Reference: Hardware for Crypto-Mining and other Blockchain technologies

[DevTech]

In Neowin's Home for Peculiar Threads, was an interesting link:

 

https://whattomine.com/coins?utf8=✓&eth=true&factor[eth_hr]=29.0&factor[eth_p]=135.0&grof=true&factor[gro_hr]=21.3&factor[gro_p]=150.0&x11gf=true&factor[x11g_hr]=6.7&factor[x11g_p]=140.0&cn=true&factor[cn_hr]=730.0&factor[cn_p]=110.0&eq=true&factor[eq_hr]=290.0&factor[eq_p]=120.0&lre=true&factor[lrev2_hr]=4900.0&factor[lrev2_p]=130.0&ns=true&factor[ns_hr]=0.0&factor[ns_p]=0.0&lbry=true&factor[lbry_hr]=105.0&factor[lbry_p]=175.0&bk2bf=true&factor[bk2b_hr]=1150.0&factor[bk2b_p]=210.0&bk14=true&factor[bk14_hr]=1970.0&factor[bk14_p]=190.0&pas=true&factor[pas_hr]=700.0&factor[pas_p]=135.0&bkv=true&factor[bkv_hr]=NaN&factor[bkv_p]=NaN&factor[cost]=0.1&sort=Profitability24&volume=0&revenue=24h&factor[exchanges][]=&factor[exchanges][]=bittrex&factor[exchanges][]=bleutrade&factor[exchanges][]=btc_e&factor[exchanges][]=bter&factor[exchanges][]=c_cex&factor[exchanges][]=cryptopia&factor[exchanges][]=poloniex&factor[exchanges][]=yobit&dataset=Main&commit=Calculate&adapt_q_280x=3&adapt_q_380=0&adapt_q_fury=0&adapt_q_470=0&adapt_q_480=1&adapt_480=true&adapt_q_750Ti=0&adapt_q_10606=0&adapt_q_1070=0

 

(URL from hell...)

 

Anyone want to make thoughtful and informative discussions/notes on the general subject area?

 

Are upward trending prices putting mining within reach of the individual again?

 

With SHA-1 going down in flames is it possible some future Quantum Computer will invalidate Crypto Currencies?

 

Anyone here stocking up on digital currencies?

 

Etc...

 

Edited March 28, 2018 by DevTech
added Reference to the title to suggest old thread not get locke

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

Is this like the black market? What sites accept Bitcoins, etc.?

 

I don't exactly get the mining part yet, but, I guess the more I look into it...

[Circaflex]

Plenty of legitimate websites accept Bitcoins; it isn't some spooky deep web only currency. Newegg for instance accepts bitcoin. Bitcoin is similar to torrents, they both gained popularity through illegal means but there are legitimate purposes for both. I have a small amount of bit coins and havent planned on spending or acquiring more at the moment. Among others that accept the currency are, Microsoft, Mozilla, Steam and Paypal has started this process of accepting them as well.

 

At the time, my XFIRE 6870's were mining machines. Now it seems worthless to use your GPU or CPU, the returns are to low.

 

Quote

To begin mining bitcoins, you'll need to acquire bitcoin mining hardware. In the early days of bitcoin, it was possible to mine with your computer CPU or high speed video processor card. Today that's no longer possible. Custom Bitcoin ASIC chips offer performance up to 100x the capability of older systems have come to dominate the Bitcoin mining industry.

Bitcoin mining with anything less will consume more in electricity than you are likely to earn. It's essential to mine bitcoins with the best bitcoin mining hardware built specifically for that purpose. Several companies such as Avalon offer excellent systems built specifically for bitcoin mining.

 

Edited May 26, 2017 by Circaflex

[Draconian Guppy]

**needs to learn how to mine cryptocoins**

[DevTech]

https://www.ethereum.org/

 

Ethereum is a  decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference.

