Crypto currency mining

[Delboy]

Originally Posted by ainarssems

If you have not mentioned I probably would not have even noticed LCC yet. I set my S9 to try out LCC but it was rented out so only started mining LCC this morning, in 6 hours it earned about 2 LCC so it would be about £35/day at current rates. The SHA256 prices are quite low at the moment on NiceHash, about 15-20% lower than what I get renting out on MRR so I decided to buy some hashing power on NH, I spent 0.00726784 BTC for order with 1PH/s limit and in about 2 hours it earned me 46 LCC worth about 0.02663032 BTC so better than tripled my money in theory at least. The problem is that only exchange trading LCC as far as I can see is YoBit and they have temporarily disabled LCC deposits so I cannot actually exchange it to another currency. It's wait and see for now what will happen to the price. I guess at least temporarily price will go down when deposits are accepted and miners start to exchange mined LCC for other assets. If it was possible to readily exchange LCC I would probably buy more hash power on NH and mine some more LCC but as it is I am not so sure.

Thanks for this tip.

There is always something new in this crypto stuff to learn.

I did what you did and smashed out 80 coins in 1hr 30 for 75 quid of BTC and at current LCC price is £287. (it is sliding down all the time and still not able to deposit it at Yobit)

That was my first ever venture into renting as well so an interesting experience.

[ulfilias]

Originally Posted by steamship

Lots of useful information, but one question I forgot to ask was partially answered by Ainars, in respect to LCC.

That question is in respect to getting your crypto currency converted to £££££. It's all well and good using these miners to accumulate various currencies, but to me as an outsider, they seem to be more focused on investment. Maybe I'm reading things wrong, but I'd like to invest in a miner to supplement my income, rather than to accumulate 'crypto wealth' that I can possibly convert further down the line.

Mark mentioned about LCC and projected earnings of £32/day, but there is also his £140/month of electricity use. That might be okay if you're in full time employment and can soak up the extra electricity use, but what if you can't soak it up and instead want to use part of your mining returns to pay for it? Hypothetically speaking, LCC could return £960/month, less £140 for electric leaving £820 potential profit in LCC. You could then have a choice of leaving it as LCC as investment, convert it all to cash, or a combination of both.

However, as Ainars mentioned, only one exchange trades it, and this is the question I forgot to ask. Just how easy/difficult is it to convert your currencies, so that you can actually use them to pay bills or buy something?

Sorry to say this steamship, but crypto probably isn't for you. It sounds like you would be investing money that you couldn't afford to loose which is potentially dangerous.

*IF* you have a gaming PC then using it to mine a bit of crypto would be fine. Maybe bump up the risers and add a card or two.

Asics however are not cheap and the market is very volatile. I *THINK* i'll earn back my investments on ASICS, but I bought reasonably cheap. I've already said above that I wouldn't buy an S9 at $2300 atm as i'd be worried about making that back. Better to invest that in crypto as it's cheap(ish) atm but that's not really an income.

*IF* you've got a few grand and want a better return but reasonably safe, look at Property Partner. Alas not under an ISA umbrella ATM so tax to be paid, but you can get ~4-5% monthly return there and potential for sales growth too. It's not the return of crypto, but also not the risks (maybe split whatever you have between a few coins and this?)

As for converting crypto back to fiat, it's doable, but it's tricky and there are risks there too as BANKS are not that keen on it. Revolut may be a useful route but it's not there yet. Bittylicious works and there are a few exchanges. I also like the use crypto to buy something and sell that route though that's liable to give paypal credit etc. It's all a bit new and up in the air.

Sorry again to be negative, but i'd prefer someone to go into this, or not, with their eyes open than potentially get stung later.

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by 1781cc

So I see that a lot of this is skewed towards bespoke gpu hardware but is there a way of putting an older laptop to use mining coins? Just ticking away slowly in the background? Doesn’t have to be something heavy.

I read recently you can mine monero using an app called salon on older pcs, or did I get that wrong? I’m crypto trading at the moment but wondered if I could put something I have laying around to use...

For older hardware, staking would probably be more practical/profitable. Staking requires very little performance, though sometimes you will need a reasonable amount of hard drive space. Staking is a bit like earning interest. Some coins will earn you staking rewards just by owning them, requiring no computing power at all, while others require you to keep the coins in an open wallet running 24/7. Some coins also have 'masternodes'. To become a masternode usually requires that you hold a large amount of coins but the rewards are much higher than regular staking. The reasoning behind staking is that by encouraging users to 'hodl' helps the coins grow in value and, for those that require an open wallet, the users act as nodes, helping to run the network by validating transactions and/or maintaining an up-to-date copy of the blockchain.

