The Easy Mining Paradox

I must admit. Trying to find ways to address the problems with getting into crypto at this late stage in the space has been challenging. 

Many people want to mine to earn crypto, but that isn't very easy to do. 

I've tried a lot of different methods, and I've hit a lot of walls. I've tried mining cryptos designed specifically around not requiring graphics cards to mine. Typically, I run into a configuration problem with either port forwarding or some setting particular to that crypto. 

The only success I've had with mining is using software like Kryptex or Cudo Miner. Honey Miner would have been my recommendation until I noticed that it stopped mining last year. 

Mining Monero through those mining software programs is the best choice, and I think if you have a lot of cores on your CPU, you can mine a fair amount of Monero (once you go into the settings of the miner and allow it to use your cores). 

There is virtual mining, though. Electroneum prided itself on being a phone-safe mining option. I remember having an old method for gathering Ethereum that required mining Electroneum and trading out on an exchange. Electroneum is no longer available for mining; instead, you are expected to use Anytask and earn Electroneum as a reward for providing a freelance service. 

Other easy mining solutions have taken Electroneum's place, though. There is Pi Miner, Bee Miner, Phoneum, and several more that are supposed to be straightforward ways to earn crypto, and they are!

They are too easy. 

I noticed a misunderstanding about how crypto can be valued when it's empirical data, and because it's data, it is purely an imaginary collection of 1s and 0s. Data, however, is not generic and interchangeable. Everything is a specific set of 1s and 0s, and you can't always change that on the fly, and it takes specific actions to delete data truly. Data can be corrupted and can even be rendered into a state where it can't be read or modified without an extreme measure being taken. 

With that in mind, let's watch a video about what actual computer mining entails. 

That was a slightly technical video but the critical part to walk away with is how much goes into mining. 

• Mining requires specialized hardware that's capable of doing phenomenally complex calculations at a superhuman speed. 
• Mining efforts and transactions are validated by a network of computers which all have to agree on the accuracy and consistency of the information presented. 
• The greater the tools used to mine, the harder the mining becomes.
• The electrical costs have to be taken into account to decide if mining is profitable. 

Half of Bitcoin's value is in it as an asset fulfilling the utility outlined in its White Paper.

And the other half is carrying out the work and making what was outlined in the White Paper possible.

It may not be something you can hold in your hand, but I imagine the electrical bill will be all too real! (as well as the ability to pay for it with your earnings) 

Now that you understand how the most profitable coin attains its value, you can see how coins centered around being easy to mine have a profitability problem. There are many virtual miners (like Pi Coin), which are designed around simulating mining and making it easy to attain coins. The blockchain and transaction system are just fine, but because the supply is more than likely huge (and may not even be finite) and easy to acquire, it's just less valuable. Value drops even more if its main feature is easy to mine and doesn't have additional utility and functionality.

If you want to mine just for fun, I recommend virtual mining as it is a safe way to simulate mining. Additionally, I would recommend Rollercoin as the mining process is tied to playing video games and using the winnings to buy virtual mining rigs. 

If you want to mine and have some reasonable profit, you will at least have to buy a graphics card with more than 4 gigabytes of ram or a CPU with several cores (and you might want to keep an eye on the electricity bill although you aren't in as much danger as an ASIC miner).