Solo pools for cryptocurrency mining. The best mining pools: an overview of the services

There are several types of cryptocurrency mining. The most common ones are mining without a pool (solo) or in a pool (by a team of miners). In the case of pool mining, you and your comrades will have to rent the power of the farms for mining using cloud technologies, while you will receive only a small part of each mined block.

Features of solo mining without a pool

Many experts argue that solo mining without participation in the pool is an unprofitable business, since they require the creation of your own "farm", the equipment of which costs tens of thousands of dollars, in addition, the speed of mining one block significantly increases for one miner. On the other hand, if you can figure out how to mine without a pool yourself, you don't have to look for a reliable pool and pay interest on the rent.

Basically, for single mining, they use ASIC processors ("ASICs"), which are quite powerful, especially if they are backed up by the latest generation video card. In addition to powerful hardware, you also need to understand the software settings - special programs for mining on a PC. It is advisable for beginners to find a Russian-language program that will have a simple and intuitive interface.

The most popular is CCMiner, which is equally loved by both beginners and experienced miners. This small program can "overclock" the video card, allows you to quickly set up data for mining and adjust the characteristics for solo mining of cryptocurrency or pools. There is an instruction in Russian, the ability to save settings and select an operating mode to reduce the risk of equipment overload.

It is not recommended to install Eobot.exe, as this program requires a very powerful video card for efficient mining without a pool. In addition, you will have to additionally buy an optimizer and a hash miner. The performance of this software directly depends on the number of connected miners, so it is not suitable for solo mining.

Other programs that can help solo miners include:

• 50Miner;
• BFGMiner;
• Ufasoft Miner;
• CGMiner.

How to choose a currency and calculate the capacity for mining without a pool?

In addition to powerful hardware and software, you should pay special attention to the choice of cryptocurrency that you will mine. The main criterion should be the minimum complexity of mining, as well as support for ASIC devices.

Some of the easiest cryptocurrencies to mine for solo miners are Ethereum Classic tokens - Musicoin, Ubiq, Expanse. It is still profitable to mine little-known coins that work on the Ethash algorithm - for example, Dubaicoin. But in order to understand how to mine these tokens directly without a pool, you need to closely monitor the quotes of the selected tokens on crypto exchanges. It should be understood that the complexity of the network of these little popular cryptocurrencies can change frequently, and unpredictably. But if you "catch the wave", you can make decent money with these coins.

In order not to work "idle", it is also necessary to calculate the chances of finding blocks, based on the available capacity. Special services like

WhaToMine and statistics of a single network

Let's say the capacity of the equipment is 3000 MH / S - this is 12-13 "farms", with 8 good video cards on each. If you start mining Ether Classic, you will find 12-13 coins. For finding a block, you will be given no more than 5 coins. Therefore, you should expect to receive 2 blocks per day, on average.

If the equipment has less power, then it makes little sense to mine Ether Classic. Try to pick a less popular coin like Musicoin, which will fetch up to 23 blocks per day.

Before choosing a coin and calculating capacities, consider:

• The difficulty of mining;
• Hashrate;
• Time of finding 1 block.

For almost every mined cryptocurrency, you can find detailed statistics and examples of successful solo strategies for efficient mining without a pool.

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• SHA-256 (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Paccoin, Peercoin, Pascal coin, etc.);
• X11 (currencies Dash, Pura, etc.);
• Ethash (currencies Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Metaverse ETP, Ubiq (mining pool), etc.);
• Scrypt (currencies Litecoin, Dogecoin (DOGE), BitConnect (BCC), Bitdeal, etc.);
• Equihash (Zcash, Komodo, ZenCash (ZEN (pool mining)), etc.);
• Cryptonight (Monero, Bytecoin (BCN), Aeon, etc.);
• Dagger (Pirl et al.);
• NeoScrypt (Vivo, Innova et al.);
• Blake (2b) (Decred, Siacoin).

How mining pool works

So, as we have already found out, as a member of the pool, you provide the server with the computing power of your equipment and in return you receive your share of the mined coins.

The contribution of each participant to the closing of the block is estimated in a ball (from the English "share" - a share, a part). The ball is part of the work of finding a solution to the block signing hash function, which is issued by the pool to the miner. The task of the mining pool is to collect shares from miners and check their validity. When the pool server sees that a ball satisfies the current complexity of the network algorithm, it claims to have found a block. For the closure of the block, the mining pool receives a reward, which it must subsequently distribute among the miners participating in the pool. There are several approaches to distributing remuneration:

• PROP or proportional approach is the simplest way to distribute the reward for finding a block. In accordance with this approach, the reward is divided in proportion to the share sent by each participant in the mining pool. Payment of remuneration is carried out only upon signing the block.
• PPLNS (Pay Per Last N Shares) - is considered the most efficient way to distribute the reward for signing a block. Payments are made not upon finding a block, but for "shifts" (a certain number of time intervals).
• PPS (Pay Per Share) - is considered the most optimal option for distributing the reward for finding a block from the standpoint of a pool member. In this case, the miner participating in the pool receives a certain reward for each share sent to him. The size of this payout is calculated by dividing the reward for finding a block by the complexity of the network. For a mining pool, this option is not the most preferable, because the risks with this payment option are much higher (therefore, pools that use this approach charge a large commission).

