You can find a list of secure wallets approved for use with Bitcoin at https://bitcoin. org/en/choose-your-wallet. Some wallets are hybrid, meaning that you can access them through software on your computer and through an app on your mobile phone.
Trezor and Ledger are two of the more popular hardware wallets available. You can buy them online or at brick-and-mortar stores that sell computer supplies and accessories.
Make sure the password you choose is secure and would be difficult for anyone to guess. If you have a password manager on your computer or smartphone, you can use that to create a secure, encrypted password.
Genesis, Hashflare, and Minex are some of the more popular cloud-mining services. However, the most popular services with the best reputations also are frequently sold out of contracts. Research services carefully. There have been numerous cloud-mining scams. Make sure the company is legitimate and has a good reputation. You can search the name of the service and see what people are saying online about it. Websites such as CryptoCompare can also help you analyze company reputations. Visit https://www. cryptocompare. com/mining/#/companies to get started. Be careful of a cloud-mining service that makes guarantees or claims that sound too good to be true. It is likely a scam. No cloud-mining service can guarantee you a particular rate of return, or guarantee that you’ll break even or start turning a profit in a short amount of time.
Contracts typically last from 1 to 3 years, although some last longer. While shorter contracts may carry a lower price tag, it’s unlikely that you’ll make any money in a shorter period of time. You usually need at least 2 years to break even. Prices vary anywhere from under $100 for smaller contracts to several thousand dollars for larger contracts with more mining power – expressed as the hash rate. For example, as of 2019, Genesis offers a 2-year Bitcoin mining contract for $50, which gets you 1 TH/s (1 Tera hash per second, or 1,000,000,000,000 hashes per second). This sounds like a lot, but it’s unlikely that you’d do much more than break even in 2 years on such a small plan. At the other end of the spectrum, you could get a 5-year contract for $6,125 with 25 TH/s.
Some cloud-mining services may do regular payouts on an established schedule, such as once a month or once a quarter. Others may allow you to withdraw your earnings any time you want, as long as you have a minimum amount. The minimum can range anywhere from 0. 05 BTC to 0. 00002 BTC.
CryptoCompare has a mining calculator available at https://www. cryptocompare. com/mining/calculator/. If you’re just getting started, you may not have all the information available, such as mining pool fees or power cost. However, the more information you provide, the more accurate the profitability estimate will be.
For example, the Bitmain Antminer S15 has a maximum hash rate of 28 TH/s and consumes 1596W of power. Over the course of a year, you could earn a little under $200 worth of Bitcoin with this miner, depending on the cost of your electricity. However, considering the miner costs between $1500 and $2000, it would still take you at least 7 to 10 years at that rate to start turning a profit, at the Bitcoin price of $4000. You can monitor the price of Bitcoin to calculate changes in the time it will take to turn a profit. Profit may also vary based on the price of electricity.
Type your router’s IP address in a web browser. This will take you to your router’s admin page. Click on “Connected Devices” to find the IP address for your ASIC miner. Copy and paste the IP address for your ASIC miner into your web browser. This will enable you to configure your miner.
Most of the mining software that works on Windows will also work on Mac OS X machines. EasyMiner has a graphical interface that is more intuitive and easier to use, especially if you’re a beginner with limited computer skills. EasyMiner works on Windows, Linux, and Android machines. As of 2019, EasyMiner does not have a Mac OS X version.
BitMinter, CK Pool, and Slush Pool are some popular, successful, and well-established mining pools. Without a mining pool, you would have to mine potentially for years before you’d see any profit. With a large pool, it’s possible that you could start earning Bitcoin within a few months.
As soon as you save your settings, your miner will start working in your mining pool. You can go to your mining pool account to see your status and evaluate your miner’s performance. However, keep in mind it may take up to an hour for your mining pool to display your miner’s hashing rate.
Some mining pools may only allow you to transfer Bitcoin to your wallet once you have a certain amount, typically around 0. 001 BTC. You may be able to withdraw smaller amounts for a fee.
