How to mine Monero?

By Swati Kishore

After our Beginner’s Guide To Monero, we are bringing you this simple guide on how to mine Monero. Mining of Monero cryptocurrency can be compared to Ethereum mining and ZCash mining, as it is very simple. Monero or XMR mining can be carried on with a CPU, hence you can easily earn coins by using your Mac or a personal computer.

How is Monero mining different?

Monero uses a memory hard algorithm called the CryptoNight, which is a hashing algorithm. The developers of Monero designed it with this type of algorithm to prohibit the development of ASICs that could help mine Monero. Hence, XRM mining is best done with GPUs and CPUs. Monero Blockchain allows for the mining of Blocks at an interval of about 2 minutes, the rate is comparatively lower to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes.

Where else Monero differs from other Blockchain networks is that it has a built-in privacy protocol called ring signatures. These signatures make Monero a privacy based crypto among other cryptocurrencies such as Dash and ZCash. We have previously in an article discussed How to Mine DASH Cryptocurrency, you may read it if you are interested in Dash.

Why should I mine Monero?

It is fruitful to mine Monero, as you can build a long position on the XMR cryptocurrency. It will enable you to leverage the price appreciation on Monero in the near future. Most buyers don’t understand the technicalities of buying low and selling high, thus they end up doing the opposite. Mining Monero will help you avoid this possible situation. Buying mining gear and consequently mining XRM will enable you to have a profit producing asset through the mining gear itself. The resale value for mining gear holds well and in fact, even appreciates. Look at the case of GPUs purchased in 2015 and 2016. These mining gear were often sold at a profit in the year 2017.

How do I select my XRM mining hardware?

You can experiment with different GPU selections. Make sure to choose one with the best price to performance to power consumption ratio. While AMD cards outperform the Nvidia cards in Ethereum mining on the Ethash algorithm, yet they are not able to beat Nvidia cards when it comes to the Equihash algorithm using the EWBF miner. However, take note that AMD does beat Nvidia when mining Monero which uses the CryptoNight algorithm. The best thing about the CryptoNight Algorithm is that it allows for mining with CPUs. You can earn decent profits with an i5 or i7 CPU.

Well what are you waiting for, get started with your mining game now! Also, you may be interested in reading our article Ethereum Mining Explained.