It was in the summer of 1401 that the Ethereum mining process ended forever and the platform’s consensus mechanism changed from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS). Ethereum was one of the most profitable projects for miners; But with the transition of the Ethereum network to Proof of Stake, home miners and large companies are in trouble and are looking for an alternative way to mine Ethereum.
But what digital currencies can replace Ethereum mining? Join us in this article to review and introduce the best digital currencies in terms of network and possible costs as an alternative to Ethereum mining.
Read more: What is mining or digital currency extraction?
How to find the best Ethereum mining alternative?
Now that Ethereum mining is no longer possible, it is better to look for the best alternatives for this task. List a subset of The best Ethereum mining alternatives which is compiled based on criteria such as profitability and energy consumption:
- ZEC
- Vert Coin (VTC)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Ethereum Proof of Work (ETHW)
- Raven Quinn (RVN)
- Ergo (ERG)
- Hun Protocol (XHV)
Before we continue reading, it is good to know how to calculate profitability, energy consumption and many other things. This will help you to choose the best minable digital currency according to your situation.
The digital currency mining calculator is one of the tools that calculates the energy consumption, profitability, mining power and even the temperature of the device for you. It is enough to give your rig mining details to these calculators; They provide you with the overall result in the shortest possible time.
By checking the characteristics and profitability of each digital currency with any type of device you have, you can have a correct and principled comparison of alternative digital currencies for Ethereum mining. Finally, choose the best digital currency of your choice as an alternative to Ethereum mining.
Read more: cryptocurrency mining calculator; Calculation of mining profitability
ZEC
The first item on the list of Ethereum mining alternatives is ZCash. ZCash is one of the most important and famous digital currencies in the world of digital currencies. This digital currency allows users to hide their details and information while making transactions.
This action is very important to protect privacy; Because all transactions made with ZCash are more popular in terms of privacy.
ZCash uses a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to process transactions; In the sense that ZCash network transactions are validated by miners.
For those with GPUs, ZCash is a viable alternative to Ethereum mining. In other words, you can mine ZCash as a miner using the processing power of your GPU devices and get rewarded for doing so.
Another interesting feature of ZCash is the use of the Equihash mining algorithm. This algorithm is designed to avoid centralization of the mining process using ASIC devices. This feature allows beginners to participate in the mining process using their regular GPU devices.
Read more: What is ASIC?
Features of ZCash
The monetary base of ZCash is the same as Bitcoin. This means that the maximum supply of ZCash coins is 21 million units and its mining reward is halved almost every four years. The first ZCash halving took place in November 2020, during which the ZCash mining reward was reduced from ZEC 6.25 to ZEC 3.125.
At the time of writing, the ZCash mining reward is about 3.125 ZEC, which is about $90 at the current price. The interesting thing is that the generation time of each block in the ZCash network is only 75 seconds, which is less than other famous digital currencies based on the proof-of-work consensus mechanism. In other words, transactions are done with high speed and efficiency.
In the end, it can be said that ZCash has been noticed by many miners as a digital currency for privacy protection and potential for mining. ZCash is a good choice for people who care about their privacy or have a GPU for mining.
Learn more: comprehensive ZCash mining training
Vert Coin (VTC)
Vertcoin (Vertcoin) is another digital currency that is an alternative to Ethereum mining, which was launched in 2014. This digital currency is designed in such a way that the mining power is distributed fairly between the miners and the network is never attacked by 51%.
According to the main concept of digital currencies of decentralization, Vert Coin has returned the specialized power of the mining process from the monopoly of the owners of advanced equipment to the general public with simpler facilities such as graphics processors.
Another interesting feature of Verthcoin is the use of the Verthash algorithm. The VertHash algorithm has some features similar to the Ethash algorithm, which is successfully used in many digital currencies.
It should be noted that VertHash is resistant to ASIC devices. This makes VertCoin an ideal option for mining with GPUs. Also note that this cryptocurrency can be mined with a central processing unit (CPU). is not And you can only extract it using GPU.
The VertCoin development team has provided a software called One-Click Miner. This software is specially designed for VertCoin mining and is known as a simple and effective tool for mining it.
You can download this software for free from GitHub or through the official website of this project. By running the One-Click Miner software, you can easily participate in the Vertcoin mining process.
If you are planning to start mining VertCoin, you must carefully examine the revenue stream associated with it and decide whether mining this digital currency is right for you.
Ethereum Classic (ETC)
Ethereum Classic was created after the hard fork of the Ethereum network. This hard fork happened after a project called The DAO was hacked in 2016, during which a lot of capital was stolen from the Ethereum network.
This incident caused a difference of opinion among the members of the Ethereum community. A group believed that they should reverse all changes so that assets are not lost; While another group believed that the main principles of blockchain should be maintained.
