If you’ve been in the Bitcoin realm for a minute, you’ve probably heard about Bitcoin mining. It’s either a brutal grind or a lucrative hustle, depending on your perspective. But before you drop some serious coin on a mining rig, you need to consider some key factors, including the amount of Bitcoin you can realistically mine in a day.
Bitcoin Mining – Not for the Faint of Heart
Let’s be clear: mining Bitcoin is no walk in the park. In fact, it’s one of the most challenging and expensive tasks you can undertake in the Bitcoin space, and in most cases just buying Bitcoin is a better option. The computational power required to mine a single block in 10 minutes (which is the average BTC transaction time) would take around 3000 mining rigs. That’s right, I said 3000!
To give you an idea of the cost, the average market price of an S19 miner, one of the more popular and relatively accessible mining machines, is around $3000. And that’s just for one rig! An S19 has a hashrate of 110 TH/s, with a power draw of 3250W.
And the hashrate, which is the parameter that determines the computer power required to mine 1 BTC, is currently at 324.22 EH/s. To reach that level, you would need around 3000 mining rigs, which could cost around $10 million. And don’t forget, the difficulty rates are adjusted automatically every two weeks.
Join a BTC Mining Pool
But even if you have the resources to mine 1 BTC per day, you’re still competing against a network of miners. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of computers discovering a block every ten minutes. This is where BTC mining pools come into play.
Joining a BTC mining pool is a cheaper alternative to mining solo, and it can help you generate extra income in the long-term. You simply pay a commission fee (usually around 1% – 5%) to join the pool and collaborate with other miners.
BTC mining pools refer to a joint group of network computers who share processing power to mine a new block on the Bitcoin blockchain. No matter which miner discovers a new block, the rewards are distributed between the participants based on their respective percentage of the total hashrate power.
Joining a pool with a single mining rig is still challenging, though. Even pools with thousands of mining rigs can take one to two weeks to mine a block. And remember, your rewards will be proportional to the amount of hashrate power you contribute. So, if you have 1% of the hashrate, you’ll get 1% of the block rewards.
Is it worth Mining BTC?
Now, you might be wondering, is it even worth it to mine Bitcoin? The short answer is, it depends. While some miners can reap substantial rewards under ideal conditions (low energy prices and/or a large amount of hashrate), mining Bitcoin is not without its risks and difficulties.
So, before you invest in equipment, make sure to consider all the potential implications and use Bitcoin mining calculators to estimate your potential profits.
And don’t forget about Proof-of-Work (PoW), the consensus algorithm that underlies Bitcoin mining. PoW relies on a global network of miners who compete to process new Bitcoin blocks into the blockchain.
Finally, there are other ways to mine Bitcoin, which allows you to outsource the mining task to a third-party and simply reap the rewards generated by the hardware they purchase. There are different ways of doing this but stay away from cloud mining. Thank me later!
Mining Bitcoin Yeay or Nay?
Bitcoin mining is not for the faint of heart. It requires significant investment, both in terms of time and money, and the competition is fierce. However, for those who are willing to put in the effort, the rewards can be substantial. Just remember to do your research and consider all the potential implications before diving in.
At the end of the day, Bitcoin mining is all about creating and validating new blocks in the blockchain, which ultimately results in the production of new bitcoins in circulation. This process is carried out by a global network of computers that solve mathematical puzzles, and the miners that solve these puzzles are rewarded with a fixed amount of BTC.
The amount of BTC per block currently stands at 6.25 BTC, but this will decrease with the next halving, scheduled for around this time next year.
While Bitcoin’s supply is expected to sit below the maximum supply of 21 million due to its fractional system expressed in Satoshis, if the supply reaches that number, it would cut miners’ fees, forcing miners to only earn transaction fees.
Ultimately the choice is yours, but personally, I prefer to buy and HODL Bitcoin. But I don’t live in an area of cheap energy, and I don’t like the idea of counterparty risk.
Pablo is a writer at Bitcoin Maximalist. Originally from Spain, Pablo grew up in the UK, and loves clubbing and gaming. Pablo is a keen Bitcoiner and loves to share his wisdom to help spread the good news of Bitcoin.
