When it comes to pools for mining digital currency, the English terms “mining” and “pool” should not be translated literally as “mining” and “pool”, since they have already acquired a stable meaning in the Russian language. The first type of activity is the generation of new blocks electronic money in order to receive a reward for this. The second includes a special web service used to distribute computing power. Now let's look at this definition in more detail.
If a user starts mining tokens alone, in order to get at least some income, he will need to buy very expensive equipment. Pools are a completely different matter - the greater the number of miners who have joined the resource, the higher the hashrate it produces. In this way, not only Bitcoin is generated, but also other electronic money.
The service is designed as simply as possible and represents powerful computer(server), which shares the implementation of specific goals related to settlements between participants. Immediately after one of them manages to calculate the algorithm, a new block, and users are rewarded with a certain amount of coins.
Mining pools provide the opportunity to generate a block payment and receive a cash reward with a higher probability than that of self-mining miners. The only drawback is that profits must be shared with all users of the resource.
The main requirement for these services is that the total computing power must be less than 51% of the entire network. This has already happened before with the Ghash pool. As a result, a certain number of its participants had to be suspended.
It was said earlier that a pool is a server that divides the calculation of algorithms among all its users. Each of them makes their own contribution, which is called a “share” (from the English word “share” - to share). It is enough for one of the balls to solve a complex algorithm for the portal to announce the generation of a new block with transactions. For this, the system accrues profit, which will subsequently be distributed among the site participants.
The payment for the created block is calculated for all shares, regardless of which of them took a direct part in solving the mathematical problem. This is how the fair distribution of earnings is determined. A miner, whose computing power may be insignificant, often carries out operations for a long time without achieving the required result. However, even though the new block was created by someone else, they will be given some portion of the total amount of coins received. He is rewarded for the existence of some probability that he could create a new block. In certain cases, it was his equipment that brought results.
It is important to know that certain balls are rejected over time. Some become outdated, due to which about 0.5-1.5% of results are lost, and various technical errors. The principle of reward distribution that mining pools use is as follows. There is a certain minimum value complexity ball (most often - an entire power of two). When selecting complexity, they strive to maintain flow stability while simultaneously reducing traffic from the user. In current devices, the minimum value of this indicator ranges from 16 to 128. The optimal complexity for work is 64-512. It can be installed either manually by the miner itself or automatically by the server. The difficulty is intended only for record keeping within the pool and has no relation to its actual processing power.
Subsequently, all shares received from the participant are summed up over a certain period of time and multiplied by the operating complexity determined by the service. The final result looks like 1 miner sent a huge number of shares, each of which has an indicator of one. This principle is used to calculate earnings for each miner: the number of solutions with complexity 1 (Diff 1 shares). After solving the algorithms and receiving a profit from the resource (25 coins plus interest accrued for transactions), these funds are divided by the total number of balls with difficulty 1 that were received from all participants. The resulting value is then multiplied by the total number of solutions received from the miner.
As soon as at least 120 confirmations of the block generation are received, the reward is credited to the service account and then the coins are distributed among its participants. In some cases, a certain commission percentage is deducted. Some large mining pools pay out funds in advance and quite quickly, thereby attracting new users. When withdrawing funds, you have to pay a double commission - set by the resource, and interest for withdrawing money.
Each platform sets its own conditions and rules for transferring funds to its participants. As a service provider, the pool receives its share of the reward. The remaining funds are distributed among miners according to one of numerous schemes. Let's look at the most common ones:
- PROP (from the word proportional). As the name suggests, the reward for the generated block is distributed in proportion to the number of shares received from the user. When it is created, the counter counting the number of shares purchased is reset to zero. Due to its simplicity this system practically devoid of shortcomings. However, there is still one thing – the instability of payments, which is usually inherent in small pools. If the mining period coincides with a long process of finding a solution to the problem, the profit may be insignificant. However, there are also so-called successful periods when the profit is significantly higher than the average according to the calculator.
- PPLNS. Smoother proportional distribution of profits. This calculation system is one of the most complex, but at the same time one of the most effective, both for the pool itself and for miners who have been collaborating with it for a long time.
IN in this case The payment is calculated not for a certain period of time elapsed between the generation of 2 blocks, but for a fixed period, which is called “shift” (from English - shift). Both the duration of these shifts and their number are determined by the resource itself.