It is also worth noting that the server owner charges a commission from the reward that the miners participating in the mining pool receive for closing a block. Typically, commission costs are between 0.1 and 5 percent. In addition, some mining pools often resort to some tricks in order to make more money. For example, sometimes some unscrupulous servers underestimate the consumed computing power of miners, which allows them to earn an additional 10% of the reward amount. Of course, not all co-mining pools use this practice; there are also honest, profitable pools that value their name. In addition, there are cryptocurrency mining pools that claim to have no fees (like the zen mining pool). Be careful, as a rule, such services charge hidden fees.

How to choose a mining pool

We figured out the essence, but then a completely natural question arises: which pool to choose? For beginners, choosing the best mining pool is not an easy task. But we will help you navigate all this variety of pools, each of which is trying to assure potential customers that their server is the most profitable pool.

In general, it is worth noting that the main thing that interests us in the mining pool is the opportunity to make money. Accordingly, the choice of a pool should be based on this very criterion. There are several parameters, the analysis of which will allow you to form a more or less accurate idea of ​​the "quality" of this or that mining pool:

• pool power. The higher the computing power of the pool you choose, the more chances it will have to find the block first. In the context of making a profit, this is an incredibly important question, because if the server cannot effectively close the blocks, then it will not be able to offer you normal profit, which means that you will just waste your time and money. New mining pools just cannot boast of decent capacities, so such options should be abandoned.
• approach to the distribution of rewards among the miners participating in the mining pool. We talked about this in the previous paragraph of our article. You will need to find out which approach is used by a particular mining pool. You must choose the option that suits you, so as not to miscalculate with the profitability of your mining. For example, if the mining pool you are interested in adheres to the system of proportional division of the reward, and you cannot make a significant contribution to the development of the block, then you, accordingly, will not be able to get a normal profit.
• method of making payments. It can be like withdrawing mined coins to a cryptocurrency wallet or withdrawing funds to a card; withdrawal currencies may also differ. There are a lot of options, you need to choose exactly the one that suits you specifically.
• commission costs. Be sure to study this issue, because the profitability of mining will also depend on this. You don't have to chase minimal commissions; the main thing is that, subject to the payment of commission costs, you can still make a decent profit.
• your original data. This is, of course, about your cryptocurrency mining hardware and your electricity tariff. In theory, you can mine in a pool, or, in practice, not all options will turn out to be profitable. For example, mining on a central processor is generally the lowest profitable option, and, given high electricity tariffs, it is generally unprofitable. In any case, mining on old, low-performance hardware will not bring you good profits, therefore, you must make sure that your mining hardware produces a decent hash rate. Also pay attention to the cost of electricity in your region or country, because your mining costs and, as a result, your profit will depend on this price. Check out the electricity rates your supplier offers, there may be discounted rates that you can take advantage of.

It will not be superfluous to also search the network for information about the mining pools that interest you. Read forums, reviews and reviews, view the rating of the best mining pools. The network also provides independent pool statistics (for example, on the blockchain.info website).

In general, there is no single answer as to which mining pool to choose. Each miner has its own best option. Accordingly, you should evaluate mining pools based on your own goals and wishes.

How to set up a mining pool

Now that you have already decided on the ideal mining pool for you, you can proceed to the next step - setting up your mining pool. Setting up a mining pool is quite simple and quick, even a beginner can cope with such a task without any problems.

Of course, before you start working in the mining pool, you need to create your personal account. We will consider this process using the example of bitcoin mining in the SlushPool mining pool (on other platforms, the setup procedure may be slightly different, but not critical; the essence is the same).

To do this, you will need to go to the site and find the "Register here" button in the upper right corner of the page. You will need to fill out a short registration form, in which you must provide your username, email address, password, and also agree to the platform rules. You will receive an activation link by e-mail, clicking on which will complete the registration process.

Now that you have your own account, you must set up your account, edit or add new workers, add the address of the cryptocurrency wallet to which your reward will be paid, set up two-factor authentication (if desired, for greater reliability and security), etc. .d.