 

These apps run on a custom built  blockchain, an enormously powerful shared global infrastructure that can move value around and represent the ownership of property. This enables developers to create markets, store registries of debts or promises, move funds in accordance with instructions given long in the past (like a will or a futures contract) and many other things that have not been invented yet, all without a middle man or counterparty risk.

 

The project was bootstrapped via an ether pre-sale during August 2014 by fans all around the world. It is developed by the  Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit, with contributions from great minds across the globe.

 

https://github.com/ethereum

 

https://github.com/ethereum/mist/releases

 

 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

You know anything about Dogecoins or Peercoins?

[DevTech]

Just now, Mindovermaster said:

You know anything about Dogecoins or Peercoins?

 Not yet. Trying to come up to speed after that interesting crypto mining  link was posted in the very weird RX 480 thread that    went off the rails.

 

My core interest is "The Future of Money" will implode if Quantum Computers become powerful enough to hack it.

 

In the mean time, the mining side of it is also a vastly interesting scenario for using GPU cards.  When people are not playing games, there is a vast GPU computing potential lying dormant across human civilization...

 

[DevTech]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cryptocurrencies

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_network#Mining

 

[Rigby]

Is mining even feasible anymore? I remember years ago people talking about needing tons of dedicated hardware just to get a meaningful amount and even then you'd be lucky if it would pay off the electricity it used and I can only imagine how much the difficulty has gone up since then.

[DevTech]

3 minutes ago, Rigby said:

Wouldn't it take like an array of supercomputers to mine anything meaningful now? You would still never pay off what it costs in electricity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_network#Mining

 

"To lower the costs, bitcoin miners have set up in places like Iceland where geothermal energy is cheap and cooling Arctic air is free.[15] Chinese bitcoin miners are known to use hydroelectric power in Tibet to reduce electricity costs.[16]"

 

I've not yet found easily digestible info on mining for other cryptocurrencies and how it compares to bitcoin mining.

 

[+illumination Subscriber²]

2 hours ago, DevTech said:

https://www.ethereum.org/

 

Ethereum is a  decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference.

 

These apps run on a custom built  blockchain, an enormously powerful shared global infrastructure that can move value around and represent the ownership of property. This enables developers to create markets, store registries of debts or promises, move funds in accordance with instructions given long in the past (like a will or a futures contract) and many other things that have not been invented yet, all without a middle man or counterparty risk.

 

The project was bootstrapped via an ether pre-sale during August 2014 by fans all around the world. It is developed by the  Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit, with contributions from great minds across the globe.

 

https://github.com/ethereum

 

https://github.com/ethereum/mist/releases

 

 

 

I'm not particularly well informed when it comes to cryprocurrencies and block chain, and while I find it all interesting, as a software developer, I'd take a lot of convincing to get involved in something like this.

 

http://fortune.com/2016/06/18/blockchain-vc-fund-hacked/

 

http://fortune.com/2016/09/04/ethereum-fall-out/

[DevTech]

https://www.neowin.net/news/central-bank-of-russia-wants-a-national-cryptocurrency

 

Quote

 

Russia wants to build its own cryptocurrency that it believes will be better than bitcoin, this is according to the Central Bank’s Deputy Governor, Olga Skorobogatova. The announcement comes not long after the Central Bank said that it would be pushing for legislation which would introduce a tax on bitcoins and other digital currencies.

 

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2017, Skorobogatova said:

 

“Regulators of all countries have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to do a national virtual currency. This is the future. Each country will decide the issue of a specific time and maturity independently.”

 

 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

"We Work To Better Ourselves And The Rest Of Humanity" -Picard

[DevTech]

https://www.neowin.net/news/bitcoin-valuation-reaches-2000-for-the-first-time

 

Quote

 

As the world's most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has been experiencing a surge in its value over the last year. Now, it has hit a new high, reaching a valuation of $2,000 per coin for the first time.

 

The currency has come a long way in the last few years. It first reached a milestone valuation of $1,000 back in 2013, but then dipped in value significantly, partially due to issues with Mount Gox, one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges. The currency has, however, stabilized greatly in the last year and has been on the rise ever since.

