Initially, Bitcoin mining was easy, but gradually the requirements changed. To mine coins, you need to have expensive equipment - ASICs or farms. Solo Bitcoin mining becomes unprofitable, and in some cases even unprofitable. The reason for this is the emergence and mass distribution of pools. By connecting to a pool, users combine their capacities, which increases the likelihood of finding a nonce. Today we will review popular mining pools, consider their conditions, features and advantages.

What is a mining pool?

A mining pool is a service where users combine their power into a common hash rate. This significantly increases the chances of closing the block and receiving a reward, which is distributed among all participants who provided the hash rate. The pool administration sets up the incentive distribution system on its own. By the way, most of the pools operate on the principle of PoS and PoW, and some use a hybrid approach (PoS + PoW).

Mining pools can be compared to a lottery. The odds of winning alone are very low, but when you team up with other participants and agree to share the prize with them, the probability of winning increases in direct proportion to the number of participants. But since the reward is distributed to everyone, the amount of the winnings for everyone becomes much lower.

The first Slush Pool appeared in 2010. It was founded by an unknown programmer at the time, who later became the CEO of Trezor, a popular hardware wallet company. The hash rate of the first pool was approximately 10 GH \ s, but now this figure exceeds 5 EH \ s.

How it works?

Pools unite all miners connected to them, as a result, the task of finding a signature is distributed among all devices. When one of the miners finds a hash to sign, the profit is distributed among all participants.

Reference! The reward is distributed according to the balls sent to the pool by each participant.

The more powerful the equipment, the more ball it calculates. Accordingly, the profitability of mining depends on the power of the equipment. It doesn't matter whether the ball has turned into a signature or not. Participants may not find a signature for years, but regularly receive profit as a result of blocks being signed by other miners.

Distribution of awards

Each pool sets the rules for distributing profits independently. There are 13 distribution options in total, but some of them are becoming a thing of the past as they become unprofitable.

The most common methods for distributing awards are:

• PROP is a proportional system, where each participant receives a reward equivalent to balls sent over a certain period of time. Most miners consider this option to be the fairest, but as practice shows, this is not always the case. The miner can connect exactly at the time when the pool finds blocks, so the profit will be higher than expected. And another participant can be connected to the pool for a long time, and the reward for him will be much less than expected.
• PPS - payment for each ball. Miners are rewarded for the number of shares that are allocated in advance. In my opinion, this is the most stable and fair way of distributing awards. But such a system has risks for the pools themselves, since large downtime between finding blocks leads to losses. In such cases, miners are rewarded from the reserves of the pools, so novice resources cannot offer their clients such a payment system. You also need to know that pools that use PPS compensate for their inconvenience with high commissions, which reach up to 7%.
• PPLNS - reward for the number of shares. Here, miners also receive income, which depends on the number of shares sent in search of a hash. Although this system is proportional, the problem is that gradually the ball counting system has been changed. This largely smoothes out the luck factor. PPLNS fairer than PROP. In the latter case, the interval between the last and new found block is taken into account. In the PPLNS system, a shift is used - a time period that is set individually by each pool.

PPLNS allows you to compensate for the influence of the factor of luck, but not completely. Such a reward system is most suitable for those who mine coins in the same pool.

Profitability of Bitcoin mining pools

It all depends on the power of the equipment, the reward system, the overall hash rate and other factors. The yield varies between 80-120%.

It is important to understand that it is quite difficult to calculate the profit from mining. Some of the indicators do not lend themselves to forecasting and analysis. However, it can be stated that the mining of coins in a mining pool reduces the influence of random factors. The likelihood of earning becomes more likely.

Mining pool fees

Some services charge commissions, others do not. The commission fee can vary from 0.1 to 3% and more. In addition, many pools do not immediately notify customers about the funds being charged, and some even involve hidden fees. This is why it is important to work with reliable and trusted resources that not only offer a transparent system of fees, but also consistently pay out the earned coins.

Top 10 Bitcoin mining pools

Consider the 10 most popular and largest Bitcoin mining pools:

1. Antpool: https://v3.antpool.com/home. Chinese pool, which is created by the largest supplier of mining equipment Bitmain. The PPLNS remuneration system does not provide for commissions, PPS assumes 2.5%. In addition to the standard ones, Antpool has original features such as solo mining, as well as a P2Pool node for those who support the decentralization of the network.
2. SlushPool: https://slushpool.com/. One of the first Czech pools, which has been operating since 2010. The service is operated by the well-known company Satoshi Labs. The mined coins can be withdrawn automatically, the commission is 2%. The Score method is used to calculate the remuneration, which ensures maximum transparency and reliability.
3. Bitfury pool: https://btc.com/stats/pool/BitFury. The service is one of the five largest pools in the world. Management companies are located in Iceland and Georgia. BitFury Pool accounts for about 12% of the total hash rate. The pool is the leader in the number of investments, with most of the funds going to the development and support of data centers.
4. ViaBTC: https://www.viabtc.com/. The pool has been in operation for a little over three years. Targeted at users in China, but also available for miners from other countries. In addition to Bitcoin, it supports about 10 more cryptocurrencies, in particular Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, etc.
5. Kano CKPool: https://btc.com/stats/pool/KanoPool. A well-known pool that has been operating since 2014. Uses the PPLNS reward system and charges a 0.9% commission. According to the latest data, the pool mines 2-3 blocks daily. Unlike many similar services, Kano CKPool works only with Bitcoins and is not focused on other cryptocurrencies. There is no payout threshold here. It also benefits from an open community, good support, and a simple interface.
6. F2Pool: https://www.f2pool.com/. Chinese pool operating since 2013. Uses the PPS reward system. At the same time, the service commission is quite high - 4%. In addition to Bitcoin, Litecoin, Zcash, Ethereum can be mined. You can withdraw the earned funds daily, provided that the minimum threshold is reached - 0.001 BTC. The service provides information in a simple and concise form, but, like most similar pools, it has an exclusively English interface.
7. Eligius: https://btc.com/stats/pool/Eligius. One of the oldest mining pools founded in 2011 in the USA. The peculiarity of the pool is that you do not need to register to work with it. In addition, there are no commissions in the pool. I associate this with the youth of the project, as soon as the service gains popularity, I think commission fees will immediately appear. In the meantime, Eligius offers user-friendliness and maximum value. Although only owners of ASIC devices can join the pool.
8. GBMiners: https://btc.com/stats/pool/GBMiners. A relatively young pool that has been operating since 2016, but is rapidly gaining momentum. In total, GBMiners account for almost 5% of the total hash rate. Service data centers are based in India.
9. Miningrigrentals: https://www.miningrigrentals.com/. A reliable English-language pool with a simple and intuitive interface. The service has been operating since 2014 and has already gained popularity among miners.
10. BTC.com: https://btc.com/. One of the most reliable and popular pools today. The data center is located in China, but the service has gained recognition far beyond its borders. BTC.com accounts for about 19% of the total hash rate. The reward systems used are FPPS and PPS.

These are the most popular, but not all Bitcoin mining pools. Today there are many services that, competing with each other, strive to offer the best conditions and the simplest rules for entering the pool.

Russian pools for Bitcoin mining

It must be admitted that the development of cryptocurrencies in Russia has not yet reached the proper level. The uncertainty of the legal status of digital assets and constant amendments to the legislative framework lead to the fact that many Russian users do not want to get involved with digital assets, especially to mine cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, Russian-language mining pools are gradually beginning to appear, which are as simple and convenient as possible for Slavic users.

Russian-speaking mining pools:

• Callisto: https://baikalmine.com/ru/pplns/clo/.
• Pirl: https://pirl.2miners.com/ru.
• Ellaism: https://baikalmine.com/ru/solo/ella/.

The servers of these pools are located on the territory of the Russian Federation, so they offer minimal ping.

Reference! Ping is the latency in the exchange of data between the pool and the miner.

In addition, these pools offer Russian-speaking support and an extremely simple interface.

Pools without registration

Since many users prefer cryptocurrencies due to their anonymity and security, the issue of registration is decisive for many. The good news is that some mining pools allow you to combine their power with other miners without registration. These services include zpool.ca: https://zpool.ca/. This is a multi-pool with the most simple interface, easy mining setup and automatic payments. But users complain about irregular payments and periodic server freezes.

Another pool that does not require registration is Zergpool: https://www.zergpool.com/. The service offers automatic payments, small commissions, an intuitive and user-friendly interface. Payments are made in only three cryptocurrencies: BTC, LTC and Dash. But you need to know that sometimes there are service bugs and periodic delays in payments.

Pools for mining Bitcoins without commission

It should be noted right away that there are no completely free pools. In any case, pool organizers are interested in profit, otherwise there is no point in creating pools, except for new resources that work to attract customers. But as soon as the pool accumulates a user base, the administration of the resource introduces a commission, which is charged from the accrued remuneration. In addition, most services set an additional commission for withdrawal, so it is important to pay attention to this factor before choosing a pool.

In this case, by free, I mean services that do not charge additional fees for withdrawing funds. These include Antpool (when calculating a PPLNS reward, funds are withdrawn without commission), BW Pool, Eligius, Ghash.io.

Largest Bitcoin mining pools

The largest pools are considered to be those that account for the largest amount of the network's collective hash rate. In addition, the number of mined blocks by each service is analyzed. Thus, the rating is topped by the BTC Guild service, which has existed since 2013 and which accounts for more than 30% of the computing power of the Bitcoin network.

The largest pool is considered to be Ghash, which is among the top five in terms of the amount of remuneration paid.

The list of large pools also includes F2Pool, Antpool, SlushPool, BTCC, etc.

How to register in the pool and start earning coins

To join collective mining, you need to decide on the pool, go to its official page and register. To do this, click the "Register" button and enter the appropriate data. Next you need to download special program on the official website of the pool, with which you will mine digital coins.

The next step is to connect and configure your own equipment. It all depends on the technology and the miner program. All instructions are available on the Internet and are very easy to find.

After setting up the technique, you can start collective mining of coins. I note that Bitcoin mining through pools is now much more popular than independent mining of coins, which in most cases does not bring tangible income.

Which pool for mining Bitcoin is better

It all depends on individual preferences, the equipment on which the mining will be carried out, etc. There are mining pools, sharpened only for ASIC devices, and there are services that allow you to connect video cards. The number of coins supported by resources also matters. Some services are designed exclusively for Bitcoins, others are tailored for different cryptocurrencies and automatically switch to mining the most profitable digital assets.

How to choose a pool for Bitcoin mining

When choosing a service for collective mining of coins, it is important to focus on the following indicators:

• Payment method of rewards... The most profitable today are PPLNS and PPS. In this case, miners receive stable and fair payments, which depend on the number of shares. Other systems, if not completely, then partially discredited themselves.
• Power... The old proven pools have a lot of power, so they mine more blocks than newer services. Accordingly, the more blocks the pool closes, the higher the income of miners. However, this factor should not be taken as fundamental. Popular pools often dictate tough conditions: high commissions, unfair payouts, or high hardware requirements.
• Withdraw funds... Mining pools allow you to withdraw earned Bitcoins in different ways. Some services make it possible to transfer funds directly to a bank card, others offer withdrawals to cryptocurrency wallets and only in Bitcoins. It is necessary to join the pools that offer the most convenient ways to withdraw the earned coins directly for you.
• Commissions... Mining pools charge a commission for withdrawing funds and directly for mining coins. Usually the cheapest services are those that use the PPLNS payout system. This is due to the fact that such a system protects services from risks as much as possible. Usually, pools that operate on the PPLNS system charge a commission within the range of 0.5-1%, or do not charge it at all. In all other cases, the commission is higher, sometimes it can go up to 7%, since the pools are forced to pay for all the work that is actually done by the miners. Some services have hidden fees that they do not warn their customers about.
• Reputation... This is an important factor to be guided by first of all. There are services that do not pay earned funds, regularly freeze, have hidden commissions, etc. This usually refers to newcomers or unpopular pools, since resources with such conditions cannot have an impeccable reputation. The choice of a pool must be treated with special responsibility: view its statistics, ratings, reviews, etc. But do not forget that reviews and positive ratings can be customized, in addition, you need to pay attention to the opening time of the pool, the number of participants, etc. The longer the service works, the more trust it will have.

But first of all, the service must be chosen depending on the equipment on which you are going to mine coins. For beginners who have just decided to start mining Bitcoin and have not yet had time to invest in equipment, I recommend first choosing a pool, and only then buying equipment according to its requirements.

How to make money on a mining pool

To start earning, you need to purchase equipment, register in the pool and configure it. Then you need to pay for the pool and you can start mining Bitcoins.

Many resources allow you to earn money through cloud mining and solo mode. Additional income can be earned from the referral program, which is provided in most pools. The more users you attract, the higher your passive income will be.

Miners usually make regular profits, but no one guarantees stability. It all depends on the overall hash rate, network complexity, etc.

Setting up a mining pool

The configuration is carried out in several stages:

• Registration (if required by the service), confirmation of a new account by email.
• Entering the information that the miner requires: specifying the URL, user Name, entering the password.
• The choice of service depending on the location.
• Specifying the address to which the earned funds will be withdrawn. To do this, the user must have a bitcoin wallet. If you don't have one, be sure to create it before setting up the pool.

For convenience, it is necessary to apply a new name to each worker, so it is easier to control the mining process. Also, do not forget to set up two-factor identification in order to protect yourself as much as possible from fraudsters.

If you register for the Antpool service and are going to use ASIC devices for mining, you need to download and install software to receive digital coins. Such programs are downloaded from official sites, for example, CGminer or BFGminer.

How to create your own mining pool

For collective mining of coins, it is not necessary to look for a suitable pool, you can create it yourself. Since the most popular operating system is Windows, we will consider creating a service for mining coins using its example.

Before creating it, it is important to find a Pool engine that will perform the function of the kernel in the system. I want to note that most of the services are laid out with source code, this gives additional guarantees to novice developers for the absence of viruses or other problems that can lead to data theft.

However, by downloading software you can't do it here. The kernel needs a graphic cover, and this can only be done by experienced programmers. In addition, you should understand that ready-made Pool engines are not available for every type of cryptocurrency.

Another option for creating your own pool is from scratch. Such services are more popular than template pools. I will not quote step by step instructions creation, as it should be done by professionals. I will only say that the creation process directly depends on the chosen cryptocurrency. Only a programmer in tandem with a specialist in the cryptoindustry can write the code, or one person must be well versed in both industries.

How to mine Bitcoins without a pool

Users who do not want to join collective mining and share profits with other pool members can solo mining. But given the regularly growing complexity of the Bitcoin network, self-mining becomes unprofitable. ASIC hardware costs tens of thousands of dollars, and electricity costs often exceed miners' income.

If you decide to mine Bitcoins in solo mode, then use exclusively ASIC devices. And if they are backed up with a new generation video card, then the profitability of mining can meet expectations. You also need to configure the software - a special mining program that is installed on your computer. If you are a beginner, install Russian-language software, so it will be easier for you to understand the settings.

The most popular software is CGMiner. It "warms up" the video card well and allows you to quickly set up the mining process. In addition, a Russian-language instruction is attached to the program, which will simplify the setup process as much as possible.

Conclusion

Mining pools are the most optimal way to mine Bitcoins. The complexity of the network is constantly growing, so it is not profitable for miners to mine digital coins in solo mode.

Today there are a huge number of Bitcoin mining pools. They differ in the level of commission, reward system, withdrawal methods, etc. In this article I have provided a list of popular services that have been tested by time and tens of thousands of users.

Do not forget that the choice of service must be approached with extreme caution. Users often complain about late payments, regular bugs, and some services do not pay the earned money at all.

You will find out why it is profitable to mine bitcoins in pools and how risky it is. Which pool is better to choose to mine bitcoin? All the details are in the article.

22.05.2018 Andrey Kushchev

Bitcoin is the first and most popular cryptocurrency in the world. Since its inception, bitcoin has experienced ups and downs, but in 2018 the coin rate has stabilized, and interest in making money on this cryptocurrency continues to grow.

Mining is the most reliable and time-tested way to make money on digital currency. But in order to independently mine the cue ball, considerable investments are required - for the purchase of equipment, renting a special room, maintaining the stable operation of an industrial mining farm.

An ordinary miner cannot afford to build such a farm. Therefore, currency miners are united in pools.

What are bitcoin pools, why they are so popular and how to make money on them, you will learn from the new article on our website.

Why is it profitable to mine bitcoins in pools?

It becomes more and more difficult to mine "digital gold" every day. The more new blocks miners generate, the more difficult it is to form subsequent ones. This mining algorithm was laid down by the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.

This is necessary so that new coins appear on the market gradually - as the demand for cryptocurrency grows. Thanks to this policy, the value of the currency remains relatively stable.

Initially, a limited emission of tokens was incorporated into the Bitcoin code - a total of 21 million coins will be issued.

To stretch this process, the difficulty of mining increases in proportion to the growth of the bitcoin network. The formation of a new block requires huge computing power - this is beyond the power of an ordinary miner-miner. Therefore, Bitcoin miners unite in pools - to mine electronic gold together.

Pool is a server for joint generation of new blocks. The pool's task is to rationally use the computing power of each of the network participants to achieve a common goal - earning bitcoins.

Anyone can become a member of the Bitcoin pool, regardless of the capacity of the equipment.

The profit is distributed among the participants in proportion to the contribution of each of them. The more powerful the farm, the higher the earnings.

How risky is it

To start mining cryptocurrency, you need investments, you can't do without them. The minimum entry threshold is $ 500.

Mining, like any other business, carries certain risks to the investor.

Among them:

1. The likelihood of equipment breakdown... Video cards and ASICs (ASICs - special processors for calculating bitcoin) work for wear and tear. They mine virtual currency 24 hours a day, so there is a risk that some of them will fail. But the likelihood of this is small, and with proper cooling of the equipment, the possibility of breakdown is minimal.
2. Dependence on the market situation... Currency rates jump up and down. Despite the relative stability, it is impossible to predict what the price of bitcoin will be in a month. If the coin soars in price, the miner will only benefit from this. But if bitcoin starts to fall, the income of the "digital gold" miner will also fall.
3. Long payback... The farm usually pays for itself in six months. It is faster than in classic offline business. But for internet entrepreneurs looking to generate quick income, this seems like a long time frame. Some of them stop mining without recouping the invested funds.
4. Hacking a bitcoin wallet... The mined tokens are stored on the exchange wallet or external online storage. There are many known cases of hacking. The exception is hardware wallets. But they cost money and are not suitable for low-turnover crypto entrepreneurs.
5. Rising electricity prices... After the cost of the equipment has paid off, the main cost item is paying for electricity. A mining farm consumes a lot of electricity, so the entrepreneur is dependent on electricity prices in a particular region.

