Key Takeaways
Optimal success in cryptocurrency mining often involves strategic choices, such as joining mining pools to enhance block-solving odds and ensure a steadier income stream.
Selecting the right mining hardware is pivotal, while ASIC miners are essential for resource-intensive cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, more affordable GPUs suffice for mining lighter currencies such as MONA or VTC.
The physical location of mining equipment significantly influences profitability, and collaborating within mining pools not only maximizes hashing power but also fosters collective efficiency, particularly in regions with cost-effective energy.
In 2024, the work of crypto miners has little in common with what this type of activity looked like a decade ago. The industry is rapidly evolving, its technological requirements, and ways of generating profit are changing. In this overview, we’d like to recommend to our readers the best crypto to mine right now and explain the specifics of the process.
Pool or Solo Mining?
In the 2020s, this business operates identically to a game of chance. If you do it solo, fortune might favor you: you will be the first to solve a mathematical problem, and you will get your reward. But your luck will hardly repeat regularly.
To gain a competitive edge, it would be reasonable to join forces with fellow miners. Those who consolidate resources get higher odds of solving a block. When a selected participant receives a reward, its amount is distributed among all the members. The amount of each portion of the reward that you get might be not too huge. But since you’ll be receiving them regularly, you’ll accumulate a large sum in total.
Working solo makes sense only if you opt for assets with a very low hashing power. There is no guarantee that you’d be able to sell these tokens at a decent price because people have little interest in them. You might struggle to get a buyer. The second option is new currencies at the initial phase of their development. Their prices might skyrocket when they hit the exchange. Your task will be to sell them quickly because their cost will be likely to go down soon.
Top Picks Of The Best Cryptocurrencies to Mine
There is no one-fits-all answer to the question “What is the best crypto coins to mine?” or “What is the best crypto currency to mine?”. Below, we offer you over a dozen variants to select from.
Bitcoin
The pioneering crypto remains lucrative for miners — yet only if they purchase ASIC miners (application-specific integrated circuits) and avoid working solo. In 2023, the Bitcoin price has plummeted but experienced crypto enthusiasts don’t panic. After each dropdown, more Bitcoins get consolidated in the hands of large investors, and its price begins to hit new heights. Now, it’s the optimal time to invest in this asset, hold it, and mine it.
Ethereum
In Autumn 2023, this network switched from PoW to PoS. That was done to accelerate the transactions, drive down their fees, and reduce energy consumption. PoS makes ETH more attractive to investors, that’s why we name it the best coin to GPU mine. The Ethereum blockchain keeps on serving as the foundation for DApps, which further solidifies its position for the long run and makes it the best alt coin to mine.
Litecoin
This asset relies on the same algorithm and source code as Bitcoin because it’s a hard fork of the latter. Unlike BTC, LTC can be mined with GPUs. It’s one of the top coins to mine according to their market cap.
Dogecoin
It was conceived as a meme token. To the great surprise of its team, DOGE amassed a huge community and entered the rating of the top 20 cryptos, based on their market cap. It operates on the technological foundation of Litecoin and can be mined with GPUs. It’s one of the cheapest top alt coins to mine: the price of 1 DOGE is less than 0.1 USD.
Monero
Monero XMR is not compatible with application-specific integrated circuits due to its cryptographic hash function. Compared to other cryptos, it guarantees enhanced anonymity. Third parties would fail to trace your transactions or link several operations with each other. Many crypto enthusiasts call it the best GPU coin to mine as well as one of the best coins for CPU mining.
Dash
This currency was created as an open-source version of the BTC blockchain. Individuals and businesses that mine it are called Masternodes. They are shareholders and they vote for the decisions that define the further development of the project. Dash is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization.
Zcash
Even though this is another BTC fork, it differs drastically from its predecessor. While Bitcoin employs the PoW consensus, Zcash ZEC operates on its unique zk-SNARKs algorithm. It involves zero-knowledge proof and grants high anonymity to users.
