There is no doubt that cryptocurrency mining is a big business that thousands of individuals around the world are eager to get involved with. In April 2021, Bitcoin hit its all-time high of $65,000 and miners generated around $3 billion in revenue. This revenue was the result of coins that they had obtained vua block rewards of transaction fees.
With figures as large as this, many people assume that mining is mainly overlooked by large organisations with the resources to invest in the construction of large mining plants that are capable of mining enough Bitcoin to keep up with the coins demand. However, this may not be the case. Twitter user, @econoalchemist, has recently affirmed that it is possible for individuals to mine Bitcoin from the comfort of their own homes.
According to the Twitter user, even with inexpensive ASIC miners, individuals can earn money from home by joining a pool. However, large mining companies have argued that Bitcoin will remain out of reach for the majority of individuals and that it would be more profitable to invest in a mining firm.
The initial Tweet from @econoalchemist appeared in mid-July. In the thread, the user revealed data that demonstrated the amount of Bitcoin that could be mined daily by individuals. The data suggested that success was most likely for those living in an area of the United States with fairly low electricity costs. @econoalchemist even suggested that for some people it may be more cost-effective to mine Bitcoin yourself rather than purchasing the coin with USD.
@econoalchemist said, “Several ASIC distributors are located in the US, most homes have an abundant power capacity, and the average kWh rate is USD 0.13.” According to @econoalchemist, an individual running a modest 80Th mining unit with a USD 0.13/kWh rate can accumulate BTC for 57% below its current market price. This could lead to major profits if you were to then sell that BTC at market value.
The twitter user recommended that miners start small with an S9 ASIC, which costs around $450 USD and can produce anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000 sats per day. The newer generation ASICs cost a lot more so it is best to wait until you are a more experienced miner until you make the investment. @econoalchemist suggested that most at-home miners should start to see a return on their investment within about 1 year.
@econoalchemist explained, “There are a lot of variables that go into these considerations like overall network hashrate, network difficulty, kWh rate, BTC market price, upfront costs, infrastructure requirements and they are constantly changing. But for the average US resident, there is a wide buffer in both how low the price of BTC can go and how high the network hashrate can get before mining at home just doesn’t make sense.” he also pointed readers in the direction of an article that he wrote in late-July that explains his ideas in more detail.
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