Have you heard quite a bit about Bitcoin mining over the past couple of years? Are you wondering what all of the commotion is about and whether you should get involved? If you have been doing even a little bit of research, you have no doubt come across the term ASIC mining and wondered what it is. Here, we will take a closer look at what ASIC mining means and what it can take to get started.
ASIC – What Is It?
ASIC stands for Application Specific Integrated Circuit, and this simply means that the machine, called an ASIC miner, does one thing – it mines for cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin. They are faster and more efficient than other methods of mining that were used in the past, such as CPUs and GPUs. However, they do tend to be more expensive, so there is going to be an initial investment for those who want to start mining.
ASIC mining has become the best and most reliable way for those who are mining to make money through Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This is because the difficulty for mining has increased over the years, and these are the only machines that can keep up with the difficulty. Some of the most powerful options on the market today can perform more than 10 trillion hashes per second.
Are ASIC Miners Interchangeable?
One of the most important things to note when it comes to ASIC miner hosting is the fact that the miners tend to be very specialized. This means that the chips that are created for Bitcoin mining are only going to be able to mine Bitcoin. They will not be able to mine for Litecoin, and vice versa. However, there are some manufacturers that sell devices that have two ASICs in them. One for Bitcoin and another for a different type of cryptocurrency.
When you are choosing your ASIC miner, you always want to make sure you know the capabilities when it comes to the type of currency you can mine.
Choosing an ASIC Mining Device
Of course, you will also need to consider more than just the type of cryptocurrency it can mine when making your decision. You should also consider how powerful it is, meaning how many hashes per second it is capable of performing. How much power it uses will determine the miner’s efficiency. If it uses too much power, for example, it might not be profitable unless you can find a location to use it that has low electricity rates.
Two of the best options on the market today are the Antminer S9 and the Dragonmint. They are powerful machines that are still relatively efficient. Of course, they do come with a price tag of a couple thousand dollars with them. There are some more affordable options out there, but you need to keep in mind that they are not going to have the same hash power, which means it will take longer to mine the blocks and earn a reward.
Should You Mine at Home or in a Datacenter?
While you might want to mine your Bitcoins at home, you have to think about the logistics of it all. You will need to have a place where you can keep the machine, or several machines, and you need to make sure it is cool, as they run hot. You also have to consider the cost of electricity. Most people will find that it tends to be a much better option to run the machines in a datacenter instead.
Now that you have a better understanding of ASIC mining, are you interested in starting to mine your own Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency?