Book Image

Bitcoin Essentials

By : Albert Szmigielski
Book Image

Bitcoin Essentials

By: Albert Szmigielski

Overview of this book

Blockchain is being billed as the technology of the future. Bitcoin is the first application of that technology. Mining is what makes it all possible. Exploring mining from a practical perspective will help you make informed decisions about your mining setup. Understanding what the future may hold for blockchains, and therefore for mining, will help you position yourself to take advantage of the impending changes. This practical guide starts with an introduction to Bitcoin wallets, as well as mining hardware and software. You will move on to learn about different mining techniques using the CPU, GPU, FPGA, and ultimately the ASIC as an example. After this, you will gain an insight into solo mining and pool mining, and see the differences between the two. The book will then walk you through large-scale mining and the challenges faced during such operations. Finally, you will take a look into the future to see a world where blockchain-based applications are commonplace and mining is ubiquitous.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Bitcoin Essentials
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Summary


In this chapter, we explored ASIC mining. We explained how to install the mining software and how to set up the appropriate drivers; cgminer was our software of choice. We set it up on both Linux and Windows operating systems. We also connected to a mining pool to make sure everything was working as planned.

We examined the advantages and disadvantages of mining with ASICs. It will serve any miner well to ponder them when deciding to start mining or when thinking about improving current mining operations. We touched upon the best practices that we recommend to be kept in mind.

We also investigated the profitability of mining, given current conditions. A simple way of calculating, on average, your earnings was also presented. We concluded that mining competition is fierce; therefore, any improvements you can make will serve you well.

In the next chapter, we will look at the details of solo and pool mining.