Mining pools. Best Pools for Bitcoin Mining

SHA-256 (bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Paccoin, Peercoin, Pascal coin, etc.);
X11 (currencies Dash, Pura, etc.);
Ethash (currencies Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Metaverse ETP, Ubiq (mining pool), etc.);
Scrypt (currencies Litecoin, Dogecoin (DOGE), BitConnect (BCC), Bitdeal, etc.);
Equihash (Zcash, Komodo, ZenCash (ZEN (pool mining)), etc.);
Cryptonight (monero, Bytecoin (BCN), Aeon, etc.);
Dagger (Pirl, etc.);
NeoScrypt (Vivo, Innova, etc.);
Blake(2b) (Decred, Siacoin).

How does a mining pool work?

So, as we have already found out, you, as a member of the pool, provide the server with the computing power of your equipment and in return receive your share of the mined coins.

The contribution of each participant in closing the block is valued at a share (from the English “share” - share, part). A ball is a piece of work to find a solution to the hash function for signing a block, which is issued by the pool to the miner. The task of the mining pool is to collect shares from miners and check their validity. When the pool server sees that the ball satisfies the current difficulty values of the network algorithm, it declares that it has found a block. For closing a block, the mining pool receives a reward, which it must subsequently distribute among the miners participating in the pool. There are several approaches to reward distribution:

PROP or proportional approach is the simplest option for distributing rewards for finding a block. In accordance with this approach, the reward is divided in proportion to the share sent by each participant in the mining pool. Payment of remuneration is carried out only upon signing the block.
PPLNS (Pay Per Last N Shares) is considered the most effective option for distributing rewards for signing a block. Payments are made not based on the fact of finding a block, but for “shifts” (a certain number of time intervals).
PPS (Pay Per Share) is considered the most optimal option for distributing rewards for finding a block from the perspective of a pool participant. IN in this case a miner participating in the pool receives a certain reward for each share he sends. The size of this payout is calculated by dividing the reward for finding a block by the difficulty of the network. For a mining pool, this option is not the most preferable, because the risks with this payment option are much higher (therefore, pools that use this approach, they charge a large commission).

It is also worth noting that the server owner takes a commission from the reward that miners participating in the mining pool receive for closing a block. Typically, commission costs range from 0.1 to 5 percent. In addition, some mining pools often resort to some tricks to earn more money. For example, sometimes some unscrupulous servers underestimate the amount of computing power expended by miners, which allows them to earn an additional 10% of the reward amount. Of course, not all shared mining pools resort to such practices; There are also honest, profitable pools that value their name. Additionally, there are cryptocurrency mining pools that claim to have no fees (eg zen mining pool). Be careful, as a rule, such services charge hidden fees.

How to choose a mining pool

We got the gist of it figured out, but then a completely logical question arises: which pool to choose? For beginners, choosing the best mining pool is not such an easy task. But we will help you navigate this variety of pools, each of which is trying to assure potential clients that their server is the most profitable pool.

In general, it is worth noting that the main thing that interests us in a mining pool is the opportunity to earn money. Accordingly, the choice of pool should be based on this criterion. There are several parameters, the analysis of which will allow you to form a more or less accurate idea of the “quality” of a particular mining pool:

pool power. The higher the computing power of the pool you choose, the greater the chance it will have to be the first to find a block. In the context of making a profit, this is an incredibly important question, because if the server cannot effectively close blocks, then it will not be able to offer you a normal profit, which means that you will simply be wasting your time and money. New mining pools cannot boast of decent power, so such options should be abandoned.
an approach to distributing rewards among miners participating in a mining pool. We talked about this in the previous paragraph of our article. You will need to find out exactly what approach is used by which mining pool. You must choose the option that suits you so as not to lose the profitability of your mining. For example, if the mining pool you are interested in follows a proportional reward sharing system, and you cannot make a significant contribution to the development of the block, then you will therefore not be able to make a normal profit.
method of making payments. This can be like withdrawing mined coins to a cryptocurrency wallet or withdrawing funds to a card; The withdrawal currencies may also differ. There are a lot of options, you need to choose the one that suits you specifically.
commission costs. Be sure to study this issue, because the profitability of mining will also depend on this. It is not necessary to chase minimum commissions; The main thing is that, provided you pay commission costs, you can still make a decent profit.
your initial data. We are, of course, talking about your cryptocurrency mining equipment and your electricity tariff. Theoretically, you can mine in a pool, or, but in practice, not all options will be profitable. For example, mining on central processor in general, the lowest-profit option, and given high electricity tariffs, generally unprofitable. In any case, mining on old, low-performance hardware will not bring you good profits, so you must ensure that your mining hardware produces a decent hashrate. Also pay attention to the cost of electricity in your region or country, because your mining costs and, as a result, your profit will depend on this price. Check the electricity rates offered by your supplier, there may be discounted rates that you can take advantage of.

