Requirements – What Do You Need to Start Mining Dash Today?
Mining Dash to make a profit is a long term investment. There are several factors you need to know about, including hardware, software, and other technical issues. This next section covers everything you need to know before you become a Dash Miner.
Popular hardware and mining rigs for Dash
The Dash network is secured using Proof of Work (PoW) mining. Miners use special computers called Application Specific Integrated Circuit Devices (ASICs for short) to solve hash functions defined by the network’s X11 hashing algorithm. They receive DASH tokens in exchange for using their computing resources to confirm transactions and secure the network.
ASIC miners cost anywhere from $ 1,000 to over $ 10,000, depending on factors such as:
- Hash rate – The number of hash functions a miner can solve in one second. The higher it is, the better a miner is. The difficulty of mining is constantly increasing, and miners with poor hash rates can quickly become unusable.
- power consumption – Solving complex hashes requires energy. The higher a miner’s hash rate, the more electricity he uses. Electricity usage is an important variable to consider, especially if electricity is expensive in your area.
Alternatively, Dash can be broken down with GPUs and CPUs. However, these two methods have become unprofitable since the introduction of the ASIC miners. They are only recommended if you have access to free electricity. Examples of good ASIC miners are:
1. Antminer D5
The Antminer D5 is a mid-range miner from the world-famous ASIC manufacturer Bitmain. It is the successor to the Antminer D3 that was one of the most popular miners for Dash. Priced at $ 1,180, it has a powerful hash rate of 119 gigahashes per second (GH / s) and a modest power consumption of 1566 watts (W).
For comparison, the Antminer D3 had a hash rate of 17 GH / s and required a 970 W power supply. The D5 is 4.5 times more efficient and represents a qualitative advance in ASIC mining technology.
2. FusionSilicon X7
The FusionSilicon X7 is a dash miner from the Shenzhen FusionSilicon Company that was first released in 2019. The device is small, weighs about 10 pounds and has a hash rate of 262 GH / s with a power consumption of 1420 W. It offers excellent performance with an efficiency of 4.96 joules per gigahash (J / GH).
The X7 has three hash boards with 63 x 22 mm chips. It is equipped with a control card that runs Linux with Cgminer preinstalled. At $ 1,820 per unit, it’s a bit more expensive than the Antminer D5, but also more powerful.
3. StrongU STU-U6
StrongU STU-U6 is an ASIC miner developed by Shenzhen StrongU Technology for mining blockchains that use the X11 hashing algorithm like Dash, Enigma, Memetic and more. It has a high hash rate of up to 440 GH / s with a power consumption of 2200W.
This is a sturdy miner weighing 15.8 lbs and measuring 135 x 208 x 370 mm. It costs $ 1,300, which is a good price considering the hash rate and low power consumption.
4. Spondoolies SPx36
The Spoondoolies SPx36 is the most expensive option at $ 7,000. It has an impressive hash rate of 540 GH / s, but requires a whopping 4,400 W of power to operate. It can be used to mine 31 different coins, including Dash.
It’s a heavy ASIC miner at 42 pounds. Given the price and hash rate, this device is better suited for seasoned miners who are serious about making a profit.
software
Mining software is designed to use your computer’s resources to solve PoW problems and earn you DASH tokens. These apps run in the background and you get paid to do your PC’s work. You can assign how much of your computer resources you want to save and the app will direct those resources to a mining pool. Mining apps combine the processing power of thousands of computers around the world for mining, which greatly increases your chances of getting paid.
Once again, the proliferation of ASICs has made mining with a PC’s CPU and GPU unprofitable. The number of DASH tokens you will earn using mining software on a PC is small. However, mining software can also be used on mining equipment and mining operations. You can make a profit with these apps if you are ready to invest in hardware.
What software is used to mine Dash?
1. Awesome miner
Awesome Miner is a crypto mining management app for Windows and Linux computers. It has a central mining dashboard that allows users to manage multiple mining pools and engines at the same time. It can handle many types of mining hardware and is compatible with various mining algorithms including X11, SHA-256, and Scrypt.
2. MultiMiner
MultiMiner is another mining management app available on Windows, Linux, and macOS. It’s an easy-to-use app that allows miners to easily switch their mining rigs (GPUs, CPUs, and ASICs) between different cryptocurrencies such as Dash, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, ZCash, and Monero. It supports 17 ready-to-use mining algorithms like SHA-256, X11, X13, X14, X15, Scrypt and more. Also, users can add unsupported algorithms, coins, and miners.
3. Hashflare
Hashflare is a cloud mining platform that allows you to mine multiple cryptocurrencies, including Dash, Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum. Users can log in to start mining right away. The proceeds are deposited directly into your wallet address.
Can I use my PC to dismantle Dash?
You might be technical, but it won’t be worth the effort. Using your PC may have been a viable option in 2014 when the Dash network first went live, but the landscape has changed completely today.
You would be competing with miners who have invested tens of thousands of dollars building warehouses filled with server racks dedicated to mining cryptocurrencies. Your chances of getting paid would be comparable to winning the lottery.
Technical knowledge required to take down Dash
Anyone looking to get into dash mining should know a few common technical terms. Here are some key concepts you should know about:
- Hash rate – The hash rate is the number of hashes your mining rig can solve per second. The higher the hash rate, the better your miner can solve complex problems and the higher your mining rewards.
- Mining profitability – Mining Dash profitability is calculated based on hash rate, Dash price and hourly electricity cost. Divide what you get by two as Dash is a two tier network and block rewards are split between miners and master nodes.
- Blockchain – A decentralized network that records every transaction that has been reviewed by miners since it started. Think of it as a magical book with several thousand copies around the world. Each copy is automatically updated when a new block is mined. A transaction recorded in the book cannot be deleted or modified.
- Mining fees – Executing transactions on the blockchain is not free. Users are usually charged a small fee that is paid to miners once the transaction has been verified and added to the blockchain.
- Mining blocks – A record with information about transactions. Each block contains a record of multiple transactions. Once all the transactions in a block have been verified, they are added to the blockchain.
- Block rewards – The amount of cryptocurrency miners are rewarded for solving a block equation. The Dash Block Reward decreases by 7.14% after 210,240 blocks (approximately once a year). The block reward in 2021 is 2.88 DASH.
- Master node – A master node is essentially a server with a full copy of the Dash blockchain. Master nodes guarantee a minimum level of performance and may reject improperly formed blocks from miners. They also facilitate the anonymity (PrivateSend) and instant transaction capabilities (InstantSend) of the Dash network. Anyone can become a master node as long as you can prove possession of 1,000 DASH tokens.
- Proof of service – The mining layer uses a consensus mechanism for proof of work that is similar to that used by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The master node layer uses a concept known as Proof of Service (PoS) consensus. It is a rating system used to determine whether master node operators are providing services in good faith.
Joining a Dash Mining Pool
A mining pool is a group of miners who pool their computing resources to mine Dash and share the block rewards. There are several Dash Cloud mining pools around the world. There are several advantages and disadvantages to using a mining pool.
advantages
- It’s a lower investment in terms of equipment and maintenance.
- They increase your chances of successfully mining a block and getting paid to do it.
- The payouts are more consistent than mining alone.
- You don’t have to worry about electricity bills, ventilation, noise, heat and space.
disadvantage
- You share mining rewards with hundreds of other miners.
- Mining pools typically collect fees from members.
- Fraud and other malfunctions are common with mining pools.
In the official Dash documentation, a list of 18 Dash mining pools has been compiled. Some examples of popular ones are:
- Luxor
- NiceHash
- Multipool
- F2Pool
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