In addition, it is worth noting that the platform has an online calculator that allows you to calculate how much profit you can get if you mine in this mining pool using your mining equipment. You just need to indicate the hash rate of your device and the calculator will calculate the approximate reward that you can receive, and you will only have to take into account your electricity costs.

Next, you will need to connect your mining equipment (in our particular case, an ASIC miner) to the mining pool. If you are using a standalone ASIC miner with the Stratum protocol, then it will not be difficult to install it, since such mining equipment, as a rule, is equipped with a user interface of one kind or another, and you only need to specify the address of the server (s) (url (s)) , username and password:

• URL: stratum + tcp: //stratum.slushpool.com: 3333
• userID: userName
• Password: whatever

You will need to enter your user ID and worker name. The password can be a random word as it does not address security issues. If someone tries to connect to the server using your account, they will mine in your favor.

If you are using an ASIC miner connected to your personal computer, then you will need to download and install the one you intend to mine. (NOTE: you will need a miner program in any case if you are going to mine on a central processor or video card!)

As a rule, the official website of the mining pool of your choice indicates the mining software packages that this particular platform supports. There are also links that will allow you to download the miner program. For example, SlushPool offers you to download either cgminer or BFGminer, which only work with ASIC miners (in principle, mining bitcoins not on an ASIC miner makes no sense). You download the mining program and unpack it to a place convenient for you on your personal computer, and then install it (the installation guide will also be presented on the official website of the mining pool, or you can find it on the net). You will need to tell the miner the server (s) address (url (s)), username and password. To do this, you will need to create a file with the bat extension. This can be done very simply: create a new document in the text editor "Notepad", write in it approximately the following command - ./cgminer --userpass userID.workerID: Any password --url stratum + tcp: //stratum.slushpool.com: 3333- and save this file in bat format.

Further, if you, of course, have not already done so, you will need to set the address for payments. Please note that a mining pool is not a wallet, so you cannot create your address for payments on the pool website. However, there are many wallet providers (see our articles and). You can easily create yourself a wallet or use the cryptocurrency wallet of the exchange. Go to the "Payments" tab and enter your wallet address there.

This, as a rule, completes the mining setup in the pool and you can proceed directly to the mining of your chosen cryptocurrency.

Popular mining pools

Pool name	Cryptocurrencies that can be mined	Commission	Service features
		from 2 to 5 percent	The presence of a convenient, Russian-language interface; availability of own software; payments are made in bitcoins to an external wallet or NiceHash wallet; high service reliability.
Minergate	eth, btc, dash and other digital currencies	1.5 percent	Good capacities; funds are withdrawn to a personal wallet or exchange wallet.
Zpool	Supports almost all algorithms.	1.25 - 2 percent	No need to register; withdrawal of funds is carried out in bitcoins; the presence of a unique script; great for beginners.
F2Pool	Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Zcash (ZEC), Siacoin (SIA), Dash, Monero (XMR).	5 percent	Payments are made in accordance with the PPS approach; holds just over seven percent of the network hashrate.
	Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum	It is stated that there are no commissions (in fact, not so)	The presence of a convenient, Russian-language interface; holds just over 13 percent of the network hashrate; supports payment options PPS, PPLNS; daily payments.
BTCC pool	BTC, BCH, LTC, SBTC	1 - 4 percent
Bw pool	BTC, LTC, ETH, ethereum classic (ETC), UB	1 to 4.5 percent	Lack of a Russian-language interface; good power; daily payments; payment systems PPS, PPLNS, solo are supported.
Slushpool	Bitcoin, Zcash	2 percent	The presence of a convenient, Russian-language interface; availability of our own profitable payment system.
Dwarfpool	Monero, Ethereum, Zcash, Expanse (EXP)	1 percent	Good capacities; registration is not required; automatic payments every hour; the RBPPS payment system is supported, the availability of round-the-clock, Russian-language support.
Suprnova	Bitcoin Cash (BCH), LCC, Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Garlicoin, Vertcoin, VERGE, KredsCoin, ROICoin, Criptoreal, MUNCoin, ZCoin, ZERO, BitcoinPrivate, Credits, Wavi, Dynamic, Polytimos, Electroneum, Starks, Ravencoin, Pigeon Minexcoin, ZCLASSIC, ZENCash, ZCASH, BitcoinZ, BitSend, BitCore, Einsteinium, Komodo (KMD), HUSH, DashCoin, LBRY.io Credits, Ethereum, UBIQ, Decred (DCR), Sibcoin, MonaCoin, GroibestlCredits, Digits, Digits , FlorinCoin	1 percent	PPLNS payout system supported, decent hash rate, instant payouts.
MiningPoolHub	Adzcoin, Auroracoin (Qubit), Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Dash, Digibyte (DGB), Electroneum, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Expanse, Feathercoin, Gamecredits, Geocoin, Globalboosty, Groestlcoin, Litecoin, Maxcoin, Monacoin, Monero, Musicoin , Myriadcoin, Sexcoin, Siacoin, Startcoin, Verge, Vertcoin, Zcash, Zclassic (ZCL), Zcoin, Zencash	0.9 percent	Automatic switching from one cryptocurrency to another, exchange of mined coins for any other altcoins, good capacities, the ability to select a coin for mining on the site using the "Hub" function, the PPLNS payment system is supported.

