What is the most profitable crypto to mine?

For many people, one of the first things associated with the world of crypto is mining. Lead by the promise of a passive source of income, many users have invested money into buying adequate mining rigs that should make them a profit in the long run. However, the road to mining success is not an easy one. 

It’s necessary to do plenty of research before becoming a crypto miner, so that you can learn how to mine effectively. Before doing anything else, you’ll need to choose the crypto you’ll be mining. The choice of a specific crypto to settle on will determine the necessary hardware you’ll need (or vice versa). Moreover, the choice of crypto is influenced by other factors, too. The answer to the question of what is the most profitable crypto to mine, therefore, will largely depend on your personal preferences.

Sounds confusing? Don’t worry, in practice it’s easier to comprehend and you’ll find all the answers you need in the following article.

What is cryptocurrency mining?

On every blockchain platform, there’s a need for the verification of transactions that take place. In a nutshell, a mining computer solves complex mathematical equations in order to verify the transaction. The first miner who manages to do so is given a reward by the platform in the form of crypto.

There’s different hardware that you can use for mining purposes. While mining with a CPU (central processing unit) is outdated, you can choose between using a GPU (graphics processing unit), or ASIC (application specific integrated unit).

ASIC is more powerful, but not many platforms offer ASIC mineable coins. Therefore, the choice between using a GPU or ASIC boils down to picking the crypto you’d like to mine and the amount of flexibility you need.

Is crypto mining a scam?

• With the crypto industry being full of scams practically on every corner, the promise of making a passive income with mining may sound too good to be true. With that in mind, crypto enthusiasts will do well to inform themselves about what is a pump and dump crypto strategy, what are phishing attacks, what are fraudulent trading bots, etc. 

However, you can rest assured knowing that crypto mining is certainly not a scam. On the contrary, this is a legitimate way to earn money, as many miners will tell you. But, crypto mining isn’t a walk in the park either. 

Solo mining vs. pool mining

The blockchain tech is gaining popularity in a multitude of industries, as we hear the news of the remittance industry disrupted by crypto, along with the healthcare, real estate, media, and other disrupted industries. As crypto is becoming increasingly widespread, there’s a tougher mining competition out there. According to a recent survey, more than 46 million Americans intend to invest in crypto for the first time by 2023. A significant portion of them will also be trying to deduce what is the most profitable crypto to mine.

This brings us to another dilemma that miners are faced with. Should you mine on your own or as part of a larger group? The so-called pool mining makes it easier to deal with the competition, but you’ll need to share the earnings with the miners you’re cooperating with. That’s not the case when solo mining. 

On the other hand, buying powerful mining equipment on your own, that’s necessary in order to be competitive, involves a significant expenditure of money. Therefore, this is another aspect of crypto mining that’s dependent on your personal situation.

The best cryptocurrencies to mine

For our selection of the best mining crypto, we’ve chosen four cryptos that differ substantially from each other. Some are a good fit for GPU miners, some are handy for pool mining, etc. One of them is bound to be a perfect fit for every miner.

Grin CT-32 (GRIN)

This is the easiest cryptocurrency to mine for solo miners, as it doesn’t involve a high degree of competitiveness. Therefore, there’s a higher chance of actually being the one who’ll verify the transaction and, thus, earn the reward. 

Moreover, Grin doesn’t allow ASIC mining. ASIC is commonly used by mining companies, whose total processing strength makes it difficult for ordinary users to make a profit. However, Grin and many other platforms prohibit ASIC mining in order to give ordinary users a fighting chance.

The reward for mining is 60 GRIN per verified block. GRIN itself isn’t worth much – $0.07 according to CoinMarketCap, but it promises an easily achievable steady income. It’s better to steadily make little money than to make no money at all, after all.

Ethereum Classic (ETC)

Ethereum is a cryptocurrency that’s second only to Bitcoin in terms of popularity. The Ethereum platform is evolving into a proof-of-stake network, that uses staking instead of traditional crypto mining in order to verify the blocks. However, miners can still work on its modified pre-2017 version, Ethereum Classic. 

Given the Ethereum Classic’s level of popularity, the competition is sizeable. But, so are the rewards. In comparison to the new Ethereum, this platform makes it easier to accrue rewards, but this is balanced by its lower value.

According to CoinMarketCap, ETC’s current price is $14.7. You’ll get 3.1 ETC per verified block.

Metaverse (ETP)

This is an interesting crypto, given that it belongs to China’s first public blockchain ever. For miners, however, it’s more interesting that ETP is the perfect crypto for those users who’d prefer to join forces with others, instead of relying on solo mining.

The best way for miners to make new crypto coins on this platform, thus, is to become a part of the large mining pool. This mining pool combines the hashing power of many different miners, allowing for larger profits that are later shared. 

Miners receive 1.28 ETP per verified block. ETP’s current price, according to CoinMarketCap, is $0.03. This isn’t much, but the platform is optimized for the use of ASIC hardware as well, which makes the mining process a lot more efficient. Thus, while many platforms are off-limits to ASIC users, Metaverse is a good choice for such miners.

Bitcoin Gold (BTG)

You may have wondered why we haven’t mentioned Bitcoin so far. The answer is that mining Bitcoin, actually, isn’t such a good idea. 

Being such a huge coin, Bitcoin’s exponential growth is now rather slow and it takes a substantial investment in hardware before you’re able to reap the mining profit. Moreover, there’s a vast competition.

Enter Bitcoin Gold. This Bitcoin fork makes it easier for ordinary users to make a profit. Such users, who aren’t part of ASIC-equipped mining companies and aren’t participating in a mining pool, have more than a solid chance of making money with BTG.

This makes Bitcoin Gold similar in a way to Grin CT-32. However, the difference is that with BTG, the competition is a lot more sizable, but so are the potential earnings. The reward per verified block is 12.5 BTG. The current price of BTG, according to CoinMarketCap, is $15.8, which promises substantial earnings. 

Conclusion

As we said, among these four cryptos, you’ll be able to find the one that’s right for you. Keep in mind, though, that this is just the tip of the iceberg, as there are thousands of platforms out there. 

You won’t go wrong with the ones we’ve recommended, but you may eventually look for other mining platforms, especially as the crypto market is constantly transforming. Or, you may end up mining the same crypto throughout your mining career. Whatever the case, we wish you good luck and we hope you hit a gold vein!