Money is credited to miners' accounts after a block is generated. The dependence of the payment amount on the time period between the generation of 2 blocks is expressed much lower. If it is not possible to create a new block for a long time, the payment level increases. In the opposite situation, when new blocks are created quite often, the reward for them decreases. However, there is a period of time during which the amount of funds given as remuneration remains practically unchanged.
- P.P.S. This payment method is fixed and easy to understand. The formula for calculating the size of payments contains a constant - the reward for the created block, multiplied by the number of shares sent by the pool participant. The resulting product is divided by the current value of the network complexity. This method looks the most fair for network participants, since the amount of payment depends not on the result, but on the work done. In this case, the fact of generating (or not generating) a block does not matter. For a resource, such a calculation option is unprofitable due to the high risks associated with a long period of block generation. Often the pool gives away funds in advance, but does not actually receive a profit. To compensate for the risks, such pools set a fairly high commission percentage - from 3 to 7 percent.
Those who strive for long-term cooperation will practically not feel the difference between using one or another system. However, it is logical to believe that the platform in which the commission is minimal or absent is the most profitable.
To select the most optimal mining pools, you should consider various resource characteristics. Some parameters will be listed below, however, not all of them meet them. good services, which received a lot of positive feedback for their stability:
- First of all, you need to refuse to choose a recently created pool, since its capacity will not be sufficient for good earnings.
- Requirements for a network participant. For any such resource, the computing capabilities of the user’s computer matter. You should evaluate your PC hardware and determine whether it meets the established criteria. For pools, video adapters are important. If the PC has a built-in video card or it is not powerful enough, the user's profit may be negligible. However, the information presented above only applies to those sites that use participant equipment.
- The principle of distribution of received remuneration. One of best options is a uniform distribution of generated coins. But this approach is practically not used. The most common profit distribution model is proportional. Before choosing one or another pool, you should familiarize yourself with this issue in detail.
- How payments are calculated. Platforms can pay earnings to the miner both directly in digital coins and in other monetary units at online wallet or even to a bank card.
Important! If mining pools require the user to have a powerful video adapter, or if electricity is quite expensive in the region where he lives, their use becomes impractical. In order to save on electricity bills, it is best to mine at night, when various benefits apply.
Most of these resources are in English, which, however, does not prevent users from actively mining cryptocurrency. So, a list of the most famous pools:
- Mininggrirentals - launched in 2014. Provides the opportunity to rent computing power. Among the advantages of the site are open statistics, a small commission and stability of work. Among the disadvantages is that you can only mine Bitcoin.
- - a very promising platform. Unlike the previous pool, here you can mine other types of digital currencies (Ethereum, Dash, and so on). The resource is intuitive and simple interface. All earnings can be easily transferred to a cryptocurrency exchange or your own wallet. Deductions will be 1.5% of the payment amount.
- Zpool - mining resource electronic coins, located in America. Conversion operations are carried out in automatic mode, which is extremely convenient for beginners in the field of mining. In addition, there is no need to register.
- BitClub Network - started its work in 2014. Supports a wide range of coins - Bitcoin, Ethereum, Zcash and so on.
In addition to the resources mentioned above, platforms such as P2pool, Bitminer and Ozcoin should be highlighted.
Independent cryptocurrency mining will not bring enough profit. After all, a significant part of the income will be spent on the constant purchase of more and more powerful equipment and paying endless electricity bills. It was the complexity of the organization and the unprofitability of this process that led to the emergence of such a phenomenon as mining pools. By choosing them wisely, you can significantly reduce your existing expenses and increase your earnings.
If you decide to mine something exotic or have been sitting on a pool with a zero balance for 15 minutes, you need to change your approach to choosing it. The rules are described below.
Before you start mining on a pool, take a calculator and divide the difficulty of the coin by the hashrate of the pool:
- for example, Ether difficulty is 3 Ph, pool hashrate is 12 Th;
- 3 Ph = 3000 Th;
- 3000 Th/12 Th = 250 seconds. This is how long on average the pool will search for a block.
The formula works for Ethereal coins. Before dividing, we multiply the complexity by 8192.