Mining pools Bitcoin

List of top pools for Bitcoin mining:

• Slush pool
• Eligius
• Bitminer
• Kano CKPool
• F2Pool
• Bw pool
• Bitfury
• Minergate
• Give me Coins
• Mining Pool Hub
• GHash.io

Ethereum mining pools

List of top mining pools Ethereum:

• Suprnova
• Coinotron
• ETHpool
• DwarfPool
• 2Miners
• Ethereumpool
• Weipool
• Alphapool
• Coinmine
• Ethermine
• F2pool
• Miningpoolhub
• Minergate

Mining pools ZCash

List of top mining pools ZCash:

• 2miners
• Flypool
• Suprnova
• Coinmine
• Dwarfpool
• F2Pool
• ZSolo
• Miningpoolhub
• Equipool

How to create your own mining pool

Pool mining is a pretty tempting and promising idea for making money. But the fact that a part (albeit small) of honestly earned money must be given to the owner of the server does not please many. Such miners are interested in whether it is possible to create a mining pool with their own hands. From the news, many have heard that bitcoin enthusiasts from Russia have created a mining pool, but it is not so easy to do this and what the future holds for these Russian mining pools is unknown. Let's see if it's realistic to create your own pool at all.

Theoretically, it is quite possible to create your own pool for mining cryptocurrency, but for this you will need certain knowledge and skills, because we are talking about writing software. Of course, now on the network (for example, on the Github website) you can find mining pool server software, but its performance and reliability are questionable.

In any case, if you absolutely do not understand this issue, but still want to organize such a business, then it is better to hire specialist developers who will make a pool for you, which means that we are talking about a rather big cash investment. But also take into account the fact that in order for you to be able to make money on your mining pool, you will need good computing power, which means that your pool must be popular with miners. And gaining the trust of miners and spinning up your own pool is not so easy! So, if you are not ready for this option, then you still better refuse it.

Pools VS Cloud Mining

Currently, another popular and profitable option for making money by mining digital currencies is. In essence, cloud mining is the same mining in a pool, but without using your own equipment for mining cryptocurrencies. In this case, the cloud mining service offers you to rent your computing power for a certain fee (in other words, buy a hash rate). Companies that provide cloud mining services are the most powerful data centers with mining farms located in countries where electricity tariffs are incredibly low or there is access to green energy (energy obtained from alternative sources). In addition to paying for capacity on some platforms, you will also need to pay a commission (in this way, some services cover their mining costs, in particular, electricity costs).

A logical question arises: is it better to mine cryptocurrencies in a mining pool or use the services of a cloud mining service? Of course, if you do not have a powerful one, then you better opt for the cloud mining option, because buying computing power will cost you several times cheaper than purchasing top-end equipment. In addition, for a beginner, this option is the most convenient, since you will not need to configure mining equipment and software, monitor the operation of this equipment, pay electricity bills, etc. Also, it is worth noting that the cloud mining option is ideal for those who live in regions or countries where electricity tariffs bite, because in their case, mining in a pool can easily turn out to be unprofitable. If you have good mining equipment, then perhaps you should still choose the mining option in the pool, because in this case you should not spend money on hash rent.

Accordingly, there is simply no single answer to the question of which is better: pool mining or cloud mining. The choice is entirely yours. In any case, to get a more accurate answer to the question posed, you should resort to using the mining payback calculator. On the official websites of mining pools or cloud mining services, as a rule, there are special calculators that will help you roughly calculate the profit you can get. You can also make calculations manually, for this you will need to subtract all mining costs from potential income.

Conclusion

In general, mining pools are a great option for passive earnings. Pool mining allows you to greatly increase your chances of success, which is especially important nowadays, when the competition in the mining industry is incredibly strong and the complexity of the network is constantly growing. Even solo mining on powerful hardware may not give the desired results, especially when it comes to mining top cryptocurrencies.

The main thing in this context is to choose the right mining pool, because an insufficiently powerful pool is unlikely to be the first to find a block, which means you will wait for your profit for a very long time. Accordingly, before deciding on a particular platform, you should thoroughly study all the options and only then make any decisions. This article should just guide you in this matter and help you make the right choice.