Despite the listed risks, bitcoin mining remains a profitable business - otherwise no one would be doing it.

In January 2018, Crescent Electric Supply conducted a study on the profitability of Bitcoin mining. Analysts at Crescent Electric Supply concluded that Bitcoin mining will be profitable as long as the value of the coin exceeds $ 6,000.

How to start mining bitcoin in pools - step by step instructions

Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency that most miners start their careers with. There are several hundred known Bitcoin pools. All of them have their pros and cons, but most of them are small associations of bitcoin miners with low powers, so they are not suitable for a beginner.

To do right choice and get the most out of working in the BTC pool - read our instructions.

Step 1. Select a pool and register in the system

When choosing a Bitcoin pool, pay attention to the following factors:

1. Total power... The more powerful, the faster new blocks are generated and the higher the profitability from working with it.
2. The size of the commission for withdrawal of funds... This is one of the main points. There are projects in which the commission exceeds 3% - this is too much. Choose BTC pools where the commission is less than 1.5% - there are many such projects.
3. Minimum withdrawal amount... The minimum wage is the amount after the accumulation of which the project transfers money to your wallet. The best option for a beginner is 0.01 BTC.
4. Frequency of payments... Usually paid several times a day. But there are services that pay once a day and even once a week - you should not work with them - during this time the BTC rate can change dramatically, but you will not be able to fix profits or minimize losses.
5. Reputation... Read reviews, chat with colleagues, write to technical support. This is the only way you can give an objective assessment of the pool and make the right choice.

Step 2. Create a wallet for storing bitcoin

Most bitcoin pools make payments to the internal wallets of cryptocurrency exchanges. In this way, it is most convenient to receive payment and withdraw funds, so the first thing we do is register on one of the exchanges.

List of trusted sites working with bitcoin:

• Binance;
• Bitfinex;
• Huobi;
• HitBTC;
• Kraken.

When choosing an exchange, pay attention to the minimum deposit amount. Less is better. Some sites do not accept payments less than 0.1 BTC.

There are Bitcoin pools that pay directly to wallets. The best option is the official Bitcoin wallet Blockchain Wallet.

H To start a wallet:

• go to blockchain.info;
• click "Create new Blockchain wallet";
• enter mail and come up with a password;
• download the key file.

Important: make a copy of the keys. If you lose them, you will lose access to your wallet. A separate copy is best kept on a USB flash drive.

Step 3. Install and configure the cryptocurrency mining program

After choosing a site for mining, download the miner program and install it.

The miner program is selected in accordance with your hardware.

Popular miners:

• Cgminer - for video cards like ATI;
• Cudaminer - for Nvidia cards;
• Antmainer - for ASICs;
• Minerd is for processors.

After downloading the program, we do the following:

1. Open the archive and install the program.
2. We go to the site of the bitcoin pool.
3. In the settings, we register the address of your bitcoin wallet.
4. We open the miner and check the correctness of work.
5. We are starting to mine virtual currency.

There are several ASIC algorithms: DaggerHashimoto, Scrypt, SHA 256, etc.

Which pool to choose for mining bitcoins - a review of the TOP 3 best

There are many pools, but you only need to choose one. Due to the large number of available sites, a beginner is faced with the difficulty of choosing.

To make it easier for you, we have made our selection of the best Bitcoin pools suitable for newcomers.

AntPool

AntPool is the most popular Bitcoin multi-currency pool. The project was founded by the Chinese company BitMaintech, which produces mining equipment.

The minimum withdrawal amount is 0.01 BTC. Commission - 2.5%.

F2Pool

F2Pool is the largest mining association in the Asian market. The project has been running smoothly since 2013. In addition to bitcoin, altcoins are also mined here - ethereum, monero, litecoin and dash.

The minimum withdrawal amount is 0.01 BTC. Commission - 1.5%. Payments are made automatically after reaching the specified amount.

Bw pool

BW Pool is a Chinese project that has been operating steadily since 2013.

The minimum payout is 0.01 BTC. They pay using the PPLNS system, so there are no commissions.

To register, you need to link mobile phone... But users from Russia note the complexity of this procedure - not everyone receives an SMS message with a registration confirmation code.

Independent pool statistics are a good assistant in choosing a site

Statistics is the first thing a miner should pay attention to when choosing a pool. But often the internal statistics of bitcoin pools show inaccurate data - usually the total capacity and the number of active participants are exaggerated - in order to attract as many new miners to the project as possible.

To get reliable data, we turn to independent sources.

There are two proven services:

• Blockchain.info;
• BTC.com.

They are engaged in the collection and processing of statistical data, so they will be useful to every earner of virtual currency.

Is it worth mining bitcoins in pools - reviews of miners

Unless you have millions of dollars to build an industrial farm, pools are the only way to start earning cryptocurrency.

Self-mining on weak hardware won't pay off. The task of the pool is to rationally use the computing power of all network participants to achieve a common goal. This policy allows everyone to start making money on Bitcoin.

About 80% of the entire Bitcoin network is controlled by mining pools. This means that, despite the volatility of the market, the collective mining of digital gold remains an attractive investment. For this reason, experienced miners prefer bitcoin pools.

For more information about BTC pools and their importance, see the video:

Conclusion

BTC pools are a time-tested way to make money on digital currency. As the difficulty of generating new blocks grows, miners will continue to merge to maintain their level of income.

Bitcoin pools are the only way for a beginner to mine "digital gold". It's almost impossible to mine Bitcoin on your own - even on powerful hardware. It takes too long to generate a new block, so collective mining is the only right decision.

The expressions “digital currency” or “electronic money” are no surprise today. Virtuality has become a reality long ago, and money, which circulates only on the Internet, is becoming more and more popular. Cryptocurrencies can not only pay when buying goods and services, they can also be earned on the World Wide Web. In this article, we will review the best mining pools, consider their features and talk about the basics of mining.

First, let's take a look at the basic terms. Cryptocurrency is a specific currency circulating on the Internet. They do not have a single bank, all money is stored in users' digital wallets, and payments are completely hidden. With the help of your computer, you can receive new electronic money by mining.

What types of cryptocurrencies can you mine?

• Bitcoin,
• Dogecoin (based on Litecoin),
• Dash,
• Monero,
• Ethereum.

There are many other digital currencies, but these are recognized by analysts as the most promising.

