Ever thought of creating money on your own? Well, with cryptocurrency that’s possible, sort of. For the past few years, cryptocurrency has been the talk of the town, especially among young adults and millennials. It has become an evident buzzword on the internet thanks to several factors pertaining to it, such as getting heavily influenced by famous personalities on social media, the peer pressure of investing, and, most importantly, the urge of booking quick profits.
That said, when someone says ‘crypto’, the first thing to come to mind is Bitcoin. It’s the one that has kickstarted the crypto mania we are witnessing today. Bitcoin price has been surging ever since the pandemic struck the world, and in October 2021, it recorded its all-time high of $66,000! But, do you know how Bitcoin, or any cryptocurrency for that matter, comes into the market? Well, it’s through a process called ‘mining’, which involves solving extremely complex mathematical equations using your computer. But, there’s more to it than just that. Let’s deep dive into how to exactly do it on your own
Also read: See how much your Rs 50,000 investment in Bitcoin could be worth in just one year
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What is Bitcoin mining?
Before getting to the point of how to generate Bitcoin on your own, let’s take a look at what exactly Bitcoin mining is. It is the process of creating new coins by solving math problems using a computer. However, these problems are getting extremely difficult to solve for even the most powerful machine out there due to the very nature of Bitcoin. By design, there is a finite number of Bitcoin that can be generated, meaning only a limited capacity is available to extract. Only 21 million units of Bitcoins will ever exist, of which over 19 million (data: as per February 2021) have already been mined.
In addition to solving problems, miners also are also required to update the cryptocurrency ledger called Blockchain. A digital accounting ledger that can’t be tampered with, Blockchain is essentially a chain of blocks that contains the transaction history of Bitcoin happening all around the world. Miners are paid a predetermined amount of Bitcoin for their hard work and resources in solving the mathematical problems as mining involves tons of energy consumption and computing power.
As more and more bitcoins are mined, the math problems become even more complex, which then requires more resources and a network of miners.
How to mine Bitcoin in India
Seeing the prices of Bitcoin skyrocketing over the past couple of years, many people are intimidated to earn from the mining process. For every transaction processed and verified, miners receive a certain amount of Bitcoin.
In India, this is still a challenge due to the harsh conditions as mining itself is uncertain in the country, where there are no fixed rules and regulations regarding the same. Even the simple investment in cryptocurrency is risky, let alone mining it.
Apart from that, there are huge investments required for a mining setup such as extremely powerful computers for solving and processing math equations. These calculations are quite performance-intensive that, just like any gaming PC, requires heat management systems to be installed, such as cooling fans and other equipment. On top of that, electricity consumption is enormous in Bitcoin mining, which leads to high electricity bills.
Keeping all this in mind, if you want to start mining Bitcoin, the following are the requirements for a mining infrastructure:
- Powerful hardware – By powerful, we are talking about really powerful hardware that is actually able to run each and every resource-intensive task. But guess what? Most of the time even that is not enough for Bitcoin mining as it requires much more intensive power, which even today’s high-end CPUs and GPUs in PCs are not able to provide. That said, you’re better off building a custom Bitcoin mining rig (i.e. a high-end computer) that has multiple graphics cards and tons of RAM.
- Software – A dedicated mining software is also required, which is responsible to carry out the whole mining process.
- Bitcoin wallet – The Bitcoin earned from mining has to go somewhere associated with you. This is why you need a Bitcoin wallet that saves all earnings and data of cryptocurrency.
- Mining pool – Mining is definitely not an individual’s task anymore due to its complex calculations. There are mining pools that allow miners to combine their resources and solve the equations together as a team.
How to set up a Bitcoin wallet
Setting up a cryptocurrency or Bitcoin wallet is pretty a straightforward process that involves setting up your account along with verification. The earnings through mining can be withdrawn to your wallet, within 24 hours in most mining software.
One can choose a Bitcoin wallet among the following popular ones:
- Zebpay
- CoinDCX
- WazirX
- Coinbase
Just download either of these on your Android or iOS device, create an account, and enable 2-factor authorisation (2FA) for maximum security. Later, the wallet can be linked to your bank account to withdrawing the funds from your crypto wallet.
Also Read: Top 5 cryptocurrency exchange apps in India for online trading of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more
Best free Bitcoin mining software/ apps
There are several Bitcoin mining software that keeps running in the background and solving the mathematical problems while you focus on your work. But do note that earnings may vary a lot from person to person depending on the power of the computer systems and its ability to pump out Bitcoin.
Some of the best free Bitcoin mining software are as follows:
- Kryptex – This Windows PC software checks the power capabilities of your system and judges the monthly earning that can be generated using your resources. Having a gaming PC should be the bare minimum requirement to even earn a decent amount from mining.
- Cudo Miner – Cudo Miner is a desktop application for Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu, and works in the background to mine Bitcoins. The edge it has over other mining software is that it allows remote management and monitoring of the system. This is done through a dedicated console, which provides several data like performance and run status, and even allows withdrawal of earnings into your crypto wallet.
- Minergate – It’s claimed to be one of the fastest mining software in the industry. Minegrate is a crypto mining pool, which involves a network of miners to combine their resources to pump out Bitcoins. At the same time, it involves minimal workload which also makes it an easy to use crypto mining software.
We hope this information about Bitcoin mining in India and its process, along with the other details, are useful in your quest to mine the cryptocurrency. In the end, investing your time and efforts is always risky living in a country like India, where there are no concise and straightforward regulations. Thus, when taking this huge step, make sure to know what you’re getting into.
