Bitcoin mining is the process Bitcoin Miners use to acquire new Bitcoins. New Bitcoins are given as a reward to Bitcoin miners for their work in validating Bitcoin transactions on Bitcoin's network. The Bitcoin network also awards miners with new bitcoins for contributing their computation power to the network. The speed of mining Bitcoins is measured in hashes per second. Miners who provide the greatest computation power receive high rewards. The following are steps that can enable one become a Bitcoin Miner.
Step 1: Purchase hardware
Mining Bitcoins is becoming harder each day; a miner will thus need a custom made hardware with better performance as compared to ordinary computers with common video processing cards and CPU.
Special computer equipment that is specifically designed for mining Bitcoins is available for sale on sites such as Amazon. The best computer hardware to use for mining Bitcoins must have a high hashing rate and low electricity consumption.
Step 2: Obtain a Bitcoin wallet and mining software
A miner will need to keep Bitcoins that have been mined in a wallet. This wallet comes with an address where mined Bitcoins are kept. A Bitcoin wallet can be downloaded from sites such as bitcoinwallet.com. After downloading the wallet, one will need a Bitcoin mining software. The software will help the new miner to connect with other Bitcoin miners. The software the new miner chooses to mine with will depend on the type of hardware he/she is using to mine Bitcoins.
Step 3: Decide whether to mine in a pool or alone
Mining in a pool will enable a miner to share his/her computer mining power with the mining power of others. Once a mining task has been completed, miners in a pool share the reward. Mining in a pool can enable one get a quick return. Mining alone is difficult, but rewards after mining are high.
Most pools charge a fee from pool member's earnings.
Step 4: Check once profitability
As a miner, it is advisable to check your Bitcoin earnings and compare them to the time you have taken to earn them and the power your computer has consumed. Most miners chose to go large scale to benefit from economies of scale. Choosing a cheap energy source such as solar is also advisable.
Coins mined can be withheld for speculation purposes or sold to either a Bitcoin exchange site or another Bitcoin buyer. One can also decide to use the coins for buying goods and services. Miners are also advised to regularly check the news on cryptocurrencies on online news platforms such as coindesk.com, cointelegraph.com or cryptocoinsnews.com as the industry is not widely regulated.
