how to mine bitcoin
a variety of hardware and software can be used to mine bitcoin when the bitcoin blockchain was first released it was possible to mine it competitively on a personal computer however as it became more popular more miners joined the network which lowered the chances of being the one to solve the hash you can still use your personal computer as a miner if it has newer hardware but the chances of solving a hash individually using a home computer are minuscule this is because you re competing with a network of miners that generate around 600 quintillion hashes as of may 15 2024 per second machines called application specific integrated circuits asics built specifically for mining can generate more than 400 trillion hashes per second in contrast a computer with the latest hardware hashes around 100 megahashes per second 100 million 6there are two hardware options available for bitcoin mining and several software options 1 you can use your existing computer and mining software compatible with bitcoin software and join a mining pool mining pools are groups of miners that combine their computational power to compete with large asic mining farms there are many mining programs to choose from and pools you can join two of the most well known programs are cgminer and bfgminer some of the most popular pools are foundry digital antpool f2pool viabtc and binance com 2 if you have the financial means you could purchase an asic miner you can generally find a new one for around 10 000 but used ones are also sold by miners as they upgrade their systems there are some significant costs such as electricity and cooling to consider if you purchase one or more asics keep in mind using one or two asics is still no guarantee of rewards as you re competing with businesses with large mining farms of tens if not hundreds of thousands of asics for example bitcoin mining firm cleanspark ordered 100 000 asics from bitmain in april 2024 7you can increase your chances of being rewarded bitcoins by joining a pool but rewards are significantly decreased because they are shared when choosing a pool it s important to make sure to find out how it pays out rewards what any fees might be and to read some mining pool reviews 