In this chapter, we will compare solo mining and pool mining. In the early days of Bitcoin mining, all mining was done solo; it was only later that mining pools emerged where miners pooled their hashing power together to ensure smoother and more predictable earnings. Today, most of the individual mining is done in pools. Only large, professional mining operations mine solo. We will guide you through the process of making an informed decision on whether to mine solo or to join a pool. Furthermore, we will summarize what characteristics are desirable in a pool, so that your decision of which pool to join will be easier to make. We will also go through the details of setting up your mining software and wallets, for both pool and solo mining.
We will delve into the following topics:
Solo mining setup
Pool mining setup
Pool mining discussion
Comparison of pool mining versus solo mining
51% attack against the Bitcoin network