Bitcoin mining is a popular activity that can also be profitable. However, the only way to be a profitable bitcoin miner is to use the fastest and most energy-efficient mining rigs called ASICs, which have been specifically designed to mine bitcoin. A bitcoin USB miner is no longer profitable as it cannot possibly compete with ASICs anymore.
Individuals sometimes think that mining at home is their only option. This is not true; the advent of hosted mining has made mining accessible to anyone, even if they lack the technical expertise.
One of the drawbacks of mining at home is the amount of noise a modern mining rig generates: between 40 and 85 decibels, comparable to most vacuum cleaners. This is not suitable for a living area given that miners ideally operate 24/7, so naturally people get creative and look for other solutions, such as the sometimes discussed USB miner.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of USB miners? Are they worth buying and can they make a profit?
What Is a USB Bitcoin Miner?
A USB Bitcoin Miner is a small device that can be plugged into the USB port of a PC or laptop to mine bitcoin. It is possible to plug multiple USB miners into a USB hub to boost the collective mining power of the computer.
Is a USB Bitcoin Miner Profitable?
Daily returns for a USB Bitcoin Miner are likely to be a fraction of a cent making the USB miner unprofitable. The size of a miner’s payout is dependent on their share of the hashrate in a mining pool. Modern ASICs have a hash rate of at least 100 terahashes per second, which means they are doing 100 trillion hash calculations every single second. Modern mining rigs only use around 19-30 Watts to do one trillion hashes. For comparison, some USB miners claim a hash rate of 25 gigahashes per second, which is 25 billion hash calculations every second. This is 4,000 times slower than an ASIC, and USB miners do not use 4,000 times less electricity than an ASIC.
A USB device cannot possibly compete with ASICs anymore. Anyone stating otherwise is being dishonest and trying to sell something that cannot come close to making a profit.
Some hobbyists may look at USB miners as an accessible way to learn a bit about Bitcoin mining, but know that there is a 100% chance to lose the money invested, and it is an unrealistic experience compared to real Bitcoin mining.
For those interested in mining as an individual, take a look at River Mining. You buy the ASICs and we take care of the setup and maintenance. Through our River app you can monitor your progress and watch your ASIC mine bitcoin directly into your account.
Key Takeaways
A USB Bitcoin miner looks like an easy way to get into mining.
USB miners have too little hashrate and too low efficiency to be competitive.
However, the only way to be a profitable bitcoin miner
miner
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, or otherwise working and removing the rock.
is to use the fastest and most energy-efficient mining rigs called ASICs, which have been specifically designed to mine bitcoin. A bitcoin USB miner is no longer profitable as it cannot possibly compete with ASICs anymore.
Are USB Bitcoin Miners Worth It? USB Bitcoin miners do not have the computational capacity to effectively mine or even generate any profit as of November 2023, so they are not worth it if you want to mine for income.
Bitcoin mining can be profitable if you contribute enough hashing power to a mining pool to receive larger rewards. If you're solo mining at home on your computer, you may never receive rewards.
Bitcoin miners are faring significantly better than they did in 2022, with current data indicating that 21 ASIC mining rigs are netting profits of $5 or more daily. As of now, leading the pack in daily earnings is the Microbt Whatsminer M63S, achieving 390 terahash per second (TH/s) of SHA256 hashing power.
If you're successful in mining a Bitcoin block, you'll receive 6.25 BTC – currently valued at over $162,500. You'll also receive the transaction fees paid by senders for the respective block. What's more, Bitcoin mining is also possible without purchasing any equipment.
... for three miners, power consumption is 0.3W -0.6W and for four miners, the power consumption is 0.3W -0.6W. Table 2 clearly depicts the average power consumption is 0.3W/GH which makes this device currently the most powerful Bitcoin Stick miner on the market.
MultiMiner is the best option for beginners, with an easy-to-use GUI and quick-start mining feature. Novices can get started with MultiMiner—no technical skills required. MultiMiner allows users to easily connect to a pool and begin mining.
Bitcoin Miners Revenue Per Day is at a current level of 30.92M, up from 26.55M yesterday and up from 25.72M one year ago. This is a change of 16.47% from yesterday and 20.20% from one year ago.
Mining a Bitcoin depends on your energy rate per Kwh, it costs $11,000K to mine a Bitcoin at 10 cents per Kwh and $5,170K to mine a Bitcoin at 4.7 cents per Kwh. Learn how and if mining right for you in 2024! As Bitcoin's price goes up, so do the miners' prices.
Daily returns for a USB Bitcoin Miner are likely to be a fraction of a cent making the USB miner unprofitable. The size of a miner's payout is dependent on their share of the hashrate in a mining pool.
Generally speaking, if you're mining Bitcoin at home, you can make anywhere from $30 to $450 per mining machine each month. (Wondering why it's such a large range?
Per company literature, Auradine's AI3680 model miners are “capable of achieving an output of 0 to 375 TH/s, with an optimal efficiency of 15 J/TH.” For reference, Bitmain's Antminer S21 Hydro, among the fastest miners currently in production, is rated at 335 TH/s.
If a miner is able to successfully add a block to the blockchain, they will receive 3.125 bitcoins as a reward. The reward amount is cut in half roughly every four years, or every 210,000 blocks. As of April 2024, Bitcoin traded at around $63,000, making 3.125 bitcoins worth $196,875.
Bitcoin transaction costs only depend on how big in bytes your transaction is. As such, the dollar value you're sending is irrelevant with Bitcoin. A simple transaction usually costs around 200-2,000 sats or $0.06-$0.60 USD which could be for $100 or $100 million dollars.
The CBECI estimates that global electricity usage associated with Bitcoin mining ranged from 67 TWh to 240 TWh in 2023, with a point estimate of 120 TWh.
Some USB miners report earnings of only a few dollars per day, while others claim to earn hundreds of dollars per day. For example, a Bitmain Antminer U1 can earn around 0.0006 BTC per day, which translates to around $20 at the time of writing, while an ASICminer USB Block Erupter may earn only around $1 per day.
Key Takeaways. It is possible but not profitable to use a phone as a mining device, as they are not the best tool for the job. Meaningful competition against specialized mining computers called ASICs is not feasible, due to their high energy efficiency and calculation speed.
Introduction: My name is Edwin Metz, I am a fair, energetic, helpful, brave, outstanding, nice, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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