How much Bitcoin can you mine in a day?
If you’ve been around the crypto realm for a while, you’ve probably come across the term Bitcoin mining. While it’s an appealing practice, there are some factors you should consider before you go and buy your first mining rig, including how much Bitcoin you can mine in a day.
Bitcoin mining, for some, is a painfully expensive task, or an appealing way to make money by creating new bitcoins. Anyway, this article will explain common questions such as how much Bitcoin one can expect to earn per day while mining, how expensive it is, and how BTC mining works in depth.
That being said, how much BTC can you mine in a day and how hard is it? We will explore these questions and more below.
How much Bitcoin can you mine in a day?
Technically, you can mine as much as 900 Bitcoins per day taking into account the cryptocurrency’s current inflation rate. Bitcoin’s inflation rates are halved every four years in a process known as halving. However, there is a limit that is not available to any miner, as it is the total amount that enters circulation every 24 hours.
First, mining Bitcoin solo is an extremely difficult and expensive task; the computing power you need to mine a block in 10 minutes (which is the average BTC transaction time) translates to about 3000 mining rigs. Let’s break it down:
- Today, the average market price of an S19 miner, one of the most popular (and relatively affordable) mining machines, is around $3,000.
- An S19 has a hash rate of 110 TH/s — with a power consumption of 3250W.
- The hash rate, the parameter that determines the computer power required to mine 1 BTC, is currently at 323.22 EH/s, and one exahash = 1 quintillion
- TH/s is one trillion hashes per second, therefore to reach 323.22 you need around 3000 mining rigs, which can cost around 10 million dollars.
Make a note of it degrees of difficulty automatically adjusted every two weeks.
Also, mining 1 BTC per day is not only extremely expensive – you are also competing against a network of miners. We are talking about tens of thousands of computers that discover a block every ten minutes. This is where BTC mining pools come into play.
Join a BTC Mining Pool
Bitcoin mining pools are an alternative option to mine BTC. Instead of buying millions of dollars worth of mining equipment, you pay a commission fee (around 1% – 5%) to join the pool and cooperate with other miners.
BTC mining pools refer to a common group of networked computers that share processing power to mine a new block on the Bitcoin blockchain. Regardless of which miner discovers a new block, the rewards are distributed among the participants, who must share a proof of work to get their respective percentage.
Joining a BTC mining pool with a single mining rig is still difficult; even pools with over thousands of mining rigs take one to two weeks to mine a block. Either way, joining a pool is significantly cheaper and can help you generate an extra income in the long run.
Note that you receive rewards proportional to the amount of hashrate power, e.g. 1% of hashrate gives you 1% of block rewards.
Currently, Foundry USA is the leading BTC mining pool with 33.3% of the total hashrate. This means that the pool is responsible for mining 299.7 BTC out of the 900 mined per day.
Understanding Bitcoin Mining
Bitcoin mining refers to the process of 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.
The larger the computer network, the more secure the network is as they can deter tampering by malicious actors. The computer, called a miner, acts as a node that follows a set of rules to validate blocks and keep the network running.
Also read: What is XBT? Is it different from Bitcoin’s BTC Ticker?
Similarly, the miners who solve the math quiz are rewarded with a fixed amount of BTC, which is 6.25 BTC per block — but this will decrease with the next halving, scheduled for 2024. But while the BTC supply is expected to sit below the maximum supply of 21 million due to BTC’s fractional system expressed in Satoshis, if the supply reaches that number, it would cut miners’ fees, forcing miners to earn only transaction fees.
Final Thoughts: Is Bitcoin Mining Profitable?
Bitcoin mining, while a potentially rewarding job, has its fair share of difficulties and risks. Miners with ideal conditions – meaning low energy prices and/or a large amount of hashrate – can still reap a significant amount of rewards despite the solid competition.
It is important to consider all the potential implications of Bitcoin mining before actually acquiring equipment. Bitcoin mining calculators can be helpful in understanding whether such a venture would be worth it.
Some miners, it is important to add, accept small losses in operations to help secure the network and to learn more about cryptocurrency.
FAQ
What is proof of work?
Proof-of-work (PoW) is a consensus algorithm in which a global network of miners competes to process new Bitcoin blocks into the blockchain. The concept was first used in the cryptocurrency world at its inception, with the creation of Bitcoin in 2009 by the mysterious developer Satoshi Nakamoto.
What is the difference between PoW and PoS?
PoW, next to PoS (Proof-of-Stake) are the two most popular consensus algorithms used by cryptocurrency networks. There are some important differences between the two.
First, a PoW blockchain relies on a network of users who provide computer hardware to process transactions. Meanwhile, a PoS blockchain will also rely on a network of individuals who, rather than linking mining rigs together, have all staked a portion of the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency to participate in the validation process. The process is less expensive and less energy-intensive, although it is not considered as secure as PoW.
Are there other ways to mine Bitcoin?
It is also possible to take advantage of cloud mining to mine Bitcoin and other digital assets. Cloud mining essentially handles the mining task to a third party, with the miner simply reaping the rewards generated by the hardware they purchase. Several major players offer cloud mining solutions, including Binance.
Featured image via Unsplash.