Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 3 Part 1: Getting Started with Cryptocurrency Mining 5 Chapter 1: Cryptocurrency Explained 7 A Short History of Digital Dollars 8 First, take the Internet 8 Add credit card confusion 8 Add a dash of David Chaum 9 Result? DigiCash, E-Gold, Millicent, CyberCash, and More 10 The Bitcoin white paper 10 Bitcoin: The first blockchain app 11 Who (or what) is Satoshi Nakamoto? 12 What’s the Blockchain? 13 Blockchain around the world — the blockchain network 13 Hashing: “Fingerprinting” blocks 14 Blockchain is “immutable” 15 Where’s the Money? 16 What’s the Crypto in Cryptocurrency? 18 Public Key Encryption Magic 20 Messages to the blockchain 21 Signing messages with the private key 22 The blockchain address — your money’s home 22 Sending a transaction message 23 Unraveling the message 24 The Basic Components of Cryptocurrency 25 What’s in a wallet? 25 Private keys create public keys 26 Public keys create blockchain addresses 26 The private key controls the address 26 Where Does Crypto Come From? The Crypto Mines (Sometimes) 27 Chapter 2: Understanding Cryptocurrency Mining 29 Understanding Decentralized Currencies 30 Exploring the Role of the Crypto Miner 31 Making Cryptocurrency Trustworthy 32 Reaching Agreement through Consensus Algorithms 34 Looking at the Cryptocurrency Miner 35 Making the Crypto World Go ‘Round 37 Chapter 3: Building Blocks: The Transaction’s Journey to the Blockchain 39 The Cryptocurrency Network 40 Submitting Transactions 44 Looking at transaction fees 44 Change address 46 Verifying the transaction 47 Competing for Bitcoin, the ten-minute contest 48 Winning the Bitcoin 50 Chapter 4: Exploring the Different Forms of Mining 53 Proof-of-Work Algorithms 53 Proof-of-work applications 55 Proof-of-work examples 56 Upsides 58 Downsides 59 Proof-of-Stake Algorithms 60 Proof of stake explained 60 Proof-of-stake selections 62 PoS example cryptocurrencies 63 Upsides 64 Downsides 64 Hybrid Proof of Stake/Proof of Work 65 Hybrids explained 66 Hybridized examples 68 Upsides 68 Downsides 69 Delegated Proof of Stake 69 Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance 69 Proof of Burn 70 And More 71 Part 2: the Evolution of Cryptocurrency Mining 73 Chapter 5: The Evolution of Mining 75 Proof of Work Mining Evolution 76 CPU mining 76 Adoption of GPUs 76 Rise of the FPGAs 77 Dominance and efficiency of ASICs 77 The Days of Solo Mining 79 Pool Mining 80 What is a mining pool? 80 Choosing a pool 81 Pros and cons of pool mining 82 Cloud Mining 83 Pool mining versus cloud mining 84 Pros and cons of cloud mining 84 Chapter 6: The Future of Cryptocurrency Mining 85 Incentivization of Energy Exploration 85 Underutilized hydroelectric dams 86 Oil and gas flaring 87 Continued Computational Efficiency Improvements 88 Doing more with less 88 Approaching the limits of physics 88 Corporate and Nation State Participation 89 Nation states 89 Corporations 91 Future speculation 91 The Mythical Miner Death Spiral 92 Block difficulty 93 Block difficulty adjustment algorithm 93 Miners of last resort 95 Part 3: Becoming a Cryptocurrency Miner 97 Chapter 7: Mining Made Simple: Finding a Pool and Preparing an Account 99 Understanding How Pool Mining Works 100 Choosing a Pool 102 Pools that are good starting points 103 A few of the largest pools 103 Incentives and rewards 105 Pool ideology 108 Pool reputation 108 Pool fees 110 Pool percentage of the total network 110 Setting Up a Pool Account 113 Server choice 113 Mining equipment pool settings 113 Payout addresses 114 Payout thresholds 115 Researching Mining Pools 115 Cloud Mining 116 Working with Cudo Miner 118 Chapter 8: Picking a Cryptocurrency to Mine 123 Determining Your Goal 124 Mineable? PoW? PoS? 126 Researching Cryptocurrencies 127 Mining profitability comparison sites 127 Algorithms and cryptocurrencies 131 The cryptocurrency’s details page 138 Mining-profit calculators 140 The cryptocurrency’s home page 141 GitHub 142 The cryptocurrency’s Wikipedia page 143 Mining forums 144 Going Deep 144 Longevity of a cryptocurrency 144 Hash rate and cryptocurrency security 145 Community support 146 Knowing That Decentralization Is a Good Thing 148 Finding Out It’s an Iterative Process 151 Chapter 9: Gathering Your Mining Gear 153 Selecting the Correct Computational Mining Hardware 153 Specified hash rate 154 Specified power consumption 156 Equipment cost and other considerations 161 Length of time your hardware will be viable 162 Mining Equipment Manufacturers 164 ASIC rig producers 164 Mining container producers 165 GPU rig producers 165 Finding a Wallet to Store and Protect Your Private Keys 166 Where to Mine? Selecting a Viable Location 166 Vet your home