 

The latest valuation not only marks a new record for the cryptocurrency, but also brings the total market cap - the total amount of the currency in circulation worldwide - to $32.92 billion, a significant achievement in the currency's quest for greater stability, and the possibility of competing with national currencies in the near future.

 

It's not all roses and sunshine for Bitcoin, though, as this increase in value has been mirrored by other cryptocurrencies as well, albeit at much higher rates of increase of up to 1000%. As a result, of the total market cap of around $70 billion for all cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin now has only 47%, compared to 80% just a few months ago.

 

This decline has been attributed to the extreme popularity of Bitcoin, and the inability of the network to scale in stride, resulting in slower confirmations for transactions. While Bitcoin currently remains the king of cryptocurrencies, this trend may suggest a possible future where alternatives like Ripple or Ethereum may match or even exceed Bitcoin's current market share.

 

 

[Alera]

Forget Bitcoin and even Litecoin, you can't mine those anywhere near efficiently without expensive ASICs that cost too much and return so little. There are many altcoins which are profitable, Ethererum, Ethereum Classic, Expanse, Siacoin, Decred, ZCash, ZCoin just to name a few.

 

I dual mine Ethereum and Siacoin right now with RX480/RX580s, yes it's possible to make money however it's going to be a struggle to get the GPUs as the stock is really hurting right now! 

 

You really have to do your research too, Ethereum has had its problems however a 51% attack is unlikely to happen at any stage in the future. The real problem will come when Proof of Stake hits and the so-called "Ice Age of Ethereum" happens. Miners will likely scatter and start mining other altcoins which may or may not affect the value and efficiency of mining them yourself, there's a lot of risks but also a lot of rewards. As long as the mining brings more money back than what it costs to run, it is still viable and likely will be for a long time.

 

Bitcoin is currently suffering from transaction woes, with a long time to authorise and authenticate transactions. It has already lost its market share and with problems that aren't supposed to happen and no fix looking likely anytime soon, other altcoins like Ethereum may take over and become the market leader. A lot of people seem to agree as the value of Ethereum has risen by 1000% in the past few months and may yet see either a meteoric rise or a great crash as has happened a few times in the last month when people cash out and cause a drop in the value.

 

EDIT: I should add that there are also incredibly altruistic and feel-good ways to gain money too if you so wish, there are things such as CURECoin which allows you to do Folding@Home but gain money for doing it.

Edited June 5, 2017 by Alera

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

3 hours ago, Alera said:

EDIT: I should add that there are also incredibly altruistic and feel-good ways to gain money too if you so wish, there are things such as CURECoin which allows you to do Folding@Home but gain money for doing it.

That is interesting. I did F@H a few years ago, when it was all the rage. Didn't know there was a way to make money off it.

[DevTech]

5 hours ago, Alera said:

Forget Bitcoin and even Litecoin, you can't mine those anywhere near efficiently without expensive ASICs that cost too much and return so little. There are many altcoins which are profitable, Ethererum, Ethereum Classic, Expanse, Siacoin, Decred, ZCash, ZCoin just to name a few.

 

I dual mine Ethereum and Siacoin right now with RX480/RX580s, yes it's possible to make money however it's going to be a struggle to get the GPUs as the stock is really hurting right now! 

 

You really have to do your research too, Ethereum has had its problems however a 51% attack is unlikely to happen at any stage in the future. The real problem will come when Proof of Stake hits and the so-called "Ice Age of Ethereum" happens. Miners will likely scatter and start mining other altcoins which may or may not affect the value and efficiency of mining them yourself, there's a lot of risks but also a lot of rewards. As long as the mining brings more money back than what it costs to run, it is still viable and likely will be for a long time.

 

Bitcoin is currently suffering from transaction woes, with a long time to authorise and authenticate transactions. It has already lost its market share and with problems that aren't supposed to happen and no fix looking likely anytime soon, other altcoins like Ethereum may take over and become the market leader. A lot of people seem to agree as the value of Ethereum has risen by 1000% in the past few months and may yet see either a meteoric rise or a great crash as has happened a few times in the last month when people cash out and cause a drop in the value.