It would also be a good idea to search for information about the mining pools that interest you on the Internet. Read forums, reviews and surveys, look at the rating of the best mining pools. The network also provides independent pool statistics (for example, on the website blockchain.info).

In general, there is no single answer on which mining pool to choose. Each miner has its own optimal option. Accordingly, you should evaluate mining pools based on your own goals and desires.

How to set up a mining pool

Now that you have already decided on the ideal mining pool for you, you can move on to the next step - setting up your mining pool. Setting up a mining pool is quite simple and fast; even a beginner can cope with such a task without any problems.

Of course, before you start working in a mining pool, you need to create your personal account. We will look at this process using the example of Bitcoin mining in the SlushPool mining pool (on other platforms the setup procedure may be slightly different, but not critical; the essence is the same).

To do this, you will need to go to the site and find the “Register here” button on the right top corner pages. You will need to fill out a short registration form in which you must provide your username, email address, password, and agree to the platform rules. You will receive an activation link by email, following which you will complete the registration process.

Now that you have your account, you must set up your account, edit or add new workers, add the address of the cryptocurrency wallet to which your reward will be paid, set up two-factor authentication (optional, for greater reliability and security), etc. .d.

In addition, it is worth noting that the platform has online calculator, which allows you to calculate how much profit you can make if you mine in a given mining pool using your mining equipment. You will simply need to enter the hashrate of your device and the calculator will calculate the approximate reward you can receive, and all you have to do is take into account your electricity costs.

Next, you will need to connect your mining equipment (in our particular case, an ASIC miner) to the mining pool. If you are using a standalone ASIC miner with the Stratum protocol, then installing it will not be difficult, since such mining equipment is usually equipped with a user interface of one kind or another, and you only need to specify the server(s) address (url(s)) , username and password:

URL: stratum+tcp://stratum.slushpool.com:3333
userID: userName
Password: anything

You will need to enter your user ID and worker name. The password can be a random word since there are no security issues involved. If someone tries to connect to the server using your account, he will mine in your favor.

If you are using an ASIC miner connected to your personal computer, then you will need to download and install the one you intend to mine. (NOTE: You will need a miner program anyway if you are going to mine on a CPU or video card!)

As a rule, the official website of the mining pool you have chosen will list the mining software packages that this particular platform supports. There are also links there, clicking on which will allow you to download the miner program. For example, SlushPool offers you to download either cgminer or BFGminer, which only work with ASIC miners (in principle, mining Bitcoins without an ASIC miner makes no sense). You download the mining program and unpack it to a convenient location on your personal computer, and then install it (the installation guide will also be provided on the official website of the mining pool or you can find it online). You will need to tell the miner the server address(es) (url(s)), username and password. To do this, you will need to create a file with a bat extension. This can be done very simply: create new document in the text editor “Notepad”, write in it approximately the following command - ./cgminer --userpass userID.workerID:Any password --url stratum+tcp://stratum.slushpool.com:3333– and save this file in bat format.

Next, if, of course, you have not already done so, you will need to set up an address for payments. Please note that a mining pool is not a wallet, so your address for payments cannot be created on the pool website. However, there are many wallet providers (see our articles and). You can easily create your own wallet or use the exchange’s cryptocurrency wallet. Go to the “Payments” tab and enter your wallet address there.

At this point, as a rule, the setup of mining in the pool is completed and you can proceed directly to mining the cryptocurrency of your choice.