Mining requires the installation of special software that can be downloaded from the official sites of cryptocurrencies, the addresses of which are available on the network. A reward in the form of digital coins is given to the user who, through complex mathematical calculations, found a new block - data to confirm the transfer. As soon as the solution is found and the reward is transferred, search for the updated block again. The reward for each cryptocurrency is different, in one of the most popular Bitcoin systems it is now equal to 25 coins.

Farm for mining cryptocurrencies - estimate the scale of mining.

A single user can start mining solo, but the efficiency of mining depends on the speed of the entire system, so the equipment must be powerful. Recently, the reward for mining is getting smaller, and the requirements for the speed and quality of computers are getting higher. It is almost impossible to earn crypto coins alone, so many independent users are united in a pool. In this network, the mining process is divided into all participants, it becomes joint, which significantly reduces the time for a solution. After finding a new block, the reward is divided among all participants. To connect to the pool, it is often enough to register your account and download the software. Next, you need to go through indexing through the BTC wallet, if you already have one, if not, then start its creation and start mining coins.

So they mine at home - artisanal conditions.

For self-mining, you need a very powerful graphics card and a high-speed processor. But even in this case, the probability of profit is very low - the computer will have to work for days, and all the bitcoins or other coins earned will simply be consumed by the electricity bill. It is much more profitable to invest the same money not in upgrading your computer, but to buy a share in the cloud pool. You need to pay for a share of the capacity of the data center and wait for profits. Everything that cloud pools mine, they will share among their shareholders.

Most Popular Cloud Pools of 2018

Cloud pool	Annual income	Beginning of work
Hashing24.com	75%	11.11.16
HashCoin.io	155,00%	26.04.16
HashFlare.io	130,00%	23.04.15
Eobot.com	45,00%	23.12.03

The predecessors of pools were computer farms - these were racks with video cards placed on them that worked around the clock. In the beginning, they brought in a good income, but the complexity of mining has seriously increased since then, and now pools rule the ball.

Mining pools

The list of mining pools is extensive - there are already more than one and a half thousand of them in the world. The vast majority of users work through Bitcoin pools. The level of complexity of mining this currency is so high that it is impossible to get profit alone even with a supercomputer. Therefore, more and more new pools are being formed. There are other cryptocurrencies, younger than Bitcoin, which are faster and easier to mine. But they have no real value in the network, and they can only be earned with the hope that their rate will rise in the future, and this is more like speculative mining.

The most powerful mining pools. Top 5

Consider the largest and most common mining pools in 2018.

1. F2Pool (Discus fish) is a Chinese service that has been operating since 2013, the only one who practices the PPS payment system. This resource now holds about 1/5 of the total network hash rate. The service recommends immediately withdrawing money from accounts, since everything that remains there after 90 days is spent on developing the pool. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cynVOKJHez8)
2. AntPool is also Chinese with a power comparable to that of F2Pool (18% hash rate). There is a choice of a Russian-language interface. Uses different payment systems, it is possible to withdraw earned money without any commission.
3. BTC China - this Chinese service does not have a Russian interface, the ability to use English is limited, so it is not very popular, despite the 10-12% hash rate.
4. BW pool is a Chinese project, with its help you can mine bitcoins, holds up to 9% of the network power. Profit is paid according to the PPLNS system, no commission.
5. Bitfury is the only top 5 pool located in Europe. It is owned by a computer hardware company with offices in Iceland and Georgia. It is engaged in the extraction of bitcoins (controls more than 15% of the bitcoin network), entry is prohibited for third-party participants.

These five largest pools together account for more than 50% of the network's capacity, the remaining pools account for no more than 5%, so it makes no sense to rank them. However, many of them are interesting in their characteristics, and we will look at a few.

Other mining pools

Miningrigrentals is a convenient and intuitive service for mining bitcoin. The English-language resource offers to rent "drilling rigs" and mine coins. The commission is small, you can withdraw money immediately.

Minergate is a powerful mining pool for bitcoin, etherium and other currencies. You need to download the program to your computer, make the settings and mining will go automatically. The mined money can be immediately withdrawn to your personal wallet minus a small commission.

Zpool is an American service without registration, a user-friendly interface is suitable for a novice miner. Withdraws money only in satoshi. The unique script provides high profitability to the pool.

Slush is a mastodon in bitcoin mining, the world's first pool, has been successfully operating since 2010. Uses 5% of the network capacity, invented his own profitable payment system, takes a commission of 2%, recently introduced support (Zec). Bitcoin and namecoin can be mined.

Eligius - registration is optional, a bitcoin wallet is used to enter, coins can be withdrawn without commission, its share is 4% of the power.

Ghash.io, once a powerful pool that reached 50% of the total network capacity, now demonstrates a modest 2-3%. It works without commission, there is a convenient cryptocurrency exchanger. There is a multi-pool here, offering to mine many currencies based on the Scrypt algorithm.

Mining Pool Hub is one of the promising mining services, suitable for beginners and professionals.

Mining pools Ethereum

Ethereum is a second generation cryptocurrency that is predicted to replace Bitcoin.

Ethpool.org is the first official Ethereum mining pool, due to the growing popularity of this currency, it was impossible to join it, and the pool worked only with the old ones. The capacity of this pool is about 20%. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHBFzomlHuw

ETH Nanopool - about 40% capacity, pool commission 2%. The pool is actively developing and growing.

Ethereumpool - has been operating for more than 2 years, has a capacity of about 2%, a commission of 2%, a withdrawal commission is fixed.

If you are new to mining, you can try mining on your computer with your own software. You can mine with a video card or processor. For the mining of currencies such as Dogecoin (based on Litecoin) and Monero, this will be sufficient. You can start mining the popular altcoin Dash, for this it will do NVIDIA graphics card... However, such methods are suitable only for initial experiments, the profit will be small.

IMPORTANT! It becomes more difficult to mine cryptocurrency every year, the reward decreases, and the demand for it only grows.

Which mining pool to choose?

Before you make your choice, make a comparison of your favorite pools by some parameters:

• pool capacity - new pools that have not yet reached the required capacity will not be able to offer you a decent profit, determine the best options for yourself, study analyst ratings, find statistics on pool performance, for example, here BTC.com or here Blockchain.info.
• evaluate your own hardware - perhaps you need to increase the performance of the video card, and then mining will not be so profitable. If you mine with old hardware, the profit will not even pay off the cost of electricity,
• method of sharing profit - most often, the income from solving blocks is divided in proportion to the contribution of the participants, if you cannot make your significant contribution, then the distribution will be even more profitable,
• payments - find out if it is possible to withdraw the mined to a card or to an electronic wallet, as well as the percentage of the service commission.