I earn staking rewards from a few coins that I own, such as NEO, Deep Onion and Linda Coin. With NEO you earn 'gas' just by owning NEO (no need to leave the wallet open) but the rewards are fairly small unless you own a huge amount of NEO. Deep Onion and Linda are both the 'open wallet' type, which I leave running 24/7 on an old PC. Again, not huge rewards but still worthwhile, especially if the PC is usualy switched on and running anyway. Linda coin is also a masternode coin but presently you need 30 million Lindas to run a masternode. However, the developers have recently announced that they will be lowering the masternode requirement to 2 million Lindas in a few months.

[ulfilias]

Originally Posted by Delboy

I did what you did and smashed out 80 coins in 1hr 30 for 75 quid of BTC and at current LCC price is £287. (it is sliding down all the time and still not able to deposit it at Yobit)

That was my first ever venture into renting as well so an interesting experience.

Wow.....Nice. Can't say i've got much of an idea how to do this, but looks curious!

My S9, S7 & S7(2 card) have got 12 coins since 5pm yesterday which ~16 a day which is $70-90 a day for 22TH. Estimates vary and the last hour was 1.1 though that would be 26!!!
Definitely better than BTC/BCH etc at the moment, though how long it will last at that rate, who knows!!!

As for the price, I expect a drop once it gets properly tradable and it'll take a month or two to see where it's actual price lies. However it looks to be a good coin for actually doing things so has some interesting potential

[ulfilias]

Originally Posted by moltuae

For older hardware, staking would probably be more practical/profitable. Staking requires very little performance, though sometimes you will need a reasonable amount of hard drive space. Staking is a bit like earning interest.

I'm staking on UNIT and Trezarcoin. Both stuff i've mined. I've about 100 UNIT and 2500 TZC. Earn't a 100 TZC staking whilst i've been mining (~60 a day on 4x GTX970). Unit it's saying about 7 days to a drop though quite what that'll be i don't know. My laptop isn't particularly powerful but also doesn't use much juice and it's generally on when i'm around doing other stuff, so it's a bonus.
Only have to have the wallet open....Some wallets can take a while to sync so you can download the prior stuff in a zip from some places which speeds that up!

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by ulfilias

Sorry to say this steamship, but crypto probably isn't for you. It sounds like you would be investing money that you couldn't afford to loose which is potentially dangerous.

*IF* you have a gaming PC then using it to mine a bit of crypto would be fine. Maybe bump up the risers and add a card or two.

Asics however are not cheap and the market is very volatile. I *THINK* i'll earn back my investments on ASICS, but I bought reasonably cheap. I've already said above that I wouldn't buy an S9 at $2300 atm as i'd be worried about making that back. Better to invest that in crypto as it's cheap(ish) atm but that's not really an income.

*IF* you've got a few grand and want a better return but reasonably safe, look at Property Partner. Alas not under an ISA umbrella ATM so tax to be paid, but you can get ~4-5% monthly return there and potential for sales growth too. It's not the return of crypto, but also not the risks (maybe split whatever you have between a few coins and this?)

As for converting crypto back to fiat, it's doable, but it's tricky and there are risks there too as BANKS are not that keen on it. Revolut may be a useful route but it's not there yet. Bittylicious works and there are a few exchanges. I also like the use crypto to buy something and sell that route though that's liable to give paypal credit etc. It's all a bit new and up in the air.

Sorry again to be negative, but i'd prefer someone to go into this, or not, with their eyes open than potentially get stung later.

I think that's great advice.

You really do have to think of cryptocurrency investing as gambling. Don't invest what you can't afford to lose.

Having said that, if you're sensible, do your research and gradually build-up a diversified portfolio, you can make huge profits. You can make money by playing the exchanges and buying and selling at the right time but that really is a gamble and takes a lot of skill/luck. Most people who have been investing in cryptocurrencies for more than a year will tell you to "just hodl (hold)". If you have the nerve to ride the dips, any cryptocurrency that's worth investing in will generally increase in value in the long run, sometimes by more than 100x. If you're looking to invest, I would start with an amount that you are prepared to lose. Invest and wait. Don't panic or pull out at the first dip. If after a few months you have managed to make a good profit, you could even take out your original investment and continue investing your profits.