Popular mining pools

Pool name	Cryptocurrencies that can be mined	Commission	Features of the service
		from 2 to 5 percent	Availability of a convenient, Russian-language interface; Availability of own software; payments are made in bitcoins to an external wallet or NiceHash wallet; high reliability of service.
Minergate	eth, btc, dash and other digital currencies	1.5 percent	Good power; withdrawal of funds is carried out to a personal wallet or exchange wallet.
Zpool	Supports almost all algorithms.	1.25 – 2 percent	No need to register; withdrawal of funds is carried out in bitcoins; presence of a unique script; great for beginners.
F2Pool	Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Zcash (ZEC), Siacoin (SIA), Dash, Monero (XMR).	5 percent	Payments are made in accordance with the PPS approach; holds just over seven percent of the network hashrate.
	Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum	It is stated that there are no commissions (in fact this is not the case)	Availability of a convenient, Russian-language interface; holds just over 13 percent of the network hashrate; supports payment options PPS, PPLNS; daily payments.
BTCC pool	BTC, BCH, LTC, SBTC	1 - 4 percent
BW pool	BTC, LTC, ETH, ethereum classic (ETC), UB	From 1 to 4.5 percent	Lack of Russian-language interface; good power; daily payments; PPS, PPLNS, solo payment systems are supported.
Slushpool	Bitcoin, Zcash	2 percent	Availability of a convenient, Russian-language interface; having its own profitable payment system.
Dwarfpool	Monero, Ethereum, Zcash, Expanse (EXP)	1 percent	Good power; no registration required; automatic payments every hour; The RBPPS payment system is supported, and 24/7 Russian-language support is available.
Suprnova	Bitcoin Cash (BCH), LCC, Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Garlicoin, Vertcoin, VERGE, KredsCoin, ROICoin, Criptoreal, MUNCoin, ZCoin, ZERO, BitcoinPrivate, Credits, Wavi, Dynamic, Polytimos, Electroneum, Starks, Ravencoin, Pigeoncoin, Minexcoin, ZCLASSIC, ZENCash, ZCASH, BitcoinZ, BitSend, BitCore, Einsteinium, Komodo (KMD), HUSH, DashCoin, LBRY.io Credits, Ethereum, UBIQ, Decred (DCR), Sibcoin, MonaCoin, GroestlCoin, Digibyte, Litecoin, GameCredits FlorinCoin	1 percent	Supports PPLNS payment system, decent hashrate, instant payouts.
MiningPoolHub	Adzcoin, Auroracoin (Qubit), Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Dash, Digibyte (DGB), Electroneum, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Expanse, Feathercoin, Gamecredits, Geocoin, Globalboosty, Groestlcoin, Litecoin, Maxcoin, Monacoin, Monero, Musicoin , Myriadcoin, Sexcoin, Siacoin, Startcoin, Verge, Vertcoin, Zcash, Zclassic (ZCL), Zcoin, Zencash	0.9 percent	Automatic switching from one cryptocurrency to another, exchange of mined coins for any other altcoins, good power, the ability to select a coin for mining on the site using the “Hub” function, the PPLNS payment system is supported.

Bitcoin mining pools

List of top Bitcoin mining pools:

Slush Pool
Eligius
Bitminer
Kano CKPool
F2Pool
BW Pool
Bitfury
Minergate
Give me Coins
Mining Pool Hub
GHash.io

Ethereum mining pools

List of top Ethereum mining pools:

Suprnova
Coinotron
ETHpool
DwarfPool
2Miners
Ethereumpool
Weipool
Alphapool
Coinmine
Ethermine
F2pool
Miningpoolhub
Minergate

ZCash mining pools

List of top pools for ZCash mining:

2miners
Flypool
Suprnova
Coinmine
Dwarfpool
F2Pool
ZSolo
Miningpoolhub
Equipool

How to create your own mining pool

Mining in a pool is a rather tempting and promising idea for making money. But the fact that part (albeit small) of honestly earned money must be given to the server owner does not please many. Such miners are interested in whether it is possible to create a mining pool with their own hands. Many people have heard from the news that Bitcoin enthusiasts from Russia have created a mining pool, but how easy it is to do this and what the future holds for these Russian mining pools is unknown. Let's figure out whether it's really possible to make your own pool.