Earning money through mining cannot be called a reliable income, but for many it has become a convenient way of passive cash flow. The overview of mining pools is, of course, incomplete, it is impossible to cover all services. The best of them will be determined by the user himself, based on his capabilities and tasks.

Cryptocurrency is digital money that is stored in users' internet wallets. Cryptocurrency mining is the mining of coins using a computer or other equipment.

Mining can be done independently or in a team of like-minded people. In the first case, you need powerful and expensive equipment. However, even in this situation, mining is not profitable, since the computer must work twenty-four hours a day. This means that all the money earned will be spent on paying off debts for electricity. If we consider mining in a team, the so-called pools, then this is much more profitable. You don't have to spend money to buy video cards and a processor, you just need to purchase a share in the cloud pool. It is required to buy a share of the capacity of the data center and wait for the revenue. All the profit earned by the pool is divided between the miners as a percentage of the purchased share.

The most famous cloud mining pools

Earlier, about two years ago, farms were used for mining - racks with video cards placed on them. Over time, the process of mining cryptocurrency has become much more complicated, after which the farms have become less profitable. They were replaced by cloud pools.

The top pools of 2017 include:

• Hashing24.com is the most famous cloud mining pool for bitcoin, which was formed on November 11, 2016. Average annual income is 75%;

• Eobot.com is one of best services for cloud mining. The pool was opened back in 2012, now the average annual income hovers around 45%.

The list of cryptocurrencies owned by Eobot.com includes

1. Bitcoin;
2. Litecoin;
3. Ethereum;
4. Steam;
5. Dodgcoin;
6. Ripple;
7. Dash;
8. Redcoin;
9. Bitshares;
10. Curecoin;
11. Monero;
12. ZcaSH;
13. Facrom;
14. Bytecoin;
15. Auqur;
16. Lisk;
17. MaidSafeCoin;
18. Gridcoin.

Eobot.com is a really good mining service. He has established himself only on the positive side. The main advantage of this pool is the online chat, where beginners can ask any question to professionals. Also, users note the convenience of the built-in wallet;

• HashFlare.io cloud pool appeared on April 23 in 2015.

Now the average annual profit on this service is approximately 130%. HashFlare.io is designed for mining the following cryptocurrencies:

• Zcash;
• Bitcoin;
• Ethereum.

The most powerful mining pools

By the end of 2017, the number of mining pools exceeded 1,500. Most users mine Bitcoin and Ethereum in this way, since the level of difficulty of mining these cryptocurrencies is too high. Mining alone on a super-powerful personal computer will not bring tangible profits. It is for this reason that new pools are formed every week.

There are also pools for mining other cryptocurrencies that are younger. It is much easier to get them, but these coins do not carry real value on the network.

We have compiled the top 5 powerful cryptocurrency mining pools:

• F2Pool is one of the most powerful pools, which was formed in 2013. The service was developed in China.

F2Pool allows you to mine the following cryptocurrencies:

1. Litecoin;
2. Bitcoin;
3. Dascoin;
4. Ethereum;
5. Ethereum classic;
6. Zcash;
7. Siacoin.

F2Pool has 1/5 of the hashrate of the entire network at its disposal. F2Pool is the only service where P2P payments are available. The administration advises to withdraw funds within 90 days, because then the money will go to the development of the pool.

• Another Chinese service AntPool holds 18% of the entire network hashrate. On the this service you can mine the following coins:

1. Bitcoin;
2. Litecoin;
3. Ethereum;
4. Zcash;
5. Dascoin;
6. Ethereum classic;
7. Bitcoin Cash.

For Russian-speaking users, AntPool is a priority service, since it has a Russian interface. Funds can be withdrawn in different ways, one of them is withdrawal without commissions.

• BTC China is not popular in the CIS, since the service does not have Russian, English is also in limited access. But the service has 10-12% of the hashrate of the entire network. The pool is focused only on bitcoin mining.

• BW pool is the last Chinese service on this list. Only Bitcoin is available for mining in this pool. The service holds 9% of the entire network. Cash is disbursed under the PPLNS scheme.
• Bitfury is a European pool developed by a computer hardware company. The service controls 15 percent of the hashrate of the entire network. Without knowledge of English, it will be difficult to understand the interface, since the resource is not available in Russian. Bitfury is focused only on bitcoin mining.

It should be noted that these five pools own more than 50% of the hashrate of the entire network. Other services have at their disposal no more than 5%. Adding them to this list is inappropriate. However, some of them need to be disassembled because their characteristics are non-standard and interesting.

Other mining pools

• Miningrigrentals is an English-language service for mining bitcoin. The service has a user-friendly interface that every beginner can understand. The withdrawal of funds is not limited by anything, a large commission is imposed on the withdrawal.

• Eligius is another foreign resource dedicated to bitcoin mining. The service does not require registration. To enter your personal account, you only need to specify the number of your bitcoin wallet. Funds are withdrawn without commission. The pool has 4% of the hashrate of the entire network.
• Minergate is a Russian-language service for mining the following coins:

1. Bitcoin;
2. Bitcoin Gold;
3. Zcash;
4. Monero;
5. Bytecoin;
6. Ethereum classic;
7. Ethereum.

To extract cryptocurrency, you need to download the program from the pool's official website and configure the system. Funds are available for withdrawal immediately. The service takes a small commission.

• Slush is the first pool in the world that was formed seven years ago. Here you can mine bitcoin and namecoin. A year ago, the resource was implemented in support of Zcash. The service has its own system for withdrawing funds, the commission is 2%.
• Mining pool hub is a service that was formed quite recently. The pool is perfect for both beginners and professionals. The resource has the following coins:
• Adzcoin;
• Auroracoin;
• Bitcoin;
• Bitcoin-Cash;
• Bitcoin-Gold;
• Dash;
• Digibyte
• Digibyte;
• Digibyte;
• Ethereum;
• Ethereum-Classic;
• Expanse;
• Feathercoin;
• Gamecredits;
• Geocoin;
• Globalboosty;
• Groestlcoin;
• Litecoin;
• Maxcoin;
• Monacoin;
• Monero;
• Musicoin;
• Myriadcoin;
• Myriadcoin;
• Myriadcoin;
• Sexcoin;
• Siacoin;
• Startcoin;
• Verge;
• Vertcoin;
• Zcash;
• Zclassic;
• Zcoin;
• Zencash.

