your funds by locking them into a mining pool. The rewards are distributed among the users providing liquidity.
Despite being called mining, this is not a traditional way of mining digital assets. Moreover, you would not need any special equipment to do so. Nevertheless, this does not represent any similar experience to mining coins such as LTC, ETC or BTC, among others.
Which Cryptocurrencies Can I Mine?
There are different cryptocurrencies you can mine. We have shared with you a list of the easiest cryptocurrency to mine. Moreover, we have also told you which the easiest way to mine cryptocurrency is.
Monero (XMR), Electroneum (ETN), Ethereum Classic (ETN) and Horizen (ZEN) are some of the cryptocurrencies you can mine. But there are many others in the market. It is worth pointing out that not all the cryptocurrencies can be mined. You can mine all these virtual currencies. However, your setup will define which is the easiest cryptocurrency to mine.
Indeed, only Proof of Work (PoW) digital assets can be mined in the traditional way. Proof of Stake (PoS) virtual currencies cannot be mined. This is why it is important to make this distinction.
Proof of Work (PoW)
To understand which cryptocurrency is easiest to mine, we need to know what are Proof of Work networks. PoW are all the crypto networks that allow users to mine cryptocurrencies. PoW digital assets can be mined, no matter if with CPUs, GPUs or ASIC hardware.
Instead, Proof of Stake coins cannot be mined. They are staked. This is a very important difference in the cryptocurrency market. When we talk about PoS networks we think about coins that do not require users to provide computational power to process transactions.
With Proof of Work networks, miners are really working in order to confirm the transactions. The largest mining farms are located in China. They contain a large number of ASIC miners working on a 24/7 basis. Employees are needed to keep the systems running. Furthermore, energy consumption is also very high. Thus, this does not make Bitcoin the easiest cryptocurrency to mine.
With Proof of Stake networks, users only have to participate in the blockchain networks according to their crypto holdings. This does not consume large amounts of energy, nor provides the security a network like Bitcoin can provide.
XRP, for example, cannot be mined, even when it is not a PoS cryptocurrency. Some PoS networks include Tezos or NEO. PoW networks include Bitcoin, Ethereum (but it is moving towards a PoS network), Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin SV (BSV) and others. Ethereum Classic, Horizen, Monero and Electroneum are also PoW blockchains. These are just some of the easiest cryptocurrency to mine.
Final Words About the Easiest Cryptocurrency to Mine
Selecting the easiest cryptocurrency to mine is not an easy thing to do. We need to take into consideration a wide range of things. However, we can expect to have an easier experience mining smaller virtual currencies than using large networks.
Only Proof of Work virtual currencies can be mined. PoS or other consensus algorithms would not allow you to mine virtual currencies. In the DeFi market, mining pools make reference to receiving rewards for providing liquidity to trading pools.
The easiest cryptocurrency to mine will change over time. Indeed, in some cases, it can be one but as soon as users move to the network, it could become another one. This is why you should pay close attention to market movements.