Are miners to blame for all sins and how much can you earn by mining?
Bitcoin breaks new records in its value, and other cryptocurrencies are growing behind it. First of all, Ethereum – it is it that is mined on video cards. A new mining boom began, and the society was divided into two categories: those who managed to buy a video card (or several) and those who dislike the former. The hatred of miners, coupled with rumors and the lack of technical knowledge of the majority, led to the birth of another family of myths – this time about mining and cryptocurrencies.
We have collected the most popular myths and will try to separate truth from fiction, as we have already done, for example, in materials about video cards and processors .
Myth number 1. Miners are to blame for the shortage of video cards in 2021
It is not the miners themselves who are to blame, but the high demand for cryptocurrencies, which has snowballed for a variety of reasons. But primarily because of the support and investment of influential legal entities. The same Ethereum (“Ether”) was supported even by Swiss banks, and the blockchain technology turned out to be a breakthrough in itself. The latter can be used for many other projects, not just the maintenance of cryptocurrencies. For example, in the countries of northern Europe, work is already underway to introduce blockchain into government structures.
And as long as video cards bring tangible passive income through mining, they will remain in short supply.
And, of course, do not forget about the pandemic and the shortage of chips that it caused: this factor also affects the availability of video cards.
Myth number 2. Cryptocurrency mining wears out video cards
24/7 operation of video cards should, in theory, lead to wear and tear. However, this primarily concerns the mechanical cooling system, and not electronic chips, which have an incomparably higher margin of safety. On the other hand, mining can be thought of as an ultra-long stress test. And if a video card has been successfully mining cryptocurrency for many weeks or even months, then everything is in order with it. And even if the fans are worn out, they can be easily replaced for little money.
In addition, a competent miner always undervolts the video card, which allows you to extract more with less heat (usually no higher than 70 degrees, which is far from critical temperatures). In this case, the core frequency is completely underestimated, since video memory is used primarily. In any case, mining loads the video card much more evenly than even regular gaming, which eliminates the temperature drop, from which the graphics core suffers the most.
Myth number 3. GPU mining doesn’t pay off
This myth was born back in the days when bitcoin could be mined on video cards. But then the cost of electricity exceeded the benefit of mining, and graphics cards were no longer used for mining bitcoin. Many years have passed since then, many other cryptocurrencies have appeared, and the video cards themselves have become much more energy efficient and powerful.
For example, the most popular 6 gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 gaming video card brings from 100 rubles per day with a bitcoin rate above $ 50,000. At the same time, additional costs for electricity will be less than 500 rubles per month, even if the video card produces cryptocurrencies 24/7. It turns out that in order for mining to become unprofitable, bitcoin must fall at least 6 times, which will inevitably drag down the cost of other cryptocurrencies.
Myth number 4. Bitcoin is mined on video cards
As we mentioned above, Bitcoin mining stopped on video cards many years ago. The complexity of production increased with each new producer, more and more power was required, and hence electricity. As a result, all bitcoin miners switched to ASICs – specialized devices for the extraction of cryptocurrencies. And a conventional video card now spends energy many times more than the cost of the reward. But this only applies to mining bitcoins, many other cryptocurrencies can still be successfully mined on video cards.
Myth number 5. For mining, it is better to use ASIC / specialized devices will save gamers from a shortage of video cards
ASIC is only good for mining those cryptocurrencies that are not profitable to mine on video cards. First of all, it is all the same bitcoin. In addition, many creators of altcoins (any other cryptocurrency other than the original bitcoin) impose restrictions on the use of specialized mining devices. For example, Ethereum has long been impossible to mine in any other way, except on video cards.
As a result, after the ASIC becomes obsolete, it becomes impossible to sell it. And an outdated video card can always be sold to a gamer. Therefore, the general transition of miners to ASIC will never happen, which means that specialized devices will not be able to save the market from the shortage of video cards.
Myth number 6. Cryptocurrencies are a bubble or pyramid scheme
The main feature of a pyramid scheme is earning profit for earlier investors at the expense of newer ones. Also, financial pyramids are always controlled by a very narrow circle of people and are not backed by anything. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, are based on the blockchain, which is duplicated on the computers of all hundreds of millions of network participants.
In theory, interest in cryptocurrencies may weaken sooner or later, but it is extremely unlikely that it will weaken so much that absolutely all hundreds of millions of participants will leave the game. It makes no sense to completely get rid of the accumulation of “digital gold” mined over the years. In addition, bitcoin, which has fallen sharply in price, will certainly attract new long-term depositors. And that will raise the price again.
Myth number 7. Bitcoin is outdated
This is not really a myth. Technically, bitcoin is really outdated – its network manages to process no more than 7 transactions per second, which is thousands of times slower than the capabilities of the Visa payment system. However, all other cryptocurrencies are often exchanged for bitcoin in order to sell it for real money or simply accumulate as “digital gold”. Therefore, the technical obsolescence of bitcoin does not prevent it from remaining the most influential cryptocurrency. That is, bitcoin is outdated only technically, but not morally.
Myth number 8. Bitcoin is the only worthwhile cryptocurrency
An alternative error to the previous one. In many ways, the popularity of bitcoin is provided by the popularity of other cryptocurrencies, which can be mined on video cards even at home, and then exchanged for bitcoin itself. In any case, Bitcoin always wins, but you shouldn’t ignore the rest of the cryptocurrencies anyway.
Myth number 9. It is worth investing all your free money in cryptocurrencies
Investing real money in cryptocurrencies is much more risky than mining. All mined coins will remain in the wallet and their number will not decrease, even if the cryptocurrency becomes much cheaper. But the money invested in this scenario disappears.
Myth number 10. Bitcoin will replace regular money in the future
This looks like a likely development of events, but it is impossible to predict exactly. Blockchain itself is a very disruptive technology that can even destroy the traditional banking system. It is clear that not everyone benefits from such reforms: cryptocurrencies can be banned at the state level in many countries, or, on the contrary, they can be allowed, and banks are able to find a way to coexist with cryptocurrencies.
In addition, there is a danger that 51% of the network of the same bitcoin will sooner or later end up in the hands of one very rich person or a narrow circle of people. If we find out about this, then bitcoin will immediately become much cheaper, but perhaps this has already happened.
Cryptocurrencies are already firmly rooted in the modern world and have influenced the lives of most gamers and anyone interested in technology. You can be as angry as you want with miners and people who managed to buy video cards at a good price, but first you need to understand the situation better. We hope that our material helped you with this.