The more often the pool finds blocks, the more stable your income. But at a distance, the income is the same on all pools. So if you plan to mine a coin not for a couple of hours, but for a month or more, you can choose a pool with a lower ping or a lower minimum payout.
Check the ping to the pool
Ping is the delay in data exchange between the miner and the pool. The solution (share) that the miner is looking for is only suitable for the current block of the network. When a block changes, the pool sends a new task to the miner to solve. When the ping is high, the miner receives information about the new block with a delay and searches for a solution to the old block. Even if a solution is found at this moment, the pool rejects it as incorrect.
Most of all, the delay time depends on the type of Internet connection - in most cases, through 3G or LTE the delay is higher than through wired Internet. From different providers wired internet ping may also differ. To check ping, enter in the terminal or command line:
ping POOL_ADDRESS
A more honest delay time can be viewed in the miner. For example, Claymore shows a ping after every decision made by the pool.
A figure less than 100 ms is considered normal, and 0 ms is ideal.
Basic rule. The closer the pool server is to you, the lower the ping. The lower the ping, the better.
As the network of coins regularly finds blocks, ping has an increasingly stronger impact on income. For example, on the Ethereum network, on average 5,760 new blocks are created per day, since the average time to find one block is 15 seconds. We multiply this number by ping and get the approximate downtime of your equipment due to ping. If even before Russian pools you have a high ping and there is no way to change the Internet, choose coins with a long time between blocks. On the Hush network, miners find 576 blocks per day. The average time to find one block is 2.5 minutes.
Estimate the minimum payout
Does the pool pay out the entire reward received?
Ether and Ether Classic miners receive not only a block reward, but also two other types of rewards. These include a commission for transfers and a reward for “late” blocks - uncle blocks.
Transfer fees: Each time a coin is transferred, the user pays a fee. Transfers are collected into a block, and the commission is paid along with the reward for the block to the pool or miner who found it. Most pools keep it for themselves. It's easy to check. If in the tab with found blocks the reward is an even number, then the commission is not paid.
Uncles: if a pool found a block almost simultaneously with another pool, but later, the block is not included in the main blockchain, but the pool still receives a reward for it. It is less than the reward for a regular block.
We check the same as the commission for transfers. If there are only identical rewards in the block tab, the pool most likely keeps the reward for the unlocks for itself.
Conclusions. What to remember
- A pool with a large hashrate means a stable income, but in the end it is no more than on other pools.
- In most cases, the closer the pool server is located to you, the better.
- High ping this is bad, low is good.
- It is better to keep coins in your wallet.
- In addition to block rewards, Ether and Ether Classic pools must pay block transaction fees and unlock block rewards.
Well, who hasn’t heard of bitcoins now? This topic has become so popular that today there are courses, forums, exhibitions and webinars about it almost every day. Everyone wants to find a cool ASIC and determine the best mining pool. These are all real problems, although not very simple ones.
Currency
Before moving on to pools, it is important to define all the terms that relate to this topic. So, Bitcoin is presented as a system that will help you earn the money of the future. The latter concept includes cryptocurrency that is not yet ten years old.
It is believed that Bitcoin has many advantages relative to conventional finance. Firstly, the system works without the intervention of banks, and secondly, the exchange rate is growing steadily almost all the time. Thirdly, it’s possible to do all this both on your own and in a pool.
Production
Earning cryptocurrency is called mining. Such mining is available to everyone and is not limited by law. The main thing is the availability of the necessary equipment. Previously, a good PC with a video card was enough for mining.
Now this is not enough, since resources are growing, as is the development of the currency itself. This is where the emergence of ASICs came from, the cost of which is not affordable for everyone. But you can do without them.
Pools
So, you need to look for the best pool for mining when you understand in general what it is and what its tasks are. Conventionally, we have a platform where you and a couple of colleagues can earn bitcoins. It’s no secret that independent mining requires serious equipment, certain knowledge and a lot of money for the initial investment.
Pools can have many participants. The best mining pools have the highest performance and speed. You can even generate another cryptocurrency in them.
Principle of operation
So, we have a special server that distributes tasks among other participants. If one of them hits the target, then a block is formed, and all team members receive their earnings.
As practice shows, 99% of those who take up this business work with pools. This is due to the fact that the more participants, the greater the chance of finding a block of transactions, and accordingly receiving currency, even if divided among everyone. Alone, this process takes much more time.
