Digital currencies are rightly considered the financial investment trend of all times and peoples. It is enough to look at how significantly their stock quotes have grown to understand the validity of this statement. Bitcoin, which has become a pioneer, retains the leadership, but with it more than 1000 new cryptocurrencies have already appeared, competing with each other with varying success. Of course, not all of them managed to achieve recognition, but a group of leaders was formed, the second position in which is unconditionally occupied by the creation of the Russian-speaking programmer Vitalik Buterin, called Ethereum.

Unlike many of its counterparts, Ethereum was not created on the source code of Bitcoin and has its own blockchain. Another innovative component of this cryptocurrency is the institution of smart contracts, which are all widely used in various areas of human activity.

Ethereum, like most of its brethren, has experienced tremendous progress in the recent period. Since the beginning of this year alone, the value of these crypto coins has grown more than 12 times, and despite the typical volatility of digital assets, it continues to set new records. After the above, should we be surprised by the fact that more and more crypto-miners are interested in the question: how to mine Ethereum and become the owner of the largest possible number of virtual coins, the value of which is likely to only grow in the future?

A little about the phenomenon of mining

Despite the virtual essence and digital format of existence, digital coins do not appear out of nowhere. Yes, they have the form of an encrypted alphanumeric code, but they are born in the process of complex mathematical calculations, the implementation of which is only possible for mechanisms and, in no case, for the human brain. The use of computing devices should be considered a classic option for generating alternative monetary units, including Ethereum mining, the popularity and demand of which is growing along with the increase in exchange quotations for Ethereum coins. An important point should be considered the limited emission, which is the reason for the shortage of Ether, its high liquidity and the presence of a deflationary component.
Ethereum mining options and a little history

Ethereum appeared much later than the first cryptocurrency, but despite some excesses (hacking The DAO, division into two competing cryptoassets and multiple hard foci systems), it quickly took and continues to hold the second position in the ranking list of digital currency units. Unlike Bitcoin, the generation of these coins is faster and each new block is created approximately 4 times within a minute, and the number of prize coins issued to the miners by the system is 5 units.

There are 3 different options for generating Ethereum coins:

    Mining on the processor.
    Generation using video cards.
    Cloud mining.

Lets talk about each of them in more detail.

Mining Ethereum on a central processor

In the initial period of their existence, Ethereum crypto coins evolved, repeating the path to success that their more eminent ancestor Bitcoin went through. Due to their meager cost, they were not so in demand, and the complexity of generation was not as high as it is today. Therefore, mining Ethereum on the processor (CPU) of a conventional personal computer was an easy task. Another question is that the value of the prize coins was low. Over time, when the price began to increase, and stock quotes went up, the influx of miners led to the fact that solo mining lost all meaning and profitability.

Mining Ethereum on a GPU

With the increasing complexity of the network, the direction of generating virtual Ethereum coins using a GPU (graphics processor, video card) began to gain popularity, which are better suited for hashing the Ether network than a CPU (central processing unit).

Speaking about the advisability of mining Ethereum on a video card, it makes sense to note that the ability to generate this digital asset using the computing power of a personal computer is a feature that distinguishes it from many of its counterparts. Unlike Bitcoin, there is no need to purchase expensive ASIC miners. One video card with a decent amount of RAM is enough.

Here it should be noted that profitability increases in parallel with the number of GPUs, and by building a whole mini-farm with your own hands, by connecting several video cards to the PC motherboard, you can get a more solid income. Of course, you can also mine on just one, the RAM of which is at least 3 GB, but this will be more entertainment and is unlikely to recoup the cost of electricity and amortization of the PC.

System Requirements:

    To successfully mine Ethereum on a video card, you must install Windows OS on your personal computer, version must be at least the seventh and must be 64-bit. Although, it is recommended to install later releases, which, in case of changes in the Ethereum system standards, will avoid complications, associated with the transfer of software. The main advantage of this OS should be considered improved driver support.
    You can use Linux or ethos (the latter is valuable because it contains many ready-made solutions).
    The power indicator of the video adapter is also important, the memory capacity of which must be at least 4 GB.
    You need to download the latest drivers.

Having coped with the manipulations listed above, you can proceed directly to mining Ethereum.

Features of mining Ethereum on a video card

For successful generation, first of all, you need to acquire an Ethereum wallet, as well as download and install a mining program on your PC. Having acquired the latter, one should not think that one can start accumulating cryptocoins.

We have already noted that Ethereum solo mining, carried out using the CPU, has long lost its relevance. A way out was found in the form of generation, carried out using the principles of collectivism. For this purpose, numerous associations of crypto-raiders were founded, the so-called Ethereum mining pools, which are presented in the form of special servers that group the computing capabilities of users PCs. The use of a significant hash rate increases the chances of creating a block and receiving prize coins, which are distributed among the miners, taking into account the capacities used by each of them.

A little about the profitability of mining Ethereum

With the growing popularity and exchange quotations of virtual Ethereum coins, the number of crypto-raters is also growing, which is due to the constant increase in the complexity of generation. Naturally, the question arises: will Ethereum mining continue to be profitable in 2017 and in the future?

To calculate the feasibility of mining, many specific points should be taken into account, such as:

    Electricity consumption.
    Depreciation of equipment.
    Exchange rate differences.
    Changing the network hashrate and much more.

You can cope with this task by using special mining calculator programs, of which there are quite a few on the Web.

Cloud technologies and Ethereum mining

Given the complexity of understanding the specific features associated with the generation of Ethereum coins, the direction of application of cloud technologies is gaining increasing popularity. Of course, you can build a mini-farm from several video cards with your own hands, but many are repelled by the need to ensure the system is operational, constant monitoring, and profitability calculations using special online calculators.

The Ethereum cloud mining option looks very convenient against the background of the chronic lack of time experienced by most of our contemporaries, and the idea of passively receiving dividends or multiplying crypto savings seduces everyone. Generating virtual coins in this way has a number of advantages:

    Many specialized companies allow you to purchase packages with a minimum cost of $ 1.
    No need for mental or physical activity.
    Parallel mining with Ether and other altcoins.
    Affiliate programs that allow you to increase the income received in a passive way by attracting new users who are easy to get interested in taking into account the latest ups in exchange rates.

That said, Ethereum cloud mining shouldnt be considered a panacea. Indeed, there are visible problems in the profile direction, such as:

    The likelihood of a fall in profitability due to a fall in the exchange value of virtual coins.
    Possibility of disruptions in the work of a provider offering services for the extraction of Ether using cloud technologies.
    Fraud and hacker attacks.

What can you say in the end? Considering how rapidly the exchange quotes of digital currencies have been growing recently, and if you have no time to figure out how to profitably mine Ethereum, just buy them through the 24PayBank online exchanger, which offers to quickly, profitably and reliably purchase Ethereum by converting various digital , electronic and fiduciary monetary units.