Ethereum Classic
In 2016, an ETH hardfork took place. It aimed at fixing security issues due to which a large sum of tokens had been stolen. The classic version of the network didn’t introduce the changes but found other methods for improving its security over time. The ETC supply is limited while that of ETH is not. The latter costs much more than the former. But ETC is not doomed: it boasts high liquidity, a large audience, and a strong team. Like the original asset, ETC supports DApps and offers a network for smart contracts. Application-specific integrated circuits are used to mine it.
Ravencoin
It’s included in our list of the best cryptos to mine with GPU for a reason: it takes only 1 minute to generate its block. Ravencoin RVN was invented to simplify p2p transactions. It operates as an open-source project on the BTC codebase.
Bitcoin Gold
It was launched to become the best crypto to mine: with BTG, you pay less for electricity bills, compared to BTC. This token inherited the PoW consensus algorithm from its predecessor but switched from the SHA256 cryptographic hash to Equihash. It’s not necessary to have an application-specific integrated circuit, a GPU will do.
Vertcoin
It is one of the best coins to mine right now among those that support GPUs. Its creators drew inspiration from Litecoin. After BTC miners switched to application-specific integrated circuits, LTC became the top GPU-compatible token — and VTC was conceived as a smart alternative in this niche with limited competition.
Grin
The target audience of this currency is organizations and private users for whom transparency and transaction tracking aren’t as important as the opportunity to remain anonymous. Once you transfer funds to someone, third parties won’t be able to see the recipient’s address and the sum of the operation. This is one of the most profitable cryptocurrencies to mine solo and with an application-specific integrated circuit. It is lightweight. Its network scales based on the number of users and not transactions.
Haven Protocol
When providing answers to the question “What is the best crypto to mine?”, we mentioned Monero. Haven Protocol (XHV) is based on XMR. Just like its predecessor, XHV allows users to receive and send funds privately. You get access to a wallet and conduct operations from this solution, avoiding custodians and middlemen. The ease of use and functionality of this wallet make this currency ideal for holders. Its meaningful USP is that you get an opportunity to convert XHV to other fiat-pegged tokens right from the wallet. There are no limits for conversion operations.
Monacoin
It was launched in 2013 as a meme token. The majority of its supporters live in Japan. MONA is good for individual miners with graphics processing units. Its fees are very low.
Aeternity
It is the best crypto to mine 2023 if you’re interested in smart contracts. It enables you to create and execute such contracts that can be run off the chain as well as scalable DApps. Aeternity allows its users to release non-fungible, restricted fungible, restricted non-fungible and fungible tokens. The AE currency comes in handy for gaming, IoT, governance, identity, shares, loans, payments, and DeFi.
Tips on Selecting the Top Cryptocurrencies to Mine
When choosing the top cryptos to mine, ask yourself the following questions:
- How long has the asset been around? There are two approaches to addressing this issue. On the one hand, if you become an early adopter of an asset that successfully takes off, you might be able to make a substantial profit on it. However, such success stories are rare. You might spend time and funds on a coin that fails to gain mass adoption. On the other hand, established assets deliver smaller rewards. But the coins that you’ll mine will have a value. It won’t be a problem for you to sell them.
- How large are the coin’s market capitalization and user base? The bigger they are, the better – if we are talking about established assets. These indicators prove that the coin won’t disappear from the market any time soon. You’ll be likely to find it on many exchanges.
- What are the consensus mechanisms, tokenomics, governance mechanisms, and block rewards of the coins that you consider? Do they suit your needs and preferences?
- Does the coin that you fancy has a unique technological competitive edge? If it lacks it, consider alternatives. Sometimes, meme coins take off indeed – but it’s rare luck.
- How strong is the team behind the coin? Ideally, they should have extensive expertise in the crypto industry.
- Are the market conditions around you favorable enough? Is mining legal in the territory where you live? Will mining bring you a larger profit than other business and investment activities? Residents of countries with high inflation often resort to mining because it delivers them a more stable income, compared to their national currencies.
- Are you ready to deal yourself with the hardware and software required for mining? Or will it be wiser to rent the mining equipment or hashing power from an experienced provider? Apart from taking care of the technical aspects, providers can ensure a higher energy efficiency. Normally, they have access to cheap electricity away from urban areas.
Hopefully, these questions will help you detect a genuinely profitable crypto and mine it with the highest possible efficiency!
