Pools Cloud Mining Vs Mining a brief look

syrne(43)

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Hey all,

So we got almost everything setup here at the farm! :boom:

I have been talking with a friend, @listendistro via twitter and we will be working together on a guide on how to make 1-2 Bitcoins per month mining. He is a sharp guy!

I wanted to take the time out to write today about nothing fancy, as I will soon stop writing about bitcoin mining and will eventually write more how to guides as well as branch out into other areas.

Today though I wanted to talk about Pools and cloud mining.

So lets get started, what is a pool?

A pool is where a group of miners get together to take on very difficult unit. Think of Bitcoin, Litecoin, Game Credits to name a few. Miners band together to make mining this a little easier and quicker. There are a few different types of pools:

-PPS- PPS means pay per share. For every share you submit, goes towards the balance of the unit your mining. Very effective if you have lower end equipment.

Some great PPS mining pools:

http://www.zpool.ca - you can mine virtually any minable asset here.
http://www.canoepool.com - this is a btc pps pool. Interesting setup, reliable.
http://eobot.com
http://litecoinpool.org - pays 108% per share towards a litecoin.
http://hash-to-coins.com - my personal fav. great pool always up and always honest.

-PPLNS- PPLNS means pay per last n share. One round has an arbitrary number of shares which is solely based on sheer luck. On proportional reward system only shares of one round are considered for calculating rewards. However with PPLNS, a quite constant number N of shares is considered for calculating rewards. This number N changes only with the difficulty. Please have a look at the image below:

PPLNS pools:

http://www.minergate.com
http://www.ispace.co.uk
http://p2pool.in/
http://mergemining.com
http://suprnova.cc - thanks @ahinga!
Feel free to check those out!

Cloud Mining VS You mining

I have witnessed countless parties signing up for cloud mining. Some are fair priced some are blatant ripoffs. So what is cloud mining? Cloud mining is basically renting hashing power from a company. Some people like Craig Grant and others, swear by this as a means to convenience. Personally, I view it as a business taking out a startup loan. Not a very good idea. With my opinions aside lets look at the details from various mining entities.

Genesis Mining - this is perhaps the most well known mining entity. They offer various algorithms to their customers. Some can be pricey. Some pay about 2,000 USD to start mining. OUCH! Note that you do not really start making profits until after month 15 (Return of Investment). So that leaves you 8 months to profit off of returns. Not very good in my book.
Nicehash - pretty much offers all mining algorithms. Note that you will not make much profit from here as this is simply a means to supplement your mining rigs already.
EOBOT - I do not recommend this cloud service. I was in the chat box trolling people that deserved it. And well the do wells of that pool, where paying $500 for 40GH/s for 5 years. Yikes :boom:

You as your own mining service

Personally I mine because I see myself as a business entity. I mine, buy, sell and trade. I also have a tax id which you can get from here for free. If your going heavy into the mining business it would be wise to itemize your deductions for all of your overhead.. I'm not a tax lawyer or accountant, so consult them.

Either way you slice it you can pay up to the same amount you would for any of the cloud services listed above and start profiting from day one.

You can buy various miners from Antminers to Bitmain from ebay, or direct for fraction of the price upto 2,300. (Wow you mean I own my own equipment? Yes!!) You could build a kick ass ETH mining monster for $1200. Team up with your nerd friends, and start profiting today. Finally, and perhaps most important is, "no equipment to sell" haha yeah right. I think there will always be a need for miners, one way or another.