[steamship]

Originally Posted by ulfilias

Sorry to say this steamship, but crypto probably isn't for you. It sounds like you would be investing money that you couldn't afford to loose which is potentially dangerous.

*IF* you have a gaming PC then using it to mine a bit of crypto would be fine. Maybe bump up the risers and add a card or two.

Asics however are not cheap and the market is very volatile. I *THINK* i'll earn back my investments on ASICS, but I bought reasonably cheap. I've already said above that I wouldn't buy an S9 at $2300 atm as i'd be worried about making that back. Better to invest that in crypto as it's cheap(ish) atm but that's not really an income.

*IF* you've got a few grand and want a better return but reasonably safe, look at Property Partner. Alas not under an ISA umbrella ATM so tax to be paid, but you can get ~4-5% monthly return there and potential for sales growth too. It's not the return of crypto, but also not the risks (maybe split whatever you have between a few coins and this?)

As for converting crypto back to fiat, it's doable, but it's tricky and there are risks there too as BANKS are not that keen on it. Revolut may be a useful route but it's not there yet. Bittylicious works and there are a few exchanges. I also like the use crypto to buy something and sell that route though that's liable to give paypal credit etc. It's all a bit new and up in the air.

Sorry again to be negative, but i'd prefer someone to go into this, or not, with their eyes open than potentially get stung later.

Before I even got to Mark's response to this, I have to say that those are the words I probably needed to hear. You're not being negative, but honest, and that's what counts. With that in mind, I think I shall shy away from mining rigs.

Originally Posted by moltuae

I think that's great advice.

You really do have to think of cryptocurrency investing as gambling. Don't invest what you can't afford to lose.

If you're looking to invest, I would start with an amount that you are prepared to lose. Invest and wait. Don't panic or pull out at the first dip. If after a few months you have managed to make a good profit, you could even take out your original investment and continue investing your profits.

With those frank and honest words by ulfilias above, I will be considering what you said here. Pick a sum that I'm prepared to lose, and invest it. Watch and wait, and sit on my hands to stop me selling at the slightest hint of a downturn. Then, as you say, if things go well, I'll be able to withdraw my initial investment and continue with the profits.

Up until now, I've had too many options to consider between GPU rigs, ASICs, direct trading and investing. At least now I can focus on the one area.

[ulfilias]

Originally Posted by steamship

With those frank and honest words by ulfilias above, I will be considering what you said here. Pick a sum that I'm prepared to lose, and invest it. Watch and wait, and sit on my hands to stop me selling at the slightest hint of a downturn. Then, as you say, if things go well, I'll be able to withdraw my initial investment and continue with the profits.

Up until now, I've had too many options to consider between GPU rigs, ASICs, direct trading and investing. At least now I can focus on the one area.

I'd be tempted with beer money and have said to a few friends the same sort of thing. Do a bit of research find a coin or two you believe are good and throw £10-50 at it and then pretty much ignore it for a year.
The kind of money you blow on a night out won't make any difference to your night out (drink water or soda and lime/blackcurrant etc) but if it takes off it could make a nice amount to play with. If it doesn't then realistically you've not lost anything, you've also gained insight, education and you've tried!
It's better odds than the lottery that's for sure!

[ainarssems]

I think I need to get in staking as well, that's the part I have not tried yet, just need to decide the which coins to stake. What are the HDD space requirements for the coins you are staking and how fast is the space used growing?

I came across this and wondered if it was possible

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2056032.0

It did not work exactly as described there as it was for S7 and there was no config data in cgminer.sh file but it did tell to use config.conf file in there so I found config.conf file using WinSCP but it's only my pools in there, no dev pools or anything else relating to fee mining. It's probably burried somewhere in the code before compiling so will be difficult to find.

No thats without electric. My s9 is chewing through £140 per month electric.

It's about £108 for me, you might want to shop around for another electricity supplier.

Found this site showing miner profitability, also lists some miners I was not aware about before. https://www.asicminervalue.com/

CryptoNight price have gone well down on MRR as well so I need to switch AMD GPU rigs over to ETH which means finding new GPU settings as they just crash at the current settings used for CryptoNight. Eth mining also requires larger power consumption but extra heat would be welcome in this cold spell of weather.