• Ghash.io is a service that used to be one of the most powerful pools. Now he has only 2-3% of the hashrate of the entire network. This pool was formed in 2013. The service has a convenient exchanger, as well as its own system for withdrawing funds. The following coins can be mined with Ghash.io

1. Bitcoin;
2. Auroracoin;
3. Dogcoin;
4. Fizercoin.

Mining pools Ethereum

Ethereum is a second generation cryptocurrency. Many analysts claim that this coin will overtake its main rival - bitcoin in popularity and value. For the production of this cryptocurrency, there are pools that are focused only on it. Services include:

• Ethpool.org is the world's first Ethereum mining pool. This pool is limited, entry for new users is not possible. Ethpool.org owns over 20% of the entire network's capacity.
• ETH Nanopool was formed quite recently. Now the service is actively developing, every day a large number of users join the pool. The power percentage of the entire network is about 2%.
• EthereumPool managed to fix itself on the market on the positive side. The service opened in 2015. EthereumPool developers have set a flat fee for withdrawals of 2%. The service has a capacity of 2%.

How to choose a pool

The choice of a mining pool must be approached with a fresh mind. After all, the profit of your investment depends on it. Before settling on a particular service, you need to study in detail a large amount of information on the Internet, as well as reviews of other users. You should not choose those pools for cryptocurrency mining that were created recently.

Below are a few tips, following which you can't go wrong with choosing a service for mining cryptocurrencies:

• First of all, evaluate the characteristics of your personal computer and also check if they are suitable for mining cryptocurrency. It should be noted that mining pools are based on the use of the power of video cards. If your device was released several years ago, then in this case it is not worth the investment. Since the profit will be negligible.
• It is necessary to pay attention to the possible ways of withdrawing funds. For example, some services charge a withdrawal fee, which is different for each pool.
• It is required to take into account such a factor as the distribution of revenue. The best option is to distribute the proceeds equally among all participants, because in this case the power characteristics of your PC are not important. Unfortunately, there are not many such pools. Basically, there are services that distribute revenue between miners in proportion to their investments. Each service contains different system calculations, therefore, before you enter, study this factor.
• If you live in places where electricity is expensive, or mining requires an expensive video card, then in this case it is better to refuse mining. Since the mining of cryptocurrency will not bring the proper profit. To pay less for electricity, mine coins at night when electricity benefits are in effect.

• When choosing a mining service, you need to pay attention to the frequency of payments. This characteristic, first of all, depends on the rules of the exchange, if the withdrawal is carried out on it. For example, the minimum allowed to withdraw 1 Ethereum to Polonix. Therefore, you should think about withdrawing funds to your wallet.

Thus, mining in a team of like-minded people is easier and more cost-effective. If you follow the instructions above, it will not be difficult to profit from this business.

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Alexey Russkikh

The era of solo mining is long gone. The ratio of computing power and network complexity does not allow receiving a reward for signing a block. Today, the only way to mine cryptocurrency is to unite in mining pools. Nevertheless, many miners fail when choosing a pool due to a lack of understanding of the principles of operation, specifics, differences and other features of mining pools.

In this article, we will look at everything related to mining pools: from their differences to choosing the best servers for specific cryptocurrencies.

Definition of a mining pool

A mining pool is a kind of server, the main task of which is to divide computational tasks into many subtasks. The latter are distributed among all participants who are connected to the pool. Initially, mining existed, their computing power was enough for independent mining of cryptocurrency.

As the complexity of the network grew from attracting new participants, the field of mining "coins" moved to video cards. Mining on processors is a thing of the past due to the minimal profitability (and later, the complete lack of profit).

Subsequently, the process of increasing the complexity of mining led to the fact that without combining capacities, miners could no longer extract cryptocurrency. It is important to consider that a mining pool is not a fully shared mining with an even distribution. It is rather a division of tasks, where each participant makes a profit, depending on the invested effort (capacity).

Principle of operation

The contribution is assessed by the concept of a "ball" (from the English share), which is a part of the computational hash function for signing a block. The task of the server includes not only distributing tasks, but also checking their validity. When the "ball" corresponds to the complexity values ​​required for signing the block, the operation is confirmed.

The reward received by the pool is distributed to all miners, depending on the number of valid "shares" transferred (depending on the reward method in a particular pool). Moreover, the signer of the “ball” block does not in any way affect the final distribution of the reward.

Each such server is a full-fledged business that "lives" on commissions charged from users. Mining pools can underestimate the overall computational performance in order to generate additional profit from "unaccounted power" (the so-called "hidden commission"), but such servers instantly fall into negative ratings and blacklists, losing all participants.

From a technical point of view, the structure of a mining pool cannot be called complicated. It is a dedicated server that distributes tasks. Moreover, the pool does not require complex configuration (if you have ready-made templates). However, the key aspect is the involvement of participants, which is based on:

• Powerful advertising.
• Mining pool reputations.
• Security.
• Favorable conditions for participants (low commission and other privileges).

You should also remember about the 51% rule, which is a direct threat to centralization and allows you to attack any cryptocurrency. Upon reaching this mark, the pool should potentially declare its liquidation, if the collection of high capacities does not pursue specific goals.

Types of mining and ways of reward

In the field of mining cryptocurrencies, there are three mining methods:

1. Solo.
2. Collective (in the Pool).
3. Cloudy.

The latter stands out from the rest, since it does not require equipment, it is often referred to the category of investments, and not "digging". Solo mining is almost entirely a thing of the past. This is due to the growing complexity of networks and the demand for digital money mining.

New "coins" are betting on solo mining, but as they develop and attract participants, "loners" will quickly be supplanted. An example is mining Pirl coin solo without a pool. Therefore, collective mining, with the unification of capacities, is the only way to compete in the field of cryptocurrency mining.

One of the key factors in choosing a server is the reward method that is used on a particular resource. It can affect the final earnings and both increase and decrease potential income. There are over 20 ways to reward, although PPS and PPLNS are considered the most popular and widespread. The simplest PROP method is becoming less and less popular, gradually becoming a thing of the past.