for cryptocurrency mining 166 Communication requirements 167 Power source thoughts 168 Data centers and other dedicated commercial locations 172 Chapter 10: Setting Up Your Mining Hardware 175 ASIC Mining Rigs 175 Racks 176 Power supply 177 PDUs 179 Network and Ethernet connection 180 A computer to control your rig 181 GPU Mining Rigs 183 Getting your GPU rig online 183 Building your own GPU miner 185 CPU Mining 195 Mining Software 196 Pool mining 196 Solo mining 200 Part 4: the Economics of Mining 201 Chapter 11: Running the Numbers: Is It Worth It? 203 Factors That Determine Mining Profitability 204 Cost of equipment 204 Hash rate of your equipment 206 Mining rig efficiency 210 Cost of electricity 213 Total network hash rate 217 Information about your pool 217 Block earnings 218 Cryptocurrency conversion rate 218 Calculating Your ROI 218 Your block earnings 219 Your expenses 223 Calculating ROI 223 Knowing the unknowns 224 Online profitability calculators 225 Historical estimates 226 Chapter 12: Reducing Negatives and Gaining an Edge 229 Profitability through Efficiency 230 Upgrading aging equipment 230 Mining different cryptocurrencies 230 Using exhaust heat 231 Reducing electricity bills 232 Knowledge Is Power 234 Why current events are important 235 The “fork wars” 236 Your forking decisions 240 Here Today, Gone Tomorrow 244 Evaluating Your Mining Resources 245 Increasing mining competition 245 Increasing block difficulty 245 Diminishing returns due to halving events 246 Chapter 13: Running Your Cryptocurrency Business 249 What to Do with Your Mined Cryptocurrency 250 Convert your cryptocurrency 250 Buying equipment and paying bills 250 Paying with crypto when you can’t pay with crypto 251 Expand or upgrade your mining operation 253 But don’t forget the tax 253 Hodling your cryptocurrency 253 Invest your cryptocurrency 255 Donate your cryptocurrency to charity 256 Gift your cryptocurrency 256 Determining When to Sell 257 Cryptocurrency market indicators 257 Where to sell: Cryptocurrency exchanges 260 Dollar Cost Averaging 260 Dollar cost averaging your purchases 261 Cost averaging your exits 262 Custodial exchange risk 262 Tax and Your Mining Business 263 But you’re mining, not investing 263 It gets complicated 264 Scaling Up? 265 Do not overextend 266 Milestones to meet before you reinvest 266 Planning your expansion 268 Part 5: the Part of Tens 271 Chapter 14: Ten (or So) Tips for When the Market Dips 273 Have a Plan, Hedge Your Mine 274 How Long Can You Last? 275 Learn from Market History 277 Don’t Panic! (Keep Calm and Carry On?) 279 Buy the Dip 280 Look for the Advantages 281 Anticipate the Market Recovery 281 Learn From Your First Dip 282 Consider Market Volatility 283 Switch to Another Cryptocurrency 285 Stop Mining! 286 These are simple calculations 287 Stop or go? 289 Chapter 15: Ten Ways to Boost Your Return on Investment 291 Doing Your Homework 291 Timing Your Entry 292 Playing the Markets 293 Identifying Low Hash Rate Alternative Cryptocurrencies 293 Mining the Start of a Chain 294 Starting Small 297 Scaling Choices 297 Finding Cheap Electricity 298 Cooling Efficiently 299 Scoring Hardware Deals 300 Chapter 16: Ten Types of Cryptocurrency Resources 303 Cryptocurrency Market Trackers 304 Mining Profitability Estimation Tools 304 Cryptocurrency Reddit Pages 304 Blockchain Explorers 305 Data Visualizations 306 Cryptocurrency Data and Statistics 307 Cryptocurrency Wikis 307 Cryptocurrency White Papers 308 The Satoshi Nakamoto Institute 308 A Cypherpunk’s Manifesto 309 Bitcoin Guides and Walkthroughs 309 Chapter 17: Ten Criticisms of Cryptocurrencies and Mining 311 Energy Consumption 312 Wasted Processing 315 Scalability, Transaction Speed, and Throughput 317 Coin Distribution Fairness 319 Market Bubbles and Volatility 319 Centralization 320 Scams and Rip-offs 321 Hardware Price Inflation and Scarcity 322 Fire Hazards 323 Neighbor Complaints 323 Index 325

Stake a claim in the crypto gold rush Why convert your hard-earned cash to crypto when you can mine it yourself? This book teaches you how to invest in mining operations or build a system that can process crypto transactions in exchange for new coin. If it sounds complicated, that’s because it sort of is. Follow the advice of these cryptocurrency experts to make mining easier to understand. Discover how to stay up to date with the latest currencies, services, and mining tools. You’ll learn the basics and discover how to gain a competitive edge. Grab your pickax (or not) and let’s get going! Inside… Demystify the world of cryptocurrency and miningDecide which coins to mineCrunch the numbers to maximize profitBuild a crypto mining rigJoin a mining poolLaunch a crypto business