What is a mining pool and how does it work.

At the dawn of mining, the complexity of mining cryptocurrencies and the total hash rate of the network made it possible to mine coins even without specialized equipment. The computing power of the processor, and later the video card, was enough to sign the block and receive an award for it. However, the development of mining equipment and the rapid increase in complexity led to the emergence of concepts:

• Solo mining. Mining cryptocurrency alone only on your own equipment. When mining solo, the miner keeps the entire block reward for himself.
• Pool mining. A pool is a combination of the power of the equipment of many miners at once to increase the likelihood of finding a block. The reward for the block mined by the pool is distributed among all participants.

A mining pool is a server that divides a large block signature calculation task into small tasks and distributes them to connected devices. The contribution to the overall work of each miner participating in the pool is estimated using the "share" (from the English "share").

"Shara" is a small part of the work on finding a solution to the hash function for signing the block, which is issued by the pool to the miner. Collecting shares from miners, the pool server checks their validity. As soon as some "ball" satisfies the current difficulty values, the pool server announces the signing of the block. After that, the pool receives a reward for the block and distributes it among the miners in proportion to the number of transferred "shares", regardless of whether the signatory of the block was among them.

Creating a mining pool is a full-fledged business. The owner of the pool earns by charging a commission from the coins mined by the participants. As a rule, pool commission ranges from 0.3% to 1-2%. In addition to the "official" earnings in the form of a commission from the income, mining pools are often noticed in the underestimation of the consumed computing power by the miner. It is easy to guess that the centralized pool has many possibilities to manipulate the hash rate of miners. In fact, this is an additional hidden commission for participating in the pool. Its size ranges from 0% (for honest pools) to 10% or more (for pools that deceive their members).

Despite the relative ease of creating a pool, it's still a tricky business. From a technical point of view, a pool is just a dedicated server with not the most complex software. To create a pool, you can use ready-made templates and step-by-step instructions. But the difficulty lies in attracting participants. Large pools were either early adopters and quickly became popular, or were built around large private farms, offering members an attractive environment.

For example, one of the world's largest Chinese Bitcoin mining pool, Antpool, is closely associated with ASIC manufacturer Bitmain.

Why are mining pools created? Why is it harder to mine alone.

All cryptocurrencies that are issued by proof-of-work mining have a difficulty indicator. The difficulty of mining depends on the number of devices involved in the mining and reflects the likelihood of finding a miner to receive a reward. The difficulty increases with the arrival of new miners, automatically adjusting so that a new block joins every few minutes. This means that there is growing competition for a never-changing reward for a block attached to the blockchain. The increased competition leads to a decrease in the likelihood of receiving rewards when mining on your own.

For example, the average time to search for a signature when solo mining Bitcoin or Ethereum, even on the most powerful hardware, is approaching several years due to the incredible complexity! But this is an average estimated time, but in reality the process can take many years.

Mining pool, combining the efforts of thousands of cryptocurrency miners, significantly reduces the time to receive a reward. A miner even with simple equipment, solving the "balls" for a long time and not finding a single block, still gets a reward.

The more computing power of the equipment of the pool members, the higher the "pool luck" indicator. Luck shows how likely the pool is to sign the next block. Large associations sign blocks (and, therefore, receive currency coins) more often, small pools - less often.

Mining pools are designed for cryptocurrencies:

• Bitcoin;
• Bitcoin Cash;
• Ethereum;
• Dash;
• Monero;
• Zcash;
• Litecoin;
• And other altcoins;

Pool name	Link to the official website
Pools Bitcoin
BTC.com	BTC.com
AntPool	antpool.com
BTC.TOP	BTC.TOP
ViaBTC	pool.viabtc.com
F2Pool	f2pool.com
SlushPool	slushpool.com
Pools Bitcoin cash
Viabtc	pool.viabtc.com
AntPool	antpool.com
Pools Ethereum
Ethermine	www.ethermine.org
Nanopool	nanopool.org
Mining Pool Hub	miningpoolhub.com
DwarfPool	www.dwarfpool.com/eth
Open Ethereum Pool	www.eth.poolto.be
CoinoTron	www.coinotron.com
Pools Monero
XMR mining pool aggregator	moneropools.com
Pools Zcash
Nanopool	nanopool.org
Suprnova	ZEC.suprnova.cc
Baikalmine	baikalmine.ru
Pools Litecoin
Antpool	antpool.com
F2Pool	f2pool.com
LitecoinPool	LitecoinPool.org
LTC.top	ltc.btc.top
ProHashing	prohashing.com
Bw	ltc.bw.com/pool/i

For novice miners, mining on multipools can be a useful solution. One of these pools is the popular NiceHash. The peculiarity is that it automatically changes the mined cryptocurrency if profitability changes. Due to the algorithm for changing currencies, payments sometimes exceed the income from conventional pools.

