Cryptocurrencies have had a roller coaster ride of popularity over the past decade, rising and falling seemingly unaffected by traditional market influences. The price of Bitcoin rose from a few thousand dollars to over $40,000 in less than a year, and the news is full of stories about people who became overnight millionaires thanks to the cryptocurrency’s meteoric rise. In spite of this, the majority of Americans do not own any Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies because they find the concept baffling and lacking in clarity as to how it works. If you’d like to play around with Bitcoin but don’t want to put any money into it, you could try “mining.”
Solving complex mathematical problems on your computer in exchange for Bitcoins is what this method entails. After solving these mathematical problems, which are usually Bitcoin transactions between two entities, which are added to the Blockchain, a large database of these transactions, you then receive compensation for your work. Companies have been formed specifically in order to build massive mining farms to process Blockchain transactions at an enormous rate, which necessitates a significant amount of electricity. If you’ve got a home PC, though, you can help the Bitcoin mining process in some small way for which you then receive compensation. So, how does it all go down?
Mining at Home
NiceHash is a simple software program that will allow you to mine for Bitcoin, store it, and then sell it for real money if you so desire. With this program, you can earn a small amount of money each month depending on your personal setup, and rather easily, unlike many other similar programs, which can have complicated setup processes.
Create an account on the company’s website, and then click on the “mining” option on the dashboard to download a free mining program. The NiceHash OS version can be installed on USB drives from which it can run, but the process of setting it up is rather complicated. MinerGate, for example, is a Mac-friendly alternative for Apple computer users, although it should be noted that mining on Mac computers is not recommended.
You can begin mining as soon as you’ve activated the software, logged into your NiceHash account, and clicked the “play” button. To find out what kind of cryptocurrency you can mine, the program will scan your computer’s hardware. Your computer’s graphics card and CPU will be used while mining for cryptocurrency, so you may notice a slowdown in your computer’s performance. NiceHash will show you how many Bitcoins you’ve accumulated and how much you’re earning as soon as you start working on the Blockchain. In your NiceHash e-wallet or on an external service like Coinbase, you can keep your cryptocurrencies.
What Can I Expect to Make?
The amount of money you can make with NiceHash is somewhat dependent on the processing power of your computer. High-powered gaming computers can earn up to $5 a day, while the average home computer earns less than $0.50. Be aware that if you choose to leave your computer on all the time with NiceHash running, you may not be able to cover the cost of the energy it takes to run it. NiceHash is a fun way to learn about cryptocurrency, but it’s unlikely that you’ll make a lot of money from it unless the price of Bitcoin surges again.
