{"id":613,"date":"2022-12-07T16:16:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T16:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/78.47.81.216\/?p=613"},"modified":"2023-02-28T14:35:59","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T14:35:59","slug":"case-study-history-of-crypto-mining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ag.qubiq.cc\/?p=613","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: History of Crypto Mining"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Cryptocurrency mining has been a lucrative thing since the first Bitcoin was minted. It could even replace one\u2019s regular job. We offer you to dive into the history of crypto mining<\/a> and find out if this business is still profitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definition of Mining<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mining is the process of creating new Bitcoins (Ethers, or other cryptocurrencies) by solving complicated math problems that verify transactions and create new blocks. Miners receive a predetermined amount of cryptocurrency for doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CPU mining<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A type of mining that uses central processing unit cores (a computer, a mining rig, etc.). The first BTC was mined on a CPU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GPU mining<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A type of mining that utilizes the power of graphics cards. GPU devices are optimized to perform a narrow range of computational tasks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mining History: Timeline<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First BTC Block: 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in January of 2009, mythical Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first bitcoin block using a personal computer. Being the only miner of the whole Bitcoin network at the time, he didn\u2019t need specialized equipment to launch the blockchain. Satoshi could create more bitcoin blocks with only CPU power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GPU Era: 2010<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not long after, in July 2010, the first GPU miner was developed. It allowed users to achieve higher speeds through video cards and create large mining farms. Soon, GPU miners took over CPU mining, which was not profitable anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ASIC Miners Era: 2012<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, the first ASIC projects started to emerge. ASIC miners are represented as computer devices with the sole purpose of mining a specific cryptocurrency \u2014 BTC, ETH or other coin (but only of one type). As ASIC miners were becoming more widespread, GPU mining eventually became less effective and was forced out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays: Hardware vs Software<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, crypto miners are free to choose the most suitable way for creating new Bitcoins. It all depends on how much they can invest in mining, and how much profit they want to receive in future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One can set up a large mining farm (or a mining pool) that will use the power of 1000 computers, GPUs or even gaming consoles, or just use their personal devices at home. While some prefer not to invest in hardware, and turn to software solutions and various platforms for cloud mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Controversies in Crypto Mining<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Graphics card prices. The boom of GPU mining provoked rising costs of video cards, and turned into the crisis of circuits (started in 2020). While the GPU shortage appears to be coming to its end, as prices have reduced as much as 50% this year, profitable mining requires at least several graphic cards. This can\u2019t be cheap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Electricity. Crypto mining<\/a> is very energy-consuming, not only because you need to power your mining rig (or the whole farm), but also to cool it down. This results in scary bills for electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Another issue is the legality: though crypto mining<\/a> is legal in most jurisdictions, it\u2019s prohibited in such a large region as China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Bitcoin limitations. Probably, the most important issue about mining is the intrinsic limitations of the network itself. Each 4 years, the Bitcoin network comes through halving, which means miners are paid less. Initially, the reward was 50 BTC, which dropped to 25 BTC, then 12.5 BTC, and as of last year, 6.25 BTC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this only applies to Bitcoin mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future of Mining<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the past several years, the competition in crypto mining has become crazy. With mining companies setting up large firms across the world, it\u2019s almost impossible to mine digital currencies at home anymore. Crypto mining of today is a race of arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, BTC mining is becoming less profitable due to a row of controversies, so many miners are pulling out. But as history shows, each evolution step of the mining rigs, each increase of power and efficiency, was celebrated by another mining boom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competition for mining rewards will continue \u2014 at least to the moment when 21M Bitcoins will be mined, and it will hopefully foster new solutions for profitable mining in the following years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cryptocurrency mining has been a lucrative thing since the first Bitcoin was minted. It could even replace one\u2019s regular job. We offer you to dive into the history of crypto mining and find out if this business is still profitable. Definition of Mining Mining is the process of creating new Bitcoins (Ethers, or other cryptocurrencies) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[40,64],"authors":[37],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alphaguilty","tag-case-study","authors-alphaguilty"],"acf":{"reading_time":""},"author-name":"AG Content Manager","suggested-articles":[{"ID":869,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2023-01-25 16:33:16","post_date_gmt":"2023-01-25 16:33:16","post_content":"\n