What Is The Purpose of Cryptocurrency Mining?
Before selecting the best coin to mine right now, it would be smart to scrutinize the technological foundation of the process first.
Most cryptos operate on their respective blockchains. Each network consists of multiple devices (such as PCs or ASIC miners) that are referred to as nodes. Nodes don’t need a centralized authority to coordinate their activities. They interact with each other on a peer-to-peer basis. If one or several nodes go out of order, the network will keep on functioning.
To mine a token, the nodes of its network validate transactions and record their details on the ledger. Every new block corresponds to a new record. Multiple blocks form a blockchain.
The validation process boils down to solving cryptographic equations using the processing power of nodes. When multiple miners join forces, this power increases, and the efficiency of equation-solving grows.
GPU miners earn crypto with their computers. Graphics processing units of their devices become in charge of challenging mathematical tasks. Computers consume less electricity than dedicated rigs, so their owners don’t have to spend the larger part of their income on paying their electricity costs.
An application-specific integrated circuit is a computer that can only mine but not serve any other purposes. Compared to a GPU, it consumes much more electricity and is much more efficient. If you’re planning to mine several currencies, you need a dedicated ASIC for each one. It is impossible to mine two different assets with one solution.
Is It Worth Mining Cryptocurrency?
Before picking the best cryptos to mine, calculate your expenses and potential profits.
If you prefer GPU mining, be ready to invest in:
- Graphics processing unit — $500
- Computer — $1,000
- Electricity and Internet — $150 per month
- ASIC miners are costlier. You pay $10,000 upwards for the rig and hundreds of dollars per month for electricity.
The computing power that is necessary to validate transactions is called the hash rate. It grows with time, increasing your expenses.
To cut down costs and boost profit, consider setting up or relocating your business to a region with low electricity costs.
How to Find The Best Cryptocurrency to Mine
To detect the best coin to mine, rely on these three criteria.
- How Long Does It Take to Mine. The answer to this question depends on the asset. With Ravencoin, it takes 1 minute to validate and record 1 block to the network. With Bitcoin, it takes 10 times as long.
- Compare Costs of Mining Hardware/Mining Pool. Resource-intensive assets, such as BTC, cannot be mined with GPU. Be ready to invest thousands of dollars in an ASIC.
- With GPUs or graphics cards, it’s possible to mine lightweight currencies, such as MONA or VTC. A graphics processing unit costs hundreds of dollars but not thousands.
Start Mining Cryptocurrency
Place your equipment in a safe location where it won’t disturb anyone. Ideally, it should be an area where energy is affordable. Make sure the electricity and Internet are stable. Consider joining resources with other miners to maximize your profit.
What is the best cryptocurrency to mine?
BTC, LTC, ETH, DOGE, RVN… Scroll this article up and check our hand-picked list. It contains over a dozen entries with great perspectives. All of them are backed up by promising technological concepts as well as talented and experienced teams.
Can I still mine Bitcoin today?
Yes, but not solo and not with a GPU. Buy an ASIC and join a pool.
How do I start cryptocurrency mining?
Pick a currency, buy or rent rig and join a pool. Depending on which asset you opt for, you might need either an ASIC or a powerful GPU.
What is a mining pool?
It is a complex of joined resources that belong to multiple businesses and individuals. The larger it is, the higher its odds of earning rewards. When a participant of the pool receives a reward, its sum is distributed among all the members.
Is a cryptocurrency mining pool worth it?
When a participant of the pool receives a reward, its sum is distributed among all the members. This approach boosts your income. When you work solo, the process resembles a game of chance and your odds of earning a reward become slim.
Is cryptocurrency mining legal?
The answer depends on the legislation of the state where you’re planning to launch your business. For instance, this business is legal in the US but illegal in China.
What are the most profitable coins to mine with GPU?
Today, Monero, Ravencoin, Bitcoin Gold, Feathercoin, or Vertcoin can be considered the best cryptocurrency for GPU mining.
What is the best newest crypto to mine?
The answer to this question can change at any moment. Instead of looking for an answer here, you’d better type in your request in the search engine. Let your request be as precise as possible – for instance, “best coin to solo mine” or “best coins to mine with GPU”.
