1st Day Mining Cryptocurrency using NiceHash (GPU only) ~18hrs

Finally decided to take the plunge into mining cryptocurrency.

Ok so not directly mining for Ethereum or Zcash. I opted for the easier option using NiceHash Miner, which pays out in Bitcoin while I mine the most profitable algorithms.

This program is very easy to run and use, requiring only a download of a program with a simple GUI.
You can select which hardware you would like to mine (i.e. CPU or GPU) as well as tweak settings within the miner for running multiple instances or selecting algorithms. For the most part default settings are fine and I believe that is what I am using currently.



You will need a bitcoin wallet so that there is a location to deposit your earnings.
I opted to use Bitgo for my wallet, there is only a 0.10% outgoing transaction fee and reviews seem to be good. You are given your unique Encrypted Wallet password which you need to keep in a safe place as if it gets lost you cannot get a replacement.
So keep multiple copies in different secure locations preferably hardcopies in a safe rather than a digital on an online location.

Once your wallet is setup just add your bitcoin address to the NiceHash Miner GUI and start mining.
The program will run a benchmark the first time you use it and then start mining.



With my MSI GTX 980 4GB TwinFrozr I get around 0.0013 BTC/day which at the current rate is about $4.50CAD/day with about 30.42 MH/s on Lyra2REv2 algorithm.



I have seen the projected monthly income spike has high as $150 but time will time the nominal rate that can be achieved from a single GPU.

Electricity costs at maximum power draw of my card of 220W with a rate 0f $0.15/kWh I have a cost of $0.79/day which is approximately $24/day, so I well wishing profitability at this point. Though monitoring the actual draw I'm seeing closer to 160-180W which just means more profit!

The hash rates fluctuate throughout the day as well as the program automatically switching between the most profitable mining algorithms. The graph below shows the fluctuation over time as well the different algorithms mined.



So far I’m quite impressed with this and will continue to mine when I’m not using my computer for gaming. Seems like a no brainer and really isn't as hard as I thought it would be. Granted you will need a decent GPU to return good profits.

I plan to keep my earnings in Bitcoin and maybe play the bitcoin market in the future, as well as possibly other currencies like Ethereum or Zcash.

Happy mining!