Bitmain released new batch of L3+ at a bit lower price, I am tempted to buy 1 or 2 more and possibly sell S9 as the L3+ is lower power consumption and lower noise but on the other hand don't want too much eggs in one basket.

Speaking of which I finally got building blocks in the size I wanted to build shelving units for miners. There is a picture below to give you idea what it would look like. It will be 5 holes high with space for 2 miners and 2 PSU's on each shelf. Front and back will be closed with mdf probably lined with multifoil insulation like used for house insulation or car soundproofing https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YBS-Super...IfmBWmXiq1_w9A or https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3m-GlassM...QAAOSwIzNXPG9R
At the front side horizontal block will be cut so that it only closes sides and fron part will be all joined in one plenum chamber, air will supplied at the front through 1x12" or 2x8" ducts and fans from outside about 2000-3000CFM. At the back there will be 1x 5" exhaust going out for each miner and 4.5" adapter on the back of each miner freely going in the exhaust vent with a bit of gap around it and hopefully drawing a bit of air around it as well providing better ventilation for the whole setup and helping to keep PSU's cool as well. Exhaust ducts will be just venting in the garage to keep it warm for now, possibly adding another 12" exhaust fan from the garage later down the line, if it's too hot in summer they will go to the outside of garage. Power sockets and Ethernet switch will be located inside the unit as well. Front MDF will be made into door hinged for ease of access and sealed with rubber foam seals.

Maybe I should get in hydroponics as well, heating and ventilation will be there already, just need to add some lightning and growing arrangements

[Delboy]

Originally Posted by ainarssems

I think I need to get in staking as well, that's the part I have not tried yet, just need to decide the which coins to stake. What are the HDD space requirements for the coins you are staking and how fast is the space used growing?



It did not work exactly as described there as it was for S7 and there was no config data in cgminer.sh file but it did tell to use config.conf file in there so I found config.conf file using WinSCP but it's only my pools in there, no dev pools or anything else relating to fee mining. It's probably burried somewhere in the code before compiling so will be difficult to find.



It's about £108 for me, you might want to shop around for another electricity supplier.

Found this site showing miner profitability, also lists some miners I was not aware about before. https://www.asicminervalue.com/

CryptoNight price have gone well down on MRR as well so I need to switch AMD GPU rigs over to ETH which means finding new GPU settings as they just crash at the current settings used for CryptoNight. Eth mining also requires larger power consumption but extra heat would be welcome in this cold spell of weather.

Bitmain released new batch of L3+ at a bit lower price, I am tempted to buy 1 or 2 more and possibly sell S9 as the L3+ is lower power consumption and lower noise but on the other hand don't want too much eggs in one basket.

Speaking of which I finally got building blocks in the size I wanted to build shelving units for miners. There is a picture below to give you idea what it would look like. It will be 5 holes high with space for 2 miners and 2 PSU's on each shelf. Front and back will be closed with mdf probably lined with multifoil insulation like used for house insulation or car soundproofing https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YBS-Super...IfmBWmXiq1_w9A or https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3m-GlassM...QAAOSwIzNXPG9R
At the front side horizontal block will be cut so that it only closes sides and fron part will be all joined in one plenum chamber, air will supplied at the front through 1x12" or 2x8" ducts and fans from outside about 2000-3000CFM. At the back there will be 1x 5" exhaust going out for each miner and 4.5" adapter on the back of each miner freely going in the exhaust vent with a bit of gap around it and hopefully drawing a bit of air around it as well providing better ventilation for the whole setup and helping to keep PSU's cool as well. Exhaust ducts will be just venting in the garage to keep it warm for now, possibly adding another 12" exhaust fan from the garage later down the line, if it's too hot in summer they will go to the outside of garage. Power sockets and Ethernet switch will be located inside the unit as well. Front MDF will be made into door hinged for ease of access and sealed with rubber foam seals.

Maybe I should get in hydroponics as well, heating and ventilation will be there already, just need to add some lightning and growing arrangements

Nice find on the Asic site, bit annoyed to see both my s9 and l3+ are not the quicker models despite buying them after the release of the faster ones directly from Bitmain.

I am also thinking about the L3's, would need to off load the s9's or find somewhere else to put them. I did consider coalition but not found a place with cheap enough costs yet.

So what you gonna be growing in the hydroponics, its a good idea, like you said your already half way there so you might as well.