Ethereum Co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, shared his strong view via Twitter that Crypto Mining via mobile phones is nothing but a "fool's game".
HTC's crypto smartphones boast of adding mining capabilities, but in-reality, the crypto that you can possibly earn via a mobile device will not be more than a penny's worth.
HTC to launch the DeMiner app on Exodus smartphones
HTC, a Taiwanese electronics company, is partnering with Midas Labs to launch the app called DeMiner. This app will enable its Exodus smartphone users to directly mine Monero (XMR). The app will be available by the end of June 2020. These Exodus mining phones will act as mobile wallets and hold a full Bitcoin node.
According to the estimates shared by Midas Lab, a user can typically mine average $0.0038 worth of XMR per day. This means if you are determined to mining everyday, you can make a whopping $1.39 of XMR in a year!
Earlier methods of mining
In the early days, when cryptocurrency was catching on, people used the CPUs of their personal computers for mining. It was followed by using GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) which could carry more complex calculations. There was also FPGA mining, which could calculate many times faster than GPUs. But they were not commonly used on account of configuring issues. Then, ASIC (Application-specific Integrated Circuit) came into use, which was hardware made specifically for mining.
Then came Mobile mining
When mobile phones began to be used for mining, they could not match the processing power of the ASIC miners, and the battery got drained quickly. As compared to the electricity consumed, the number of Bitcoins earned also was very low.
HTC’s DeMiner App
The DeMiner app developed by HTC in collaboration with Midas Labs boasts to solve the issues experienced by earlier mobile miners. It is being advertised as to not only increase the rewards received by miners but also reduce the costs significantly. Which in reality is far from true.
Here are the benefits they are advertising:
- When compared to traditional mining devices, the power consumption is much lower
- Users can mine a minimum of $0.0038 of XMR in a day, while power consumed would be less than half of that. In other devices like laptops, the power used would be much more
- The app ensures that the Exodus phone will discontinue mining if the charger is unplugged or if usage is heavy. This guarantees that the phone functions optimally throughout the day
- It will improve blockchain security drastically
- It will make mining more cost-effective and available for all
- It will enable the smartphone to match the hash rate (the speed taken to solve the mathematical problem or hash) of a desktop
For a miner, earning potential is very low, and at $0.0038 of XMR per day, he would make only $1.39 in a year. But, the claimed objective of HTC in introducing the app is not about increasing earnings, but more about bringing more people into the decentralized system.
What do you think, Exodus Crypto mining Phone a genius idea or a marketing gimmick?