Unfortunately, the heyday of getting in on the ground floor when it comes to bitcoin is over and gone. In the early days, you could buy it for a fraction of what it is worth now and you would be a millionaire without needing to lift a finger.
There was, and still is, another way to make bitcoin without actually having to do anything and that is to mine it. Mining is the way that bitcoin is actually created. The blockchain is simply a series of transactions that are recorded on a ledger. And each of these transactions needs to be verified and then encrypted. That is the job of the miners.
Though it is difficult to make as much money mining as in the previous years, it could still be a viable way for you to make money with bitcoin. Once you’ve mined your bitcoin you can convert your XRP/BTC or vice versa.
In this article, I will go over how it works.
Get the right equipment
Since the verification of the hashes or blocks need to be verified and encrypted, it takes some serious computing power. After all, this encryption needs to be airtight so that the cryptocurrency behind it stays secure and protected.
This means that you can’t really use just a regular old PC. You’ll need something with more power than that. You’ll have to invest in a GPU (graphics processing unit) which is a specialized processor that is usually used to render graphics for things like video games or special effects in blockbuster movies.
Yes, they are expensive, but if you are able to mine enough Bitcoin then it will pay for itself over time. If you are technically inclined, you could even make your own by stacking graphics cards.
Guess the hash
Here is probably the biggest issue when it comes to mining for bitcoin. There is a lot of competition when it comes to doing the calculations for each hash, you may not get the credit for having guessed the pattern for the hash.
So, you could have your processor working hard and then not make any bitcoin for the time spent. And this time costs money as the electricity used is quite high for the processor.
It’s simply a numbers game when it comes to getting rewarded for the work being done.
Join a pool
The most common way to mine these days is to join forces with other miners. In this type of scenario you will join a pool and pay into it and then share the profits according to how much of a stake you pay for.
The payouts will be much lower than if you go about things on your own, however. At least in theory. You will make more money since there is no chance of somebody else getting the credit for closing the block as everybody is in the same pool. So, if you were on your own and won the reward for every block you’ve worked on then you would make more money. Since this is virtually impossible it pays off being part of a pool instead.
*This article has been contributed on behalf of Paxful. However, the information provided herein is not and is not intended to be, investment, financial, or other advice.