Cryptocurrency is the new buzzword. This new form of digital currency has taken the world by storm and has become the talk of the town. Just like your traditional dollar bill, you can use cryptocurrency to buy goods and services, or trade your crypto for profit.
People are getting more familiar with cryptocurrency, and many of them are investing a fortune. However crypto has also sparked some polarizing opinions.
There is a lot of divisive debate on whether it is a good investment and does cryptocurrency has any real value. These aren’t remarks made by inexperienced investors or financial consultants. People like Warren Buffet, Jack Ma & Bill Gates are skeptical about cryptocurrency.
On the other hand, there are people like Elon Musk, Mark Cuban & Gwyneth Paltrow who have invested in different cryptocurrencies. Many celebrities have shown interest in crypto and some of them are investing a lot of money in cryptocurrency.
Even though the term “cryptocurrency” came to the limelight in 2009 with the creation of Bitcoin, it is still fairly a new concept.
A recent survey shows that 93% of people in the United States don’t understand how cryptocurrency works. According to another poll, over 74 percent of people in the United States have no idea what Bitcoin or altcoins are.
But the fanaticism of crypto is on the rise and many countries are legitimizing the use of cryptocurrency. So, if you’re interested in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, this article will help you get started.
In this segment, we are going to understand:
- The basic concept of cryptocurrency
- How To mine crypto using your GPU
- The Best cryptocurrency to mine
- How To Invest In Cryptocurrency
- Which Cryptocurrency To Invest In
- Cryptocurrency to look out for in 2022
What Is Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency (better known as “crypto”) is a decentralized digital currency. This “digital money” is meant to be used through the internet and is mostly used to buy products and services online. However, over the years cryptocurrency has become a good investment opportunity.
Many people including celebrities and famous entrepreneurs are showing interest in crypto. Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin are two of the most popular High CPC keywords in 2022. People are investing in cryptocurrencies in the same way that they would in traditional assets such as stocks, bonds, and precious metals.
Bitcoin, the first and most popular cryptocurrency, was launched on Jan 3, 2009. It was created to be an electronic peer-to-peer cash system. But since its inception, Bitcoin has become more than just a digital currency. This virtual currency is operated by a decentralized authority.
Bitcoin, just like other cryptocurrencies uses an online ledger with strong cryptography to keep a track of online transactions and make any secure payments. Everyone has transparent access to this public ledger. Although each of the transaction records is encrypted.
People are increasingly trading cryptocurrencies for profit, and because the market is unregulated, speculation is driving prices up or down making the value of crypto volatile.
NFTs can also be purchased using cryptocurrency. Let’s leave NFT for another time if you don’t know what it is.
Many tech companies are now issuing their own cryptocurrency, often called tokens. These are just like casino chips, but virtual. You can exchange real currency for cryptocurrency and use them as an asset or buy goods and services using crypto.
Apart from buying cryptocurrency, you can also mine crypto using a powerful GPU.
Cryptocurrency Mining – How To Mine Bitcoin
From being a fad to a legitimate form of currency, crypto has come a long way. There is still a lot of controversy and differences of opinion surrounding crypto. However, cryptocurrency has found its way into the mainstream.
If you follow the crypto news you probably heard about crypto mining firms. When the bitcoin price started soaring and more and more people were becoming aware of cryptocurrency, a crypto mining race started.
People were not only investing money and buying bitcoin; many were also mining cryptocurrency with their laptops and GPUs. As a result, demand for graphics processing units increased (GPUs). And with this, the annual profits of GPU manufacturers skyrocketed, and the stock price increased.
Those who have missed out on Bitcoin started to invest in other cryptocurrencies and started mining. But for the crypto miners, the good news faded quickly.
Many nations have announced cryptocurrency mining illegal due to the excessive usage of power for mining cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin. However, there are many countries that still allow crypto mining with some limitations.
Environmental Impacts of Cryptocurrency Mining
Cryptocurrency mining is being criticized by many skeptics and environmentalists. Although cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) have turned out to be profitable investments and have gained some credibility, widespread cryptocurrency adoption might have a negative impact on our environment.
Cryptocurrency mining consumes a lot of energy, which can result in a rise in carbon emissions, and lead to climate change. Due to the computations required for mining, Bitcoin and certain other cryptocurrencies consume a lot of energy. Crypto miners use high-performance computers and GPUs to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which require a lot of power.