NiceHash advantages:

• No need to edit and configure bat files;
• Automatic sale of altcoins, which makes it easier to get fiat from mining unpopular currencies;
• The miner does not need to monitor course changes and difficulties in order to extract the most profitable coins;

Disadvantages of NiceHash:

• Relatively high fees;
• All payments are in bitcoins (you won't be able to get promising altcoins to your wallet);

How mining pools are created. Which pool is better to choose.

The algorithm for creating a mining pool can be described as follows:

1. Creation of software. Writing good pool script code is both time consuming and costly. Novice pool builders often use ready-made open source templates with minor adjustments. But on such scripts it is impossible to build a serious project due to low security. As the popularity of the pool grows, the first difficulties will appear. Problems are likely to be associated either with hackers or with built-in code and hidden algorithms that steal the hash rate of miners.
2. Server creation. To raise a server for a mining pool, you will need a serious investment. To create a stable pool, they rent dedicated servers or specially buy server hardware. High performance and fault tolerance should be important features of the server. A separate expense item will be a wide and stable communication channel, as well as staff salaries. The staff of the mining pool will include at least a system administrator and a technical support specialist.
3. Pool promotion. Marketing, advertising and promotion costs will eat up most of the budget. This is due to the high competition among mining pools. It is very difficult for a beginner to compete on equal terms with the monsters that appeared at the dawn of the crypto fever and combine 5-10-15% of the network hashrate. Moreover, the centralization of mining in several large pools is typical for all currencies. The only way out is to provide miners with unique services and focus on working with little-known and untreated cryptocurrencies.

Competition between pools is disadvantageous for creators, but very beneficial for miners. In pursuit of new users, pool owners create opportunities. When choosing a pool, a miner focuses on:

Pool power.

The pool's success depends on how much computing power the pool combines. The more miners mine currency on the pool, the higher the probability of finding a block. If you mine bitcoin and choose a pool with a hash rate of only a few tens of terahashes, then getting the first money will take a long time.

Studying online mining pool reviews saves time and money. As a rule, it is easy to find negative reviews about dishonest and simply mumbled services. You can get free, but truthful, reviews and recommendations of experienced miners on specialized cryptosites. The following forums are popular on runet:

• bitcointalk.org;
• forum.bits.media;

Pool fees.

A very important criterion for evaluating a pool. The pool commission is that part of the income from the mined coins that the server owner keeps for himself. High fees make mining cryptocurrencies unprofitable. On average, the pool reward is 0.3-2%.

Frequency and minimum payout.

Many pools limit the minimum withdrawal and withdrawal frequency. This nuance is important if the miner has low-performance equipment. The accumulation of the minimum amount to be paid can be delayed.

Pool testing.

The most reliable way to evaluate a pool is to test it yourself. Pool check allows you to understand how efficiently your particular mining equipment is performing. To test the pool, they connect the equipment to the service for 2-3 days and measure the results. Having done such a simple operation with several pools, the miner chooses the most profitable and interesting options.

Where can I find up-to-date information about pools?

Link	What currencies	Description
blockchain.info/ru/pools	Bitcoin (and some other SHA-256 forks)	The link provides a constantly updated rating of the largest pools in the world for mining bitcoin
etcchain.com/pool	Ethereum	Rating of the largest pools for ether mining
moneropools.com	Monero	The best mining pools for Monero. It is recommended to select services from more than 1000 miners.
litecoinpool.org/pools	Litecoin	Rating of the largest pools for mining litecoin coins
bitmakler.com/pools	All cryptocurrencies	An aggregator site that contains pools for the extraction of most coins.

The largest Bitcoin mining pools:

The largest Ethereum mining pools:

How to connect to Ethereum mining. Step by step instructions with pictures.

Let's consider a step-by-step algorithm for starting mining using the example of the Ethereum cryptocurrency. To mine Ether you will need:

• Ethereum wallet;
• Video cards with memory from 4 GB;
• Mining pool;

In our example, we will consider mining on the Ethermine pool, which is consistently among the five largest in terms of Ethereum production. In fact, the choice of the pool does not play a big role, since the process of connecting to mining is very similar to different pools.

1. Installing the miner.

For the extraction of cryptocurrency, special programs have been developed - miners. In ether mining, one of the following miner programs is most often used:

• Claymore (official program branch with up-to-date updates on the bitcoinolk forum https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1433925.0);
• Ethminer (the latest version can be downloaded from github at https://github.com/ethereum-mining/ethminer/releases);

These miner programs work with all pools.