Theoretically, it is quite possible to create your own cryptocurrency mining pool, but for this you will need certain knowledge and skills, because we are talking about writing software. Of course, now on the web (for example, on the Github website) you can find software mining pool server, but its performance and reliability are questionable.

In any case, if you have absolutely no knowledge of this issue, but still want to organize such a business, then it is better to hire specialist developers who will make a pool for you, which means that we are talking about quite a considerable monetary investment. But also take into account the fact that in order for you to make money from your mining pool, you will need good computing power, which means your pool must be popular with miners. But gaining the trust of miners and promoting your own pool is not so easy! So, if you are not ready for this option, then it is still better for you to refuse it.

Pools VS Cloud Mining

Currently, another popular and profitable option for making money from mining digital currencies is. In essence, cloud mining is the same mining in a pool, but without using your own equipment for mining cryptocurrencies. In this case, the service cloud mining offers you to rent your computing power for a certain fee (in other words, buy hashrate). Companies that provide cloud mining services are the most powerful data centers with mining farms, which are located in countries where electricity tariffs are incredibly low or there is access to green energy (energy obtained from alternative sources). In addition to paying for capacity on some platforms, you will also need to pay a commission (this is how some services cover their mining costs, in particular electricity costs).

A logical question arises: is it better to mine cryptocurrencies in a mining pool or use the services of a cloud mining service? Of course, if you don’t have a powerful one, then it’s better for you to opt for the cloud mining option, because buying computing power will cost you several times cheaper than purchasing top-end equipment. In addition, for a beginner, this option is the most convenient, since you will not need to worry about setting up mining equipment and software, monitoring the operation of this equipment, paying electricity bills, etc. Also, it is worth noting that the cloud mining option is ideal for those who live in regions or countries where electricity tariffs are high, because in their case, mining in a pool can easily turn out to be unprofitable. If you have good mining equipment, then perhaps you should still choose the option of mining in a pool, because in this case it is not worth spending money on renting hashrate.

Accordingly, there is simply no single answer to the question of which is better: pool mining or cloud mining. The choice is entirely yours. In any case, to get a more accurate answer to the question posed, you should use a mining payback calculator. On the official websites of mining pools or cloud mining services, as a rule, there are special calculators that will help you roughly calculate the profit you can get. You can also make calculations manually; to do this, you will need to subtract all mining costs from potential income.

Conclusion

Overall, mining pools are a great option for passive income. Mining in a pool allows you to greatly increase your chances of success, which is especially important nowadays, when competition in the mining industry is incredibly serious, and the complexity of the network is constantly growing. Even solo mining on powerful equipment may not give the desired results, especially when it comes to mining top cryptocurrencies.

The main thing in this context is to choose the right mining pool, because an insufficiently powerful pool is unlikely to be the first to find a block, which means you will wait a very long time for your profit. Accordingly, before choosing one or another platform, you should thoroughly study all the options and only then make any decisions. This article should just guide you on this issue and help you make the right choice.

Cryptocurrency is digital money that is stored in users’ online wallets. Cryptocurrency mining is the extraction of coins using a computer or other equipment.

You can do mining on your own or in a team of like-minded people. In the first case, you will need powerful and expensive equipment. However, even in this situation, mining is unprofitable, since the computer must work twenty-four hours a day. This means that all the money earned will be used to pay off debts for electricity. If we consider mining in a team, the so-called pools, then this is much more profitable. You don’t have to spend money on buying video cards and a processor; you just need to purchase a share in the cloud pool. You need to buy a share of the data center's capacity and wait for the revenue. All profits earned by the pool are divided among miners as a percentage of the purchased share.

The most famous pools for cloud mining

Previously, about two years ago, farms were used for mining - racks with video cards placed on them. Over time, the process of mining cryptocurrency became much more complicated, after which farms became less profitable. In their place came cloud pools.

The top pools of 2017 include:

Hashing24.com is the most famous cloud mining pool for Bitcoin, which was formed on November 11, 2016. The average annual return is 75%;

Eobot.com is one of best services for cloud mining. The pool was opened back in 2012, and now the average annual income fluctuates around 45%.