One of the requirements of such a server is a power that does not exceed 51% of the resources of the entire network. If this figure is higher, then the participants will have to leave the pool.
Choice
Before you find the best mining pool, you need to understand the principle of its selection. You will have to carefully study all the parameters in order to understand what to expect from the resource. But even if you find a pool with the best parameters, this does not mean that it will be your favorite one. It is important to pay attention to its stability, operation and the number of positive reviews.
As a result, your choice should be based on three bases:
- Offer.
- Distribution.
- Pay.
Offer
You need to understand what you can offer the pool. Therefore, first we look at the required PC parameters. Its performance is extremely important both for mining in general and for similar individual systems.
The power must be able to pull all processes and be suitable for mining. As you know, the whole process is largely based on video cards. Systems must consist of compatible graphics accelerators. If your video card is outdated or does not meet the stated parameters, then your contribution will be small, as will the profit from it.
Distribution
But when researching the best mining pools, you rarely see this. More often than not, pools are set up to distribute income proportionally. In addition, there is its own rating system. It is important to study all this carefully in order to understand what prospects await you.
Pay
Everything is more or less clear here. There may be one or several payments. There are options to receive it in btc, and there is a setup for electronic payment systems and even bank cards. Therefore, in this case there are practically no problems. Choose what suits you best.
Details
Continuing this topic, you need to understand one more point. If your card for mining is outdated, and you are forced to spend a lot of money on buying an expensive model, then connecting to the pool may not pay off. It is also important to include the payment for electricity.
Mining takes up huge resources, so you need to either look for a way out or completely abandon this idea. Some mine at night when electricity rates are more economical.
If the problems described above await you before starting an independent pool, then it is also better to abandon such an idea. With individual mining, earnings are small. Most of it will go to pay for electricity, and you also need to immediately invest in an expensive video card.
Chinese participants
It has already happened that choosing the best pool for mining litecoins or other cryptocurrencies is not an easy task. This is due to the fact that the situation is changing quite quickly, and therefore leaders can become outsiders.
F2Pool is sometimes called Discus Fish. He is originally from China. The average hash rate is 20%. The resource was founded back in 2013, so it has more than enough experience. There are PPS payments with a 4% commission. For those behind the firewall, a special protocol is enabled. The standard connection port is 3333.
Finding the best Dash mining pools hasn't been easy. Best suited for this universal services, which also work with other resources. The best among them was Minergate.
This is a large service with a lot of power. He has a low commission - only 1-1.5%. There is everything standard settings and management programs. The interface is simple and does not require additional training. There is quick monitoring of mining of all cryptocurrencies. The production can be withdrawn to a crypto exchange or wallet.
Ethereum
You might want to find the best Ether mining pool. This is another cryptocurrency, which is more correctly called Ethereum. This platform was introduced to generate decentralized online services based on the blockchain. It was launched in 2015.
As practice shows, to mine this cryptocurrency, it is enough to have a video card that is 2-3 years old. For example, the GTX 970 from Nvidia is quite suitable for this task. Although it is important to understand that the speed will depend on the model. Study the opinions of those who have already tried it and compare performance indicators.
The best pool for mining Etherium is the ethermine.org service. It was launched at the beginning of 2016, and it made earning this currency much easier. On the site you need to install a special miner for the corresponding operating system. It makes it possible to directly use this pool.
conclusions
Of course, it is important to understand that if you decide to get involved in this topic, you will have a lot to learn first. In principle, there is nothing fancy about mining. It is important to understand its tasks and capabilities.
The same thing happens with the pool. Such conditional communities help beginners and those who want to earn extra income. Unfortunately, you shouldn’t expect to earn your main income this way just yet. There is a possibility that your system will not cope with the capacity.
If you understand your real prospects, you can safely choose a pool to your liking. The variations described above are not all. It is difficult to create a list of all resources, since it is updated almost every day.
There are already more experienced pools that are more trusted. But be prepared for the fact that you will need to make your contribution and periodically sacrifice income.