This disagreement eventually led to a hard fork and the creation of a new chain that we know today as Ethereum; But the previous chain continued to operate and was renamed “Ethereum Classic”.
As an independent project from Ethereum, Ethereum Classic still uses the Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to perform transactions and validate them.
Ethereum Classic uses Etchash mining algorithm. The ATC hash algorithm is similar to the AtHash algorithm used in the original Ethereum. You can mine Ethereum classic as an alternative to Ethereum mining using GPU or rig mining devices.
Currently, the reward for producing each block in the Ethereum Classic network is about 2.56 ETC, which is about $47 according to its current price.
It should be remembered that with the increase in the number of miners and the high competition in the network, the difficulty of mining Ethereum Classic has also increased. For this reason, miners may use different mining software such as GMiner and NBMiner to improve efficiency and ensure proper profitability. These softwares help miners to increase their GPU computing power to mine Ethereum Classic.
Ethereum Proof of Work (ETHW)
Ethereum Proof of Work is one of the forks of the Ethereum blockchain that was created after the Merge update and the transition of the Ethereum network consensus mechanism from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. In fact, after the Marj update, another version of the Ethereum blockchain was created, which is quite similar to the Ethereum network before this update, and uses a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to validate transactions.
You can mine Ethereum Proof of Work using GPU devices. Currently, the value of one ETHW unit is around $1.43. Although the price of ETHW is very different from the price of ETH, the value of Proof-of-Work Ethereum could increase if its popularity as a mineable asset increases.
Raven Quinn (RVN)
Ravencoin has been known as a popular mining option for several years now. This asset was launched in 2018 and was inspired by Bitcoin. However, unlike Bitcoin, RavenCoin is resistant to ASIC devices.
This means that its mining algorithm makes ASIC devices have no special advantage over GPU devices; Therefore, if you have a device with a GPU, Ravencoin mining may be a good alternative to Ethereum mining.
RavenCoin uses the X16R mining algorithm, which is designed to resist mining with ASIC devices. X16R algorithm also has better decentralization capability than Bitcoin’s SHA-256 algorithm.
At the time of writing, the price of Ravencoin is around $0.018. However, this should not mean that this asset does not have sustainable mining capabilities. Currently, the reward for mining each RavenCoin block is 2,500 RVN and the time to create each block is about one minute.
To mine RavenCoin, you can use popular mining programs such as T-Rex, JMiner and NBMiner. These apps are available for free and you can easily download them.
Read more: Ethereum 2; What happens to miners?
Ergo (ERG)
Maybe you haven’t heard of Ergo yet; But this digital currency has gained its place in the community of GPU device owners. Ergo is a relatively new blockchain that was founded in 2019.
The platform allows developers to create decentralized applications (DApps). Ergo also has several advantages, including resistance to ESIC and extraction of ERG using conventional equipment.
Ergo uses the second version of the Autolykos mining algorithm. This algorithm makes the mining process possible for miners with a GPU with 3GB of RAM. This means that there is no need for special and expensive ASIC devices to mine Ergo.
This feature is very important; Because people who have simpler equipment can easily participate in the process of extracting Ergo.
The extraction time of Ergo blocks is 2 minutes. In the first two years, the reward for mining each block is 75 ERG, which is distributed between the miners and the Ergo treasury. After two years, the ERG mining reward will decrease by 3 ERG units every three months; Therefore, the supply of ERG tokens is limited and will expire eight years after launch. This decrease in supply makes the ERG token scarcer over time.
To mine Ergo as an alternative to Ethereum mining, you can use different software such as NBMiner and T-Rex. These software are available for free and you can easily download them.
Since Ergo mining does not require complex and powerful devices, it can be a favorable option for miners with ordinary equipment.
Heaven Protocol (XHV)
Haven Protocol is another project that was established in 2018 with the aim of protecting privacy. The project focuses on privacy and has similar features to Monero. Hoon allows users to conduct their transactions anonymously and maintain their privacy.
Hun native token symbol is XHV protocol. XHV can be mined using mining rigs; But if you have little capital, you can use CPU to mine it. The Hun protocol native token allows people with limited resources to mine this digital currency.
At the time of this writing, the reward for creating each block in Hon Protocol is about 2 XHV units, which according to the current price is $0.27. The production time of each block in this network is about two minutes, which is neither very slow nor very fast in terms of speed.
These features allow people to have a low but steady income stream by mining this currency as an alternative to Ethereum mining.
Conclusion
In this article, we tried to review and introduce the most famous and potential digital currencies as an alternative to Ethereum mining. Each of these currencies has its own advantages and disadvantages, and in order to choose, it is better to compare them in principle and consider the mining conditions in your place of residence. In general, each of these digital currencies can be mined using rig mining, and they are cheaper and more economical than ESICs.
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