You’ve probably heard of the rewards you could get by mining bitcoin but are clueless on how to go about it. This guide covers details about this crypto and how to mine it on your PC.
Bitcoin basics
Bitcoin (BTC) is the leading digital coin operating without regulation from banks or governments. The BTC idea is to trade securely on a peer-to-peer blockchain. Bitcoin is one of the crypto anonymous exchange investors for blockchain traders. Its circulation differs from the standard Fiat currencies as it is an asset on its own.
Then begs the question, “how does bitcoin maintain its circulation?” It’s through mining. The mining idea can be complicated for new crypto investors – you need to add new blocks in bitcoin’s blockchain. However, adding new blocks is not straightforward; the process entails guessing and solving the double-spend problem.
Let’s break down what the double-spend problem is. It refers to generating mathematically proven details that validate a transaction through cryptography. The idea is to generate coins that haven’t been in use before. Correctly creating blocks (hash), that can be proven means that you have succeeded.
The hash is standardized encryption software that allows miners to encode data. It’s almost impossible to generate the hashes, yet this is what miners do. They generate countless hashes in seconds until they find a correct one by hitting the ‘difficulty’ condition. This means that you need to be accurate as any slight alterations will be counter-productive.
It’s possible to mine bitcoin on faster computers like ASIC miners.
What You Need to start
Before diving into mining, you need some essentials before you can enjoy BTC to LTC exchange and other conversions.
- Desktop or laptop: any computer can do, but gaming PCs would be ideal for high performance. A good computer should have free disk space of at least 30GB with a 1GHZ processor. Make sure the operating system is windows 10 (Win7/8/9 could still do).
- High-speed internet for faster execution.
- Bitcoin wallet -where you can store profits.
- Mining equipment – you need software to solve mathematical problems.
- Cool location: mining bitcoin is repetitive. Your PC will get hotter than usual and might not run as desired if you are in a warmer environment.
Mining Bitcoin on PC
You can dedicate hardware and some software to mine BTC. Unfortunately, this option is less profitable as it will take longer before you can solve the puzzle.
Initially, it was easier, but countries like China producing cheap power make it almost impossible for your home PC to mine Bitcoin. Otherwise, you’ll need to sign up on software like Cudo miner, Honey miner, and Nicehash to mine cryptocurrencies hassle-free.
Alternatively, you can mine other cryptocurrencies on your PC and exchange the altcoins for bitcoin. This option is much easier, and accumulating altcoins is easier compared to bitcoin.
How are Bitcoin miners paid?
After successfully generating new hashes and adding them to the blockchain, miners will be awarded. You will receive bitcoin currencies in your account and earn commission from transaction fees accumulated from other bitcoin exchanges. The reward is programmed in halves so that it is standard for all miners.