Having before your eyes the TOP pools for Bitcoin mining that are relevant for 2018, it is easier to make a choice and start mining virtual coins. The essence of such servers is simple - they unite thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) of miners under one “wing” for the purpose of forming new blocks, subsequently receiving and sharing rewards. The need for pools arose against the background of the rising cost of cryptocurrency and a sharp increase in the complexity of its production. Network participants are forced to unite in order to increase their chances and increase their bottom line.
Until 2012, a regular computer equipped with powerful processor and/or video card. With the increasing popularity of virtual coins, their price and complexity, the network had to choose between buying more expensive equipment or joining pools. It is worth noting that such services appeared back in 2010, but gained widespread popularity later.
The best pools for Bitcoin mining in 2018 - TOP 5
Each participant transfers a certain power (hash, share) to the common network, which is combined with the contributions of other miners and contributes to the search for the next one. Even with a relatively small amount of power at one’s disposal, a person still makes a profit taking into account the shares that are transferred to the network.
The popularity of pools is due to several factors - risk reduction, saving money on the purchase of expensive equipment, as well as fair distribution of income received. Below we will look at the best Bitcoin mining pools in 2018.
BTC.com
The BTC.com pool occupies a leading position and is considered the largest among all servers for cryptocurrency mining. The start of operations dates back to 2014, and the main office is located in China.
Additional branches are located in a number of other countries around the world (Germany, Switzerland, Canada and others). The peculiarity is the presence of its own storage service, stability of operation and positive user reviews. In addition, users have access to mobile app, allowing you to exchange BTC via phone.
Despite the company’s emergence in 2014, the first Bitcoin block was mined two years later. Hence, the best BTC mining pool has been available to miners since 2016. As of May 6, 2018, its total capacity is 6,747 PH/s, and the total share in the pools is 22.2%.
Experts note fast growth hashrate and great prospects for the site in the future. The average number of employees is more than half a million people, and the total number of mined blocks is 10,469. Over the past six months alone, miners have managed to mine 6,228 blocks, which indicates a serious breakthrough for the company.
The BTC.com pool distributes the premium using the FPPS method, which involves paying a reward for the share provided. The essence of the calculation method is that the pool calculates the transaction fee for a specific period of time, after which it adds it to the payment for the received block, and then distributes the funds between participants (as in the case of PPS).
| Advantages | Flaws |
| Reliability. | Some users complain about empty blocks appearing. |
| Long period of work. | |
| Positive user reviews. | As the number of users grew, revenue decreased. |
| High overall hashrate and increased activity in recent months. | |
| Convenient FPPS payment system. | Availability of commission. |
Let's highlight some reviews on the forums about BTC.com:
- For a long time, the BTC.com pool was happy with everything, but with the growing popularity of the service and the increase in the number of users, the size of the reward began to decrease. As a result, we had to look for other options.
- I like this Chinese pool due to the presence of large capacities, the presence good conditions to make a profit, as well as ease of work. I like the fact that the backup servers are located in many countries, including the United States, which ensures reliability. The downside is that there is a fee.
- I have been using BTC.com since 2016. I liked that you could mine without investment, but over time this opportunity disappeared. Today, earnings from the pool are slightly below average, so I’m thinking about changing the site.
AntPool
The list of the best pools for Bitcoin mining rightfully includes antpool.com. As of May 6, 2018, the service secured a place in the top three in Bitcoin mining. Its total hashrate is 5,035.88 PH/s, and its share in active pools is 16.7%. The creator is Bitmaintech, which operates in China. The organization’s management assures that the main goal is leadership among the pools, as evidenced by a serious approach and improved functionality for miners.
Thus, antpool.com was the first to introduce the possibility of solo mining - a mode in which a participant, upon finding the required hash, receives the full amount of the reward. In essence, this is a lottery, the probability of success in which is minimal. During its activity, 35,453 blocks were mined in the pool, and over the last six months (based on May 6, 2018) - 4,614.
| Advantages | Flaws |
| The presence of a solo mode allows you to receive the full amount of the reward (if you successfully search for the required hash). The downside is that the likelihood of such a development is minimal. | Low level of earnings. |
| An easy-to-use toolbar that makes it easy to understand the functionality and intricacies of connecting the service. | Slow customer support. |
| Possibility of choosing an option to receive a bonus for cryptocurrency mining. | Periodic occurrence of problems in operation (statistics are updated with a delay). |
| Focus on improving the quality of services provided. | |
| Russification of the service. |
Reviews about AntPool on the forums:
- I registered on antpool about 6 months ago. At first I was counting on high profits, because the site occupies a leading position in many. I started with test power to test my strength. The next day I went to my profile, but didn’t see any earnings. I wrote to support, but the problem was fixed only after a week. There were difficulties with the withdrawal, which were resolved only through technical assistance.