2. We are looking for information to connect to the pool.

To connect to the mining pool, you need to specify the data of the pool server in the miner program. This information is located on the pool website. For example, the creators of Ethermine arranged the data on the main page in the "how to connect" section:

3. Configuring the miner program.

The configuration principle for the two programs is similar. Let's look at the setup using the Claymore miner as an example. After downloading the archive with the program to the computer, we find the start file with the .bat extension.

Open the file in notepad and copy the connection data from the pool site into it.

In the copied part of the text, fragments and we change to the address of your Ethereum wallet and any name of the farm.

4. Launching the miner.

After changing the bat file, let's start mining. To do this, double-click start.bat.

Newbies have no idea how to choose the right platform for collective cryptocurrency mining. In a new article, we will look at the best mining pools, tell you how to distinguish an honest service from a financial pyramid and other scammers, explain in an accessible language what the specifics of different reward payment models are, and help newbies choose the optimal system.

Remember that solo mining has already lost its effectiveness, so combining computing power is perhaps the only way to continue to make money from mining coins in the era of industrial farms.

Features of mining in pools

Combining computing power increases the miner's chances of making a profit. With even super-modern equipment at your disposal, it is extremely difficult to regularly find blocks, since you have to compete with the owners of industrial farms.

I would like to highlight such an advantage as the versatility of collective mining. Consolidation of computing power will benefit both novices and experts with expensive equipment. Co-mining is the only way to impose competition on industrial ASIC farms.

The efficiency of mining coins directly depends on the chosen service. Each site has its own characteristic features: hashrate, method of distributing rewards, additional functions, etc. It is imperative to choose a service that matches your status. For example, for the owner of a GPU farm with a small hash rate, a medium platform is suitable.

Why is it beneficial

Solo-mining lost efficiency due to the emergence of trusses and integrated circuits. Ordinary users are a priori unable to compete with corporate miners mining coins on an industrial scale.

The emergence of "pools" has stabilized the situation. Having united, the owners of insignificant capacities began to make money on mining again.

The main advantages of collective cryptocurrency mining:

• minimization of financial risks;
• saving money;
• decentralization and maximum reliability;
• increased chances of finding a block;
• fair distribution of remuneration.

Still not sure why team up with other users? Let's look at a specific example:

Suppose you have a farm of 6 powerful video cards, for example, Radeon RX 480. However, in 1 month you could not find a block: such a scenario is quite real, because you are opposed by pools and industrial miners, but no one canceled the mandatory payment for consumed electricity ... As a result, you have gone to a significant disadvantage based on the results of a month's work.

Pool mining completely eliminates the possibility of losses. Even if you didn't generate the blockchain, you will still get money for the balls sent, which will completely cover your electricity bills. In this case, the miner will remain in the black.

Pooling systems

The payout model determines the profitability of the job.

There are several systems used by services for collective cryptocurrency mining. Let's take a closer look at each of them and highlight the most effective one.

PROP

Proportional- proportional model, according to which the reward for the found block is distributed in accordance with the share of the share sent by the miner. At the moment of confirmation of the transaction, the counter of accepted shares is canceled, the counting process starts over.

PROP is the simplest model, but far from the most profitable. Payouts are unstable, especially when it comes to pools with a small hash rate. If the user gets to the "long" round, and for SHA-256, Scrypt algorithms is a natural phenomenon, he will receive the minimum reward.

Everything is decided by the case: if you come closer to the end of a long round, then as a result you will get a really big profit. It is impossible to calculate the optimal time for entering the pool, which is why problems with the stability of payments arise. Of course, PROP is not the most convenient model for a beginner.

PPLNS

Pay Per Last N Shares- an improved version of the proportional model: the distribution of the reward for the found block is smoothed out. The uniqueness of PPLNS lies in the fact that the model is beneficial for service administrators and miners.

The sent shares determine the size of the reward. The time elapsed between block generation is irrelevant. The calculation is based on fixed time intervals. Such intervals are called shifts (shift in translation from English "shift"). The number and duration of the pool shifts is determined at its own discretion.

When the pool detects a block, miners will receive a reward. The payout amount does not depend on the time intervals between blocks. A long search for a block contributes to the smooth accumulation of rewards.

It is not easy for beginners to understand the essence of the PPLNS model, so let's look at a specific example.

Let's imagine that you are working with a service with 10 shifts, the duration of each is 60 minutes. Hashrate of the miner is equivalent to 1/100 t of the total pool capacity.

The pool found 3 blocks in 10 hours, the user will receive 0.75 BTC (the calculation formula is 25 BTC * 3/100).