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Since the beginning of 2022, cryptocurrencies have suffered a brutal comedown, losing $2 trillion in value after a massive rally in 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization today is $1.06 trillion, almost a -40% change one year ago. Overall crypto trading volumes fell from nearly $500 billion in May 2021 to almost $200 billion in December 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two most popular cryptocurrencies are also struggling: Bitcoin plummeted by 70% from its highest peak of $64,000 in 2021, while Ethereum lost two thirds of its value since its all-time-high of nearly $3500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is this bear market<\/a> different?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crypto and DeFi<\/a> market with multiple firms, exchanges, dApps, trading platforms and other business has become as interconnected as ever. That\u2019s why, in 2022 we witnessed a series of interrelated events, when one crisis affected the rest of the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most bright examples is FTX: its bankruptcy dragged down crypto prices and operations of many crypto and NFT firms that had connections with this exchange, once second largest in the world. Among the exposed companies \u2014 BlockFi, Gemini, Kraken, Crypto.com and even Binance, which suffered reputational and financial losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, this bear market<\/a> is notable for the destabilization of\u2026 stablecoins. The 2022 year was a collapse for TerraUSD (UST), an algorithmic stablecoin which was supposed to be pegged one-to-one with the US dollar, but lost its peg, bringing down its sister token LUNA. This sent shockwaves through the stablecoin industry, and made investors doubt whether other fiat-pegged coins could collapse too.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How was it during the previous crypto winter?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last prolonged bear market<\/a> occurred between 2017 and 2018, when Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies slumped sharply after a steep climb. In the end of 2017, the dominant cryptocurrency reached its first all-time-high (nearly $20,000), but lost most of its value during the next several months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crypto market then was awash with initial coin offerings (ICO), a type of crowdfunding that wears a negative label to this day. Investors poured money into multiple crypto ventures that were literally everywhere, but the vast majority of those projects ended up failing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most experts agree that the 2017-2018 crash happened largely due to the overhype around crypto. At that time, few people realized the importance of checking projects or at least reading their whitepaper, if there were any, becoming an easy prey for scammers. Luckily, the situation is completely different today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can this crypto winter be the last?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crypto market of 2022-2023 is much more rapid and flexible than a few years ago. And has more investors\u2019 trust as well. While major cryptocurrencies are having hard times, smaller coins like XRP, Polkadot and BNB are on the rise. We also have the NFTs, which are gaining more and more attention from big companies like Nike, Adidas and Starbucks, and can serve as a good tool to diversify your portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not that bad with Bitcoin, too: in the beginning of 2023, BTC\u2019s price has crossed the psychological mark of $20,000 and is slowly growing to $23,000. Hopefully, this crypto winter will be not as cold as the previous one, and traders will use this experience to develop some useful strategies for the next bear markets.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Case Study: Is Bear Market Of 2022 The Worst We've Seen So Far?","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"case-study-is-bear-market-of-2022-the-worst-weve-seen-so-far","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-02-28 13:58:18","post_modified_gmt":"2023-02-28 13:58:18","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/78.47.81.216\/?p=869","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1101,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2023-03-03 13:20:47","post_date_gmt":"2023-03-03 13:20:47","post_content":"\n

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Today, both novices and experts in the cryptocurrency <\/strong>field often use coins and tokens<\/strong> as synonymous terms. However, there is a big difference between tokens and coins<\/strong> and that's what we need to figure out. But why is this so important? It is one thing for members of the cryptocurrency <\/strong>community to understand the difference between a crypto<\/strong> token and Bitcoin<\/strong>, but it is another matter for newcomers to be confused with these terms at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is a crypto coin<\/strong>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bitcoin <\/strong>was the first cryptocurrency <\/strong>that runs on its own blockchain <\/strong>and is used as a means of payment between participants. Therefore, Bitcoin <\/strong>has become the default standard and is called a crypto coin<\/strong>. To help understand this, let's review some basic definitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A crypto coin<\/strong> is a digital currency that is created using cryptography methods and has its own blockchain <\/strong>where transactions <\/strong>take place. As mentioned above, the first and most well-known crypto coin<\/strong> is Bitcoin<\/strong>, which is transmitted within its blockchain<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One crypto coin<\/strong> cannot be directly transferred from its blockchain <\/strong>to another. For instance, you cannot transfer Bitcoin <\/strong>to an Ethereum <\/strong>address. This is because Ethereum <\/strong>has its own blockchain <\/strong>and unique addresses. Let's highlight the main points that define crypto coins<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n