The list of cryptocurrencies that Eobot.com has includes

Bitcoin;
Litecoin;
Ethereum;
Steam;
Dogecoin;
Ripple;
Dash;
Redcoin;
bitshares;
Curecoin;
Monero;
ZcaSH;
Facrom;
Bytecoin;
Auqur;
Lisk;
MaidSafeCoin;
Gridcoin.

Eobot.com is, indeed, good service for mining. He has proven himself only on the positive side. The main advantage of this pool is the online chat, where beginners can ask professionals any question. Users also note the convenience of the built-in wallet;

The cloud pool HashFlare.io appeared on April 23, 2015.

Now the average annual profit on this service is approximately 130%. HashFlare.io is designed for mining the following cryptocurrencies:

Zcash;
Bitcoin;
Ethereum.

The most powerful mining pools

By the end of 2017, the number of mining pools exceeded 1,500. Most users mine Bitcoin and Ethereum this way, since the difficulty level of mining these cryptocurrencies is too high. Mining alone on a super-powerful personal computer will not bring tangible profits. It is for this reason that new pools are formed every week.

There are pools for mining other cryptocurrencies that are younger. They are much easier to mine, but these coins have no real value on the network.

We have compiled the top 5 powerful cryptocurrency mining pools:

F2Pool is one of the most powerful pools, which was formed in 2013. The service was developed in China.

F2Pool allows you to mine the following cryptocurrencies:

Litecoin;
Bitcoin;
Dascoin;
Ethereum;
Ethereum classic;
Zcash;
Siacoin.

F2Pool has 1/5 of the hashrate of the entire network at its disposal. F2Pool is the only service where P2P payments are available. The administration advises withdrawing funds within 90 days, because then the money will be spent on the development of the pool.

Another Chinese service, AntPool, holds 18% of the total network hashrate. The following coins can be mined on this service:

Bitcoin;
Litecoin;
Ethereum;
Zcash;
Dascoin;
Ethereum classic;
Bitcoin Cash.

For Russian-speaking users, AntPool is a priority service, since it has a Russian interface. Funds can be withdrawn in different ways, one of them is withdrawal without commissions.

BTC China is not popular in the CIS, since the service does not have Russian language, and English is also in limited access. But the service has 10-12% of the hashrate of the entire network. The pool is focused only on bitcoin mining.

BW pool is the last Chinese service on this list. Only Bitcoin is available for mining in this pool. The service holds 9% of the entire network. Funds are paid under the PPLNS scheme.
Bitfury is a European pool developed by a company that sells computer equipment. The service controls 15 percent of the hashrate of the entire network. Without knowledge of English, it will be difficult to understand the interface, since the resource is not available in Russian. Bitfury is focused only on Bitcoin mining.

It should be noted that these five pools own more than 50% of the hashrate of the entire network. Other services have no more than 5% at their disposal. Their addition to this list is inappropriate. However, some of them need to be disassembled, since their characteristics are non-standard and interesting.

Other mining pools

Mininggrirentals – English speaking service for mining bitcoin. The service has a user-friendly interface that every beginner can understand. There are no restrictions on the withdrawal of funds; a large commission is imposed on withdrawals.

Eligius is another foreign resource that is designed for Bitcoin mining. The service does not require registration. To enter the Personal Area, you just need to indicate your Bitcoin wallet number. Funds are withdrawn without commission. The pool has 4% of the hashrate of the entire network.
Minergate is a Russian-language service for mining the following coins:

Bitcoin;
Bitcoin Gold;
Zcash;
Monero;
Bytecoin;
Ethereum classic;
Ethereum.

To mine cryptocurrency, you need to download the program from the official website of the pool and configure the system. Funds are available for withdrawal immediately. The service takes a small commission.

Slush is the first pool in the world, which was formed seven years ago. Here you can mine Bitcoin and Namecoin. A year ago, the resource was introduced to support Zcash. The service has its own system for withdrawing funds, the commission is 2%.
Mining pool hub is a service that was formed quite recently. The pool is perfect for both beginners and professionals. The resource has the following coins:
adzcoin;
Auroracoin;
Bitcoin;
Bitcoin Cash;
Bitcoin-Gold;
Dash;
Digibyte
Digibyte;
Digibyte;
Ethereum;
Ethereum-Classic;
Expanse;
Feathercoin;
Gamecredits;
Geocoin;
Globalboosty;
Groestlcoin;
Litecoin;
Maxcoin;
Monacoin;
Monero;
Musicoin;
Myriadcoin;
Myriadcoin;
Myriadcoin;
Sexcoin;
Siacoin;
Startcoin;
Verge;
Vertcoin;
Zcash;
Zclassic;
Zcoin;
Zencash.