When 1 block is found in a similar time interval, the user's profit decreases to 0.25 BTC, but compared to the PROP model, the pool will continue to pay the miner money for the "unfinished" balls. In any case, the blocks found in the future fully compensate for the unsuccessful period.

The PPLNS system reduces the influence of the case on the calculation of the remuneration, but does not completely exclude it. Sites with such a payment system usually do not charge commissions.

PPS

Pay Per Share- a fixed reward for the balls accepted by the "pool". Pool independently determines the size of the reward. The payout amount is determined in accordance with the reward for the found block.

In my opinion, for a miner, PPS is the best option, because he receives money for the work performed (sent by share), but the service carries enormous risks, since it pays regardless of whether a block is found or not.

Pool administrators do not engage in altruism, therefore they insure themselves against bankruptcy by introducing a commission fee - from 3% to 7% ... Funds written off from the accounts of miners form a reserve, from which money is paid to users for the found shares.

Comparative table of methods:

Way	Risk level	Suitable for beginners	Commission fee
PROP	High	—	—
PPLNS	Short	+	—
PPS	Missing	+	+

When choosing a service for long-term work, miners start from certain criteria that allow them to evaluate the effectiveness of a platform for collective cryptocurrency mining.

Hashrate is a key indicator that determines the speed of mining. This does not mean that owners of budget equipment should choose only the most powerful "pools". On the contrary, try to find a middle ground in this component.

Be sure to pre-calculate the profitability of mining cryptocurrency, take into account the cost of paying the electricity bill. Some sites are equipped with built-in calculators for calculating the profitability of work, for example, F2Pool. An alternative is independent services (whattomine).

Consider the size of the minimum output. Services with too high a limit are not the best choice. Do not store coins in your internal account, transfer funds to your own wallet every day.

For owners of weak equipment, the commission fee is not of fundamental importance, the main thing is that its size does not exceed the 5% mark. If you have a powerful farm, then on the contrary, give preference to a "pool" that does not charge a commission.

The comments of practicing miners are the most objective assessment of the service. Study the reviews left by users on independent forums and thematic platforms. Only positive posts are published on the websites of the pools.

Where can I find real reviews? Personally, I get information from English-speaking forums, for example, bitcointalk. Real professionals who are well versed in mining communicate on such portals, beginners will emphasize a lot of interesting things for themselves.

Carefully study the reviews regarding the withdrawal of funds. Pools that delay payments are close to scams, so it's better not to work with such services.

Work experience is another important indicator. The sites that have appeared relatively recently are not able to provide a high hash rate. The low rate of cryptocurrency mining will not allow you to earn properly. Non-untwisted pools are at the stage of formation, it is possible that some of them will not attract active users, as a result of which they will cease to exist.

Trust trusted portals that have worked for at least 2-3 years.

Tip 5. Find out how profit is distributed among miners

Earlier, we examined the main ways of distributing rewards: PROP, PPS, PPLNS. The method that works for you depends on the capacity of the equipment you are using. For owners of ASIC devices or expensive GPU farms, the proportional model is suitable, since there is no commission here.

For beginners with weak equipment, PPS and PPLNS are suitable. Profit distribution for sent shares completely minimizes financial risk. Pay attention to the size of the commission, if the choice is between PPLNS with zero commission and PPS with 7% fee, then give preference to the first option.

Rating of the best mining pools

The TOP-3 includes multipools that meet all the previously considered criteria:

Video instructions for setting up and connecting Nicehash:

My advice to you: if there is no powerful equipment, register on Nicehash. The official website has been translated into Russian with high quality. Rent computing power and start mining crypto. It is more expedient to choose not Bitcoins, but Ether or Zcash. The difficulty of mining ZEC, ETH is noticeably lower, in addition, there are prospects for the growth of the value of these assets.

Independent pool statistics

Newbies don't know how to choose a top pool for mining cryptocurrency. Analyze the statistics of services for collective mining on independent monitors - Blockchain.info and BTC.com.

Portal administrators update information regularly. Convenient charts and diagrams will help a beginner compare "pools" and determine the most profitable ones. For miners from Russia, the BTC.com resource is more suitable, since it has a Russian-language version.

I want to draw your attention to the fact that independent monitoring is useful not only when choosing a platform for collective mining, but also in the process of searching for a cryptocurrency for mining. It contains up-to-date information about the complexity of computational calculations, the amount of commission costs for transactions performed and many other important indicators.

Independent statistics are useful information. Study graphs and charts carefully and then make informed decisions.

Remember:

1. Mining pool is a server that distributes tasks between users in order to receive a reward for confirming a transaction as soon as possible.