- A large pool that inspires confidence. I like the presence of Russification, the smoothness of withdrawal of funds (there have never been any freezes), a solo mode is provided. To increase the efficiency of earnings, I combined several modes. 70% of the capacity operates according to the usual algorithm, and 30% in the “solo” mode.
- I bought an ASIC, but the available hashrate was not enough to cover the costs (for solo mining). I connected to the antpool.com pool, but my expectations were not met. The influx of users was so large that even with six workers, the income was minimal. For some time I switched one worker to solo mode, but this did not produce any results. I plan to look for another pool.
ViaBTC
When considering which pool is best for BTC mining, more and more network participants prefer pool.viabtc.com. This is a modern service for mining virtual coins, allowing you to make profits online. According to the participants, the company accrues and pays money on time. The organization's office is located in China, and its activities have been carried out since 2016. The company is constantly working to attract new users and improve the equipment used.
After a sharp start during the summer and autumn period in 2016, later (until the end of the summer of 2017) the server’s efficiency temporarily decreased. Since the fall of 2017, the company has added capacity, which has led to an increase in the number of users and increased popularity of the pool as a whole. As of May 6, 2018, the total productivity of the site is 2,981.57 PH/s, and the number of mined blocks (total and over the last 6 months) is 3,294 and 8,456, respectively. The total share of the service among all pools is 9.89%.
| Advantages | Flaws |
| Regular promotions and discounts aimed at attracting new users. | The pool website does not have a Russian-language interface - only English or Chinese. |
| Supports several cryptocurrencies, which allows you to switch between them depending on the level of profitability. | As the number of miners increases, the size of the reward decreases. |
| Openness and accessibility for miners from different countries. | There are freezes after the transaction accelerator appears. |
| Pool is in the TOP 5 best services, which increases the level of trust in him. |
Real reviews about ViaBTC from users on the forums:
- I switched to this pool due to the company’s policy of removing restrictions from the block. The pool is completely Chinese, but it helps to have an English interface. Documents are accepted without problems, because there are no restrictions on representatives of other countries. I started working with pool.viabtc.com in August 2017, but since then the commission has already increased. In addition, after launching the transaction accelerator, I increasingly notice network freezes.
- I've been working on the pool for several months. So far it has not been possible to reach the desired profit - I plan to increase capacity in the future.
- On this moment Everything is fine with ViaBTC. Registration took a minimum of time, after which access to the mining of many cryptocurrencies (not just Bitcoin) opened up. I would like to note the stability of payments, the high response rate of the support service and a well-thought-out interface. But as the number of users grew, the amount of profit also decreased. The only hope is that the company will increase the hashrate in the future.
SlushPool
The SlushPool service is the oldest pool, which is considered one of the pioneers in the field of joint Bitcoin mining. Despite significant competition, the site has remained in the TOP of the best Bitcoin mining pools for many years. At the same time, the project has not stopped in its development - it continues to improve and attracts new users.
The start of activity dates back to 2010, and management of the site fell on the shoulders of the Czech company Satoshi Labs. As of May 6, 2018, the hashrate is 2,996.14 PH/s, and the total number of blocks received is 23,808. In the last 6 months alone, 2,963 blocks have been mined. The commission size is fixed and amounts to 2% of the transaction. Despite the difficulties that arose along the way of the service, it not only continues to work, but has secured its place in the TOP 5 best pools.