Ghash.io is a service that used to be one of the most powerful pools. Now it has only 2-3% of the hashrate of the entire network. This pool was formed in 2013. The service has a convenient exchanger, as well as its own system for withdrawing funds. You can mine the following coins using Ghash.io

Bitcoin;
Auroracoin;
Dogecoin;
Fizercoin.

Ethereum Mining Pools

Ethereum is a second generation cryptocurrency. Many analysts claim that this coin will overtake its main rival, Bitcoin, in popularity and value. To mine this cryptocurrency, there are pools that are focused only on it. Services include:

Ethpool.org is the world's first Ethereum mining pool. This pool is limited and new users cannot enter. Ethpool.org owns more than 20% of the power of the entire network.
ETH Nanopool was formed quite recently. Now the service is actively developing, a large number of users join the pool every day. The power percentage of the entire network is about 2%.
EthereumPool managed to establish itself on the market with positive side. The service opened in 2015. The developers of EthereumPool have established a fixed commission for withdrawal of funds in the amount of 2%. The service has a capacity of 2%.

How to choose a pool

When choosing a mining pool, you need to approach it with a fresh mind. After all, the profit of your investment depends on it. Before choosing a particular service, you need to study in detail a large amount of information on the Internet, as well as reviews from other users. You should not choose those cryptocurrency mining pools that were created recently.

Below are a few tips, following which you will not go wrong when choosing a service for mining cryptocurrencies:

First of all, evaluate the characteristics of your personal computer, and also check whether they are suitable for cryptocurrency mining. It is worth noting that mining pools are based on the power of video cards. If your device was released several years ago, then in this case it is not worth investing. Since the profit will be negligible.
It is necessary to pay attention to possible methods of withdrawing funds. For example, some services charge a withdrawal fee; it differs in each pool.
It is necessary to take into account such a factor as revenue distribution. The best option– this is the distribution of revenue equally between all participants, because in this case the power characteristics of your PC are unimportant. Unfortunately, there are few such pools. Mostly there are services that distribute revenue between miners in proportion to their investments. Each service contains different system calculations, therefore, before entering, study this factor.
If you live in places where electricity is expensive, or mining requires an expensive video card, then in this case it is better to refuse mining. Since cryptocurrency mining will not bring proper profit. To pay less for electricity, mine coins at night when electricity discounts are available.

When choosing a mining service, you also need to pay attention to the frequency of payments. This characteristic, first of all, depends on the rules of the exchange, if the withdrawal is made to it. For example, the minimum withdrawal allowed on Polonix is 1 Ethereum. Therefore, it is worth thinking about withdrawing funds to your wallet.

Thus, mining in a team of like-minded people is easier and more cost-effective. If you follow the above instructions, making a profit from this business will not be difficult.

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A mining pool is a server that ensures the division of large computing tasks into smaller tasks with their distribution among all devices connected to the server.

What's the point of using pools?

For any cryptocurrency mined based on the proof-of-work principle, a difficulty value is provided. The smaller the number of devices involved in the mining process, and the more modest their power, the lower the complexity. Accordingly, as the number of mining participants increases, the difficulty increases to ensure that one block is found within the specified time interval. It turns out that the amount of reward for a block remains constant, but the power spent on its production increases. For miners engaged in independent mining, this situation leads to a reduction in the likelihood of receiving a reward.

Practice shows that even the estimated value of finding one block when using solo mining on high-quality home equipment will be two to three years in the Bitcoin or Ethereum network, and the actual value will be even greater.

The use of mining pools allows, by consolidating the efforts of numerous participants, to reduce the required time to find a block by hundreds and thousands of times. As a result, even with modest computing capabilities and no blocks found, the miner becomes the owner of a certain share of the reward obtained through joint efforts.