PPS or Pay Per Share- for participants, this type of remuneration is considered the most promising. When a block is found, each participant receives income for each sent "ball". The amount is calculated for the user by dividing the reward by the complexity of the network. Despite the fact that this distribution principle is the most profitable for miners, it is more risky for pool owners, which usually leads to high commissions.

PPLNS—Pay Per Last N Shares- the method is considered one of the most profitable and does not include payments for each "ball". The accrual is carried out not for the search for a block, but for the so-called "shifts", which represent certain time intervals. The method is similar in many respects to PROP, but it differs in a “slow start” when calculating remuneration.

That is, the indicator of the calculated capacity will increase to the maximum gradually (only after reaching the peak value, the payments will be full). But even if you disconnect from the mining pool, payments will be made until the calculated power drops to zero.

In addition to the above three ways of reward, there are the following types:

Solo	CPPSRB	PPSW
PPS +	Geometric	POT
SMPPS	DGM	BPM
ESMPPS	FPPS	Eligius
Puddinpop	HBPPS	Triplemining
RSMPPS	RBPPS	Score

How do I choose a good mining pool?

Choosing a mining pool for newbies can be a daunting task, especially with a huge variety of servers. First of all, the pool should be financially profitable, this is the primary and only important criterion. The following parameters will help you choose the most profitable, safe and stable option.

Hashrate

The capacity of a particular pool directly affects its potential in finding new blocks, and therefore on the income of participants. It is for this reason that the resources created among the first are the most popular.

Any new servers, despite their features, cannot attract as large a number of participants, which means they will lose in terms of power and efficiency in the search for blocks.

Commission size

This criterion cannot be called defining, but it also contributes to the income received from mining. Before choosing a server, make at least a superficial comparison of different pools by the size of the commission. In the long term, this can affect your earnings.

Reward system

An important indicator that needs to be correlated with own capacities in order to extract the most favorable conditions. For example, with a proportional profit sharing, in the case of low capacity, the income level will be unusually low due to the insignificant contribution.

Therefore, the choice of a reward system will be important if it meets the conditions (for ASICs, or large centers, it is different and is selected individually).

Location

An important parameter. In this regard, there is an opinion that it is best to choose servers that are located as close to the equipment as possible. This will ensure a stable connection and minimal ping.

The immediate geographic location is of secondary importance. To choose the best connection, use the "ping" command with the server address.

TOP 5 Bitcoin pools

Consider the largest Bitcoin mining pools, which provide the best conditions for cryptocurrency mining.

BTC.com

The undisputed leader, which, according to statistics, occupies a huge part of the total network hash rate (16.8% in monthly terms and 18.3% in annual monitoring). Its peculiarity lies in the low commission (1.5%) and the use of a modified and unique reward system. For this, a more advanced version of PPS is used, which implies full fee for the "balls" (FPPS). Specializes in Algorithm.

Opened in 2016, although the brand was known before, thanks to the creation of a popular wallet. The main servers are located in China and Germany, the company also plans to expand to Canada and Switzerland.

Another largest pool, which stands out thanks to the functional panel and the ability to choose the type of reward. It is part of the Bitmain concern, a company that produces ASICs. According to annual statistics, it is in second place, occupying 13.1% of the total capacity.

Low payments are considered a downside, and the use of a peer-to-peer connection is also considered a conditional disadvantage.

The third largest and one of the very first pools to be created (2010). Great for beginners because of the simple interface and navigation. A huge advantage - the servers are located all over the world, which provides good ping.

According to annual statistics, it takes 10.6% of the total hash rate. Differs in high stability, reliable reputation and program for demo mining (familiarization with the process for novice miners). Conditional disadvantages include the commission, which is slightly higher than that of the closest competitors - 2%.

A popular resource that allows you to mine BTC, Litecoin and 8 other major cryptocurrencies. According to the annual hash rate, it occupies the 7th position (6.8%). The downside is the increased commissions for major cryptocurrencies - 4%. The minimum commission on the server is only for Dashcoin, ETN and LTC, it is 2%.

Large mining pool, occupies 10.2% of the total network hash rate according to annual statistics. Does not require registration and supports the two most popular reward systems: PPS and PPLNS. The pool is registered in China and has been operating since 2013, during which time it has managed to gain a reliable reputation and a huge number of participants.

TOP-3 pools for Ethereum

Consider the top of the largest and most famous pools that make it possible to efficiently mine Ether.

One of the largest pools, the second in terms of capacity among all servers (24-26% of the total annual hash rate). The number of participants exceeds 140 thousand people. It also allows you to mine "coins" without registration. The only significant drawback can be considered an additional commission of 0.001 ETH, which is charged when withdrawing less than 1 ETH.

The undisputed leader, which ranks 1st in terms of power for Ether (28.7% of power in terms of the average annual indicator). Supports the extraction of 5 "coins", among which are quite rare Beam and Grin. The reward system is PPS + (combines the advantages of PPLNS and PPS). For all "coins" the withdrawal commission is 1%.

One of the largest resources for mining ether, as well as Zcash and a few more "coins". Supports PPLNS reward system. Ranked 4th in terms of power among all servers for ETH (almost 11% of the total hash rate). It is also considered one of the best RVN mining pools, in total it supports 8 cryptocurrencies.

The pool charges a commission of 1%.

TOP-3 pools for Monero

Among the pools that are very popular in Monero mining, the following servers stand out.

mineXMR

One of the main mining pools for Monero, with a share of the total network hash rate of 17-19%. It is considered one of the very first servers for Monero, which was launched in 2014. The remuneration system is PPLNS, the commission is fixed - 1%.

supportXMR

The peculiarity of this pool is that it supports mining exclusively of Monero. It also favorably stands out with the lowest commission among all large servers - 0.6%. In terms of uptime, it also occupies a leading position, the value reaches 100%.

A popular cloud mining service that is also one of the leaders for Monero and Bytecoin. Supports up to 11 popular coins, including Etc, Bitcoin Gold and others. Withdrawal commission - 1%.

List of other popular servers

Many popular pools support several cryptocurrencies, and large multipools allow you to mine more than 10 "coins" at all. Such giants as NiceHash do work on all algorithms: from massive and SHA-256 to less popular ones like DGB on Qubit.

In addition to the number of cryptocurrencies, pools are often classified according to requirements and working conditions, where the registration process takes the main place. For some servers, it is mandatory, while others open access without registration.