| Advantages | Flaws |
| The site interface is Russian, which is a big advantage for users from the CIS countries. | With the increase in the number of users, periodic malfunctions appeared (rarely occur). |
| High level of service reliability. | |
| Stable work and timely payments. Since December 2010, more than 1 million Bitcoins have been mined. | |
| Reliable protection account user. | Relatively low level of earnings. |
| Focus on development. Company representatives constantly state their desire to increase hashrate. | |
| Professional support service, ready to answer customer requests at any time of the day. | |
| Availability of servers in different countries world, which increases job stability. |
Hello, dear miners. In this post I recommend cryptocurrency mining pools ( mining pool), which I still use to this day. I chose them for a number of reasons: simple and clear interface site, low commission, automatic withdrawal and exchange for bitcoin upon request, a wide variety of supported cryptocoins, timely payments, compliance with the real speed of the miner, detailed statistics. Experienced miners probably know about these, but now is the time for beginners to find out. So, let's start reviewing the best mining pools from my point of view:
I almost forgot to explain what pools actually are. This is a server center that unites the participants connected to it into a single network, distributing the calculation task between them. As soon as the desired block is found by common efforts, all miners receive a reward proportional to their contribution (mining power) to general process. Different pools have different production capacity, efficiency, and operational stability.
Mining pools are used various methods to calculate your earnings:
- PPS pays for every share you contribute to the pool and also provides you with some payout stability
- PROP pays proportionally depending on the number of shares invested in the pool
- PPLNS pays users based on the last number of shares added
Miningrigrentals is a popular English-language online service for miners who do not have enough of their own capacity to make effective money. The service offers to rent “drilling rigs” (ASIC devices) for a reasonable amount and produce with their help. It has been operating since 2014 and has proven itself to be reliable and convenient service for renting private facilities. Those. thanks to them, you rent not ephemeral power, as with cloud mining, but a specific rig or ASIC from a person who wants to give it to other people for mining. MiningRigRentals takes its commission from each transaction, providing a convenient tool for selecting and monitoring the capacity offered for rent for many crypto algorithms. The site also provides accounting and statistics on the mining process.
Multi pools for mining - review
Minergate is the most popular reliable high-power multipool. I mine cryptonote algorithm coins on it, you can also mine ethereum, bitcoin gold, zcash and other crypto coins. Site interface and personal account simple and clear, there is support for Russian and other languages. All links to mining programs and setup information are present. There is also a convenient universal miner from the creators of the service. It is installed on your PC and automatically mines the most profitable forks. I have more than once withdrawn what I got directly to the stock exchange (you can also transfer it to your personal wallet). There were no problems with this. The pool commission is only 1-1.5%.
Zpool.ca - American multipool for mining provides stable and stable operation on various algorithms and scripts. This multipool presents a colossal number of forks and algorithms. Earnings are withdrawn in BTC (satoshi). All exchange/yield transactions within a given period of time occur automatically! Very good profitability of the multipool is ensured by a unique script on which an entire laboratory of programmers worked. Switching between crypts occurs with virtually no drop in speed. Payments starting from 0.005btc are made automatically every 6 hours, payments larger than 0.0005 are paid once a week on Sundays.
Nicehash is a large mining service that has been proven over the years. It can be used as a multipool for your own or purchased capacities. Or you can rent power and connect to any others. Income for all participants is paid in bitcoin. Recently it was subject to a serious hacker attack, but has resumed work and promises to return money to users.
Important! Mining most altcoins is absolutely not profitable given the high cost of video cards and electricity!
If you live in places with high electricity bills, then I advise you to mine during the reduced tariff, i.e. at night. If you don’t have a powerful video card and the ability to significantly reduce your electricity bill, I don’t advise you to get down to business - mining pools won’t help. Get pennies, and pay back the cost of the video card no earlier than in 7-10 months!
2Miners.ru is a multi-currency pool for mining coins using the Dagger Hashimoto (Ethash) and Equihash algorithms. The pool is unique in many ways. All cryptocurrencies have the possibility of SOLO mining. 2Miners is the first pool that, in addition to detailed statistics on the site, provides Telegram bots that monitor farms and notify about new blocks. The code was written from scratch by professional developers, experts in the field of blockchain and mining. The pool is constantly being “pumped up”: existing functionality is improved and new crypto coins are added for mining. For those who rent power on Nicehash, the mining pool for each coin has a separate port that operates on a protocol that is fully compatible with Nicehash. Mining pool is officially recommended by Nicehash, Ethereum cryptocurrency Classic, Zclassic, Hush, Pearl. Unlike most, 2Miners carries out technical support 24/7 on the website, via Telegram and Slack. No registration required.