Mining Cryptocurrency For 48 Hours

I know, I did it again! Tried to make few bucks by mining Monero, one of the few ASIC-resistant cryptocurrencies. After all, why not, I had my boss borrowed computer and free electricity at my apartment; it’s included in the monthly rent.

Cryptocurrencies are on the rise. And I am a big fan. The idea of not needing to trust any third party is greatly attractive. Does anyone trust the banks? I probably do as long as the world is doing well. But at the age of the corona-virus, the risk of a global war, not so much.

Even more attractive is the idea that I can access my funds anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection. Just look at the Ukrainian people they had to flee their country pretty quickly. Also it is not always possible to move funds between countries even in time of peace. For example, Wells Fargo (a well known US bank) does not offer the possibility to transfer money from the US to Europe.

That goes without saying that cryptocurrencies have their drawback. First of all, is the volatility of their price. Basically, you never know what you may be able to buy with your cryptocurrency. A brand new car when the price of one bitcoin is at 40000$; or a nice bike when its price is at 3000$.

The used computer was able to reach on average 1.2KH/s. According to some online calculator this will barely make me 33$ per year (Monero price was nearing 400$). That was really little for me to continue the process. I risked spiking my usage of the power considerably (event it is free, my tenant may not like it and complain about it). Also, the computer was too noisy with too much heat.

Now, I am more looking toward proof-of-stake (POS) cryptocurrencies. These don’t require a powerful computer to mine. There are even suggestions that you can mine them with a raspberry pi. There are already a few POS cryptocurrencies but the one that is most expected is Ethereum 2.0. This latter is expected to launch at the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021.

That is it for today’s story. Please feel free to share your thoughts and clap the story.