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The rise of Bitcoin has sparked interest in digital currency all over the world. Bitcoin has spurred thousands of different tokens and coins looking to build upon the success of the first 'crypto' coin.

There are different types of currency now that are created by Proof of Work (PoW) Proof of Stake (PoS). Proof of stake cryptocurrencies are based on holders of those assets which purpose is to validate transactions throughout the coins' network and holders of the currency get credited a respective amount based on how mainly of that coin they hold. Proof of Work coins like Bitcoin however and tokens however are associated with mining.

What is Crypto Mining?

Mining of digital currency is accomplished by computers within the network verifying transactions within the network and in most cases by high performance computers. Mining coins on any network typically requires a large amount of hard drive storage as well as high-end graphics cards though specifically created mining 'rigs' can be purchased with the sole intended purpose of mining. Whenever a user of a (PoS) digital currency like Bitcoin buys, sells or send coins to another user, the miners' job is to use their computer power to 'prove' the transactions and

The transactions are complex equations that high performance computers solve and once specific 'blocks' of data are completed, all the computers and mining rigs within the network get credited for their share of their work. Mining these blocks of data requires the network to ensure that those transactions are correct and the miners check that that bitcoin aren't being duplicated,  known as “double-spending.”

With physical money, if you have cash in hand and you want to pay for something, you either have enough to cover the purchase.  Digitally, Bitcoin and other currencies have data that has the potential to reproduced and a risk of 'double spending' crypto that doesn't exist. This is what the mining network prevents.

With hundreds of thousands of purchases and sales occurring every day, transactions amounts increase thus, giving the mining network work to do to ensure each transaction is legitimate which then rewards the mining network that verifies the transaction.

Mining Hardware

There are numerous options for mining rigs whose sole purpose is to mine for specific proof of work coins. Bitcoin, Litecoin, Electroneum, Monero, there are many popular coins that can be mined.

Products from Antminer, GekkoScience, Avalon and even home built rigs using Raspberry Pi's can help you generate income from crypto.

many of the smaller USB miners have a lower hashrate, these Gekko Science USB miners on average run at 700 Gigahertz.

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While others, such as the S9 Antminer, run on average at 9 Terrahertz but newer units push the limits on how quickly you can mine, though the startup costs are significantly higher.

Want to start mining?

With Bitcoin, there is a finite amount that can ever be mined and as transactions increase the difficulty mining increases as does the cost that goes to the miners.

There are many ways the average or curious investor can mine Bitcoin and other digital currencies that include downloading software, purchasing mining rigs, or even mining through their PC browser or mobile apps.

If you're looking to try out an app on your phone, Electroneum, offers a simple and easy to use app with miner and accompanying wallet in the App store, if you download it, be sure to enter referral code CE4825. As far as mining software you can download to your computer, we've had some success with Minergate. They have a simple download and one click to start mining.

If you're looking to start mining yourself, it's best to start small and find a site or program you're comfortable with and scale up instead of going all in right away with one program like that of Energi (NRG).  

It's easy to get carried away once you start and remember, most mining programs do take up resources on the devices you use, the exception to that being Electroneum's cloud based mining and a few others so only use up resources on devices that you can afford to.

Digital currency is here to stay and there are plenty of opportunities to get yours and mining is one that requires an initial set up and a fire and forget' approach. Start making your own crypto today!