The Bitcoin network alone consumes as much energy as Argentina does in a year. Even though many crypto enthusiasts claim that most of the energy that is required to mine Bitcoin & keep the system running is coming from renewable sources, this statement is questionable.
According to a recent report, 65% of Bitcoin miners & Crypto mining firms are located in China. And China heavily relies on coal to generate electricity.
This can have a significant impact on climate change. As we now know that coal combustion is responsible for 46 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and 72 percent of overall greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
And it’s not just climate change. Cryptocurrency is also to blame for a staggering quantity of electronic trash. Crypto mining requires high-performance PCs with a good GPU that can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These devices quickly become obsolete due to excessive use.
Cryptocurrency mining, according to a report, generates between eight and twelve thousand tons of electrical waste each year.
What is Cryptocurrency Mining
The last section of our article probably made you hesitant about crypto mining. But let me give you a glimmer of hope. Not all cryptocurrencies require high computing power for mining. Many cryptocurrencies can be mined with a standard computer network and a reasonable graphics card. Furthermore, the environmental impact of these cryptocurrencies is quite negligible.
Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) also use the proof of stake (PoS) mechanism to validate transactions that do not require mining. Each transaction is processed with the same energy requirements as an ordinary computer network.
Whether you are for or against cryptocurrency, one thing is for sure that cryptocurrency is going to be the new normal. People are speaking up for decentralized currency, and many countries have started to embrace this change.
So it’s better if you pick on the trend quickly…..
Cryptocurrency mining is the easiest way to make money online. It is a great passive income source. The best part about crypto mining is, you can make money without putting in any work or effort.
All you will need is a decent GPU (graphics card) and a CPU to mine crypto. You can also use an ASIC miner to mine a specific cryptocurrency. You just have to connect your hardware or devices to a mining pool and you are good to go.
Here we will discuss the hardware and software that you will need to mine cryptocurrency. You will also get an idea about the best cryptocurrency you can mine using your GPU.
Crypto Mining With GPU
With the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, the concept of “crypto mining” came into the light. Although very few people knew about Bitcoin mining and those who knew were using their home computers to mine Bitcoin. As the value of Bitcoin started to surge, interest in Bitcoin and crypto mining also skyrocketed. People wanted to jump on board as soon as possible.
Due to the increase in demand, the mining process become more complex and had to be more efficient. This is when crypto miners started to use better hardware and more sophisticated devices. During its inception, Bitcoin mining was done using CPUs (central processing units). You could just use your PC to mine Bitcoin.
Over the years, the mining process became more complicated and needed better-performing hardware. This is when CPUs were replaced with GPUs (Graphics processing units). CPUs had a slow processing speed and high power consumption, making them inefficient. When it comes to rendering, graphics cards are more efficient than CPUs. GPUs can execute more instructions and decode hashes repeatedly with only one digit changing in each attempt.
In a nutshell, GPUs made the entire crypto mining process simpler and more efficient. It piqued people’s interest in the internet, and many began mining Bitcoin and other altcoins on GPUs. You probably have seen crypto miners rushing to buy GPUs when the Bitcoin price hit $8000 in 2017.
How To Mine Crypto With GPU
To get started with cryptocurrency mining you will need a few things along the way:
- A decent GPU
- High-performance computer to mine seamlessly
- Free mining software package.
- Crypto Wallet
- Join a crypto mining pool
- Membership at an online currency exchange.
Best Crypto Mining GPU
Crypto mining relies heavily on graphics cards. This is why you might need a GPU with a quicker processing speed and the ability to execute more instructions. Additionally, because the crypto mining process takes time, your hardware must be able to work for an extended length of time.
You might believe that mining cryptocurrencies with the finest graphics card (GPU) is a no-brainer. It is, in fact, a viable choice. But it’s not the best bet.
Yes, the best graphics card might work wonders in terms of data processing. But when it comes to efficiency, power consumption & the cost of GPU, you should probably look for a GPU that is a bit cheaper and can still perform properly.
In a nutshell, the RTX 3080 is a fantastic GPU for mining Bitcoin or Ethereum. However, there are alternative crypto mining GPUs that are less expensive and fit within your budget.