 

EDIT: I should add that there are also incredibly altruistic and feel-good ways to gain money too if you so wish, there are things such as CURECoin which allows you to do Folding@Home but gain money for doing it.

That is a very nice informative post you have made.

 

There seems to be so much misleading information out there on the subject of mining. Any chance you have some useful links for members here on starting out with mining and maybe even bootstrapping to ASIC?

 

Is the RX 480 that far ahead of the NVIDIA 10xx series?

 

[DevTech]

https://www.neowin.net/news/eu-funds-consortium-to-prevent-criminal-use-of-blockchain-technology

 

Quote

 

The European Union (EU) has begun funding a new consortium called TITANIUM (Tools for the Investigation of Transactions in Underground Markets). The project will run for three years and cost €5 million. The consortium hopes to developer technical solutions for investigating and preventing crime and terrorism that involves cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, and underground markets.

 

The project’s co-ordinator, Ross King, from the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), said:

 

“Criminal and terrorist activities related to virtual currencies and darknet markets evolve quickly and vary in technical sophistication, resilience and intended targets … The consortium will analyse legal and ethical requirements and define guidelines for storing and processing data, information, and knowledge involved in criminal investigations without compromising citizen privacy.”

 

 

[Alera]

5 hours ago, DevTech said:

That is a very nice informative post you have made.

 

There seems to be so much misleading information out there on the subject of mining. Any chance you have some useful links for members here on starting out with mining and maybe even bootstrapping to ASIC?

 

Is the RX 480 that far ahead of the NVIDIA 10xx series?

 

I will post some links once I'm out of work to help get started. Eventually I think I'll be writing my own guides to make it easier.

 

Certain algorithms are more efficient on AMD or NVIDIA, Ethereum for example runs more efficiently on AMD cards especially when they're modded with BIOS roms and tuned correctly.

 

A 480 stock will do 24MH/s at 150W, a 1070 will do 25MH/s at 130W. The 480 can be modded to run at 30MH/s at only 95-100W of power. Some 470/570s can manage it at even lower power usages while sacrificing some speed.

 

On the flip side, a 1070 on Zcash will do 400SoI/s, a 480 will only manage 220 or so.

[Alera]

So https://www.coingecko.com/buzz/how-to-mine-ethereum-basic-guide?locale=en

 

Here's a pretty good guide on how to get started, note however that this isn't the way I do it currently. I'll be writing up a guide complete with links to software and screenshots when I have time, so maybe over the weekend!

 

Will post an update here when I'm done to hopefully help you a bit more!

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Well ... I decided to do a little test run with NiceHash (though I still do not fully understand this whole mining thing).

 

This is what I got so far ...

 

 

...though I'm not entirely sure if that breaks even for power consumption.  Will have to do some calculations later .. next time I look at how much my power company charges me.  Pulling 378 watts ... according to the UPS and HWiNFO (220W on just the GPU).  Not very scientific at all ... but yea ... not sure about this.  Did a quick google for ASIC bit miners ... and went "nope."

[DevTech]

http://howtobuybitcoins.guide/

 

[DevTech]

http://www.flippening.watch/

 

http://blog.flippening.watch/must-reads-for-better-understanding-the-flippening/

 

“The Flippening” refers to the possible future event when Ethereum overtakes Bitcoin to become the biggest, most valuable, and most important cryptocurrency.

 

Quote

Until recently, Bitcoin has held the top spot without any serious competition since its creation in 2009. As recently as February 24th, 2017, Bitcoin’s market capitalization represented 86.74% of the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. Since then, even though its unit price has risen, Bitcoin’s market share has fallen precipitously and now stands well below 50% (check here for the most recent numbers). At the same time, other cryptocurrencies, especially Ethereum, have rapidly gained market share.