Right now, you might ask "how in the world do I make mining profitable when everyone else is already mining Bitcoin, Ethereum and other popular Altcoins left and right?". I don't guarantee I can give you the answer you want but will provide something to think about and maybe, execute.
There are still a number of ways to make mining profitable. But most of them require either you invest on expensive equipment or have huge sums to purchase cloud mining contracts. This approach is different. When you have not the equipment nor the money, you make it up with a bit of research and of course, patience.
We can all agree that "banking on a cryptocurrency's future value" is what mining has always been. With low-end equipment and low hashrate, we can almost impossibly calculate earnings based off of current market's valuation, because low-end equipment tend to use more electricity than it generates money from mining. This is why you go with a different approach. This, however, does not limit us to low-end machinery. I've seen smart people actually apply this strategy with huge hash rates, and then hopping in between coins; moving to the next coin when they experience a slow-down from the rising demand.
Essentially, what they are doing is mining and HODLing these coins before they become recognized then selling them a year or 2 later when it has increased in valuation significantly. By the time that happens, it will be hard to mine the same coin.
This goes without saying, this is the same idea of buying a certain crypto on a bear market (or during ICO phase) and selling them when it's up significantly. The approach I'm talking about is mining undervalued, unpopular, but has great potential coins. Like what Bitcoin used to be - undervalued and unpopular.
Consider mining Bitcoin in 2009 or in the early 2010 for example. You've likely mined a significant amount back then because they were not as valuable now as it was during the time period. Let's take that idea and apply it on today's crypto scene.
Here is a checklist on finding these undervalued altcoins:
You may also choose to apply these research to coins that are still in the ICO phase; then mining them on the blockchain release date. You will have a chance to mine a full block in the first few hours (hundreds if not thousands coins) where everyone is essentially still a solo miner. Should there be a pool already in place, your rewards are still huge because the difficulty is low and you are one of the first miners of the coin. This usually tapers down as more and more miners come in. The more popular the coin is during the ICO phase, the faster the mining difficulty goes up.
How might I know? I already did this with a number of coins. Electroneum was one where I was able to mine thousands during the first few hours from its launch. Though, I did buy in the ICO and have HODLed them. :)
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BTC: 1GNqY5CsYrkHvDf9Jj3bwSXhHogbvmXBmF
ETH: 0x6c2F7128363332965b92A6c71eee0276FF27E0cD
LTC: LbLb9DcNvKzp2ywtYCctiv5NfpzvSwg7Ve
Legal Disclaimer: Everything in this post is of my personal bias. Make of it what you wish. It is not an advice nor recommendation to buy or sell anything. It is meant for informative and entertainment purposes only.