Here’s a list of high-end GPUs for crypto mining:
- ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 OC Edition (24GB GDDR6X Graphics Card)
- MSI GeForce RTX 3090 SUPRIM X With Gaming & Silent Mode (24GB Graphics Card)
- MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio (24GB Graphics Card)
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 GAMING OC (24GB GDDR6X Graphics Card)
- MSI GeForce RTX 3090 VENTUS 3X OC (24GB Graphics Card)
Here are some budget-friendly GPUs that work well for crypto mining:
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3070 TI EAGLE OC (8GB GDDR6X Graphics Card)
- MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ti SUPRIM (8GB GDDR6X Graphics Card)
- Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3070 OC Edition (8GB GDDR6 Graphics Card)
- ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 3070 (8GB GDDR6 Graphics Card)
- MSI Geforce RTX 3070 TI Gaming X Trio (8GB GDDR6X Graphics Card)
- ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB GDDR6 Graphics Card)
- Asus Dual GeForce RTX 3060 V2 (12GB GDDR6 Graphics Card)
- MSI GeForce RTX 3060 VENTUS 2X OC (12GB Graphics Card)
We have discussed the best GPUs for crypto mining along with all the pros and cons in our next article. Make sure to read it before you purchase a new graphics card to start mining cryptocurrency.
How Crypto Mining Works
Have you ever wondered why is there suddenly a lot of interest in crypto?
Even though the value of cryptocurrency is volatile and there are no regulations, people are still investing a fortune in crypto as it has proved to be a good investment and asset.
Cryptocurrency is fairly a new concept and is not accepted by everyone. But there is no denying that we are eventually going towards a decentralized currency. Crypto will be the currency of the future.
Investing in crypto can be difficult and sometimes overwhelming. Even learning about blockchain and how crypto works can make you puzzled and eventually you might just give up on it.
Starting from finding a cryptocurrency exchange to investing in the best crypto, the whole process can be fairly difficult and hard to grasp. Even financial experts find it difficult.
So does that mean you should avoid investing in crypto?
No, you should not. Crypto is still a great investment and just like any other investment it needs prior research. Make sure to do some reading before you start investing in crypto so you can make informed decisions rather than following the trend.
Even if you don’t want to invest in cryptocurrency, you may still get your hands on it without having to buy it. This is where the concept of crypto mining comes into play.
You can get crypto tokens without needing to buy them on a cryptocurrency exchange. Simply use your computer to mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ether, and more. With every new crypto mined, you would be rewarded with a fraction of it.
Cryptocurrency Mining For Dummies
To understand cryptocurrency you first need to understand what is blockchain.
Simply explained, blockchain is a digital ledger of cryptocurrency transactions that are duplicated, distributed, and maintained among several computers connected in a peer-to-peer network.
You probably know that cryptocurrency is a digital token. So unlike fiat money, cryptocurrency can not be printed. The only way to generate new cryptocurrency is through the process of mining.
But mining is not only about generating new coins. It refers to a cryptocurrency being issued from the total supply. You can even mine a cryptocurrency that is already circulating in the market.
Crypto is mined by solving cryptographic equations with the use of high-power computers. This process includes verifying data blocks and adding cryptocurrency transaction records to a public ledger known as a blockchain. Miners are awarded a fraction of the transaction as a fee for their effort.
Most cryptocurrencies have a limited supply cap. This makes cryptocurrency more valuable because the supply of coins remains constant while the popularity is rising. Which means there is more demand than supply. And when the demand exceeds supply, prices tend to skyrocket.
As a result of its growing popularity, the price of cryptocurrencies is expected to rise as more people get interested in the concept.
How Are Cryptocurrencies Mined
Many cryptocurrencies are mined using mining equipment: Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), designed to mine a particular crypto asset.
It is important to consistently upgrade your ASIC miner to the current version. Otherwise, you might find it difficult to compete with other skilled miners, as you may not get rewards for the same coin.
Top Cryptocurrency To Mine in 2022
Here we have created a list of popular cryptocurrencies to mine in 2022. You can start mining these cryptos with minimal investment and maximize your profits.
These crypto are listed based on:
- Future value of the cryptocurrency
- Availability on number of crypto exchanges
- The current popularity of the crypto
- Legitimacy based on location
- Crypto as a long term investment
- Possibility of withdrawing to fiat
Top 7 Cryptocurrency in 2022
- Ethereum Classic
- Litecoin
- Ravencoin
- Monero
- ZCash
- Grin
- Ethereum