The higher the total capacity of the equipment owned by the pool participants, the higher the “pool luck” is recognized, that is, the probability of signing the next block. As a result, large bullets are much more likely than their smaller opponents to receive a set reward for the work done.

Today there are mining pools for most major cryptocurrencies:

Bitcoin;

Bitcoin Cash;

Ethereum;

DASH;

Monero;

Zcash;

Litecoin and others.

The following pools are most famous today:

Pool name
Bitcoin Pools
BTC.com	BTC.com
AntPool	antpool.com
BTC.TOP	BTC.TOP
ViaBTC	pool.viabtc.com
F2Pool	f2pool.com
SlushPool	slushpool.com
Bitcoin cash pools
Viabtc	pool.viabtc.com
AntPool	antpool.com
Ethereum Pools
Ethermine	www.ethermine.org
Nanopool	nanopool.org
Mining Pool Hub	miningpoolhub.com
DwarfPool	www.dwarfpool.com/eth
Open Ethereum Pool	www.eth.poolto.be
CoinoTron	www.coinotron.com
Monero Pools
Pool aggregator for XMR mining	moneropools.com
Zcash pools
Nanopool	nanopool.org
Suprnova	ZEC.suprnova.cc
Baikalmine	baikalmine.ru
Litecoin Pools
Antpool	antpool.com
F2Pool	f2pool.com
LitecoinPool	LitecoinPool.org
LTC.top	ltc.btc.top
ProHashing	prohashing.com
	ltc.bw.com/pool/i

For those who are just starting to master mining, an interesting solution may be to participate in multipools that offer the opportunity to mine various digital currencies. These include, for example, the NiceHash project. This service not only allows you to change the mining cryptocurrency, but does it automatically based on the calculation of profitability indicators. As a result, in some cases such pools are able to demonstrate a higher level of profitability than traditional pools.

The advantages of NiceHash include:

No need to configure bat files;

Automatic sale of altcoins, making it easier to work with less popular cryptocurrencies;

Automatic transition to mining the most profitable on this moment coins, which simplifies work and increases profitability.

Among weaknesses multicurrency pool can be distinguished:

Fairly high commissions charged to participants;

All payments are made exclusively in Bitcoin.

The procedure for creating a mining pool is a complex work that combines several successive stages. This requires:

Software creation. For the pool script, it is necessary to use high-quality program code that does not contain errors, which will ensure protection against interruptions in work. Creating program code requires not only a significant investment of time, but also serious material costs. To simplify the task, many pool creators use ready-made open source templates, making minor changes to them taking into account the specifics own project. This practice has a right to exist, but the mediocre level of security does not allow it to be considered the basis for the development of large projects. In some cases, hidden algorithms are integrated into distributed templates, leading to the theft of the hashrate of pool participants.

Creating a server. This stage involves significant material investments, since it will require the purchase or rental of a reliable server with high technical characteristics. Costs will also be required to create effective communication channels. We should not forget about the need to ensure the functionality of the mining pool after it is put into operation, which will require the involvement of appropriate technical support personnel with payment for their labor.

Pool promotion. It is not enough to create a mining pool; it is necessary to bring information about it to ordinary miners, and to interest them in becoming participants in this particular association of cryptocurrency miners. This will require project promotion. In conditions of a high level of competition, especially from the already existing largest pools, it is possible to break into the market only by providing the client with unique conditions that provide increased benefits for participants. Alternatively, you can pay attention to promising coins that are not yet popular among miners.

Miners only receive advantages from the existing competition in the market. This is due to the fact that pool owners are forced to provide them with more profitable offer partnerships. In turn, choosing the optimal pool will require you to spend some time and compare existing offers.

Pool power

One of the parameters of any pool is its power, that is, the total computing power of all equipment connected to the server. The higher the power, the greater his luck is indicated, that is, the probability of finding a block. For example, in the process of Bitcoin mining using pools with a capacity of 30-50 TH/s, the first block will not be mined soon, and therefore the reward will have to wait a long time.

In the process of choosing mining pools, it would be a good idea to get acquainted with reviews about them on the Internet. In most cases, you can always find out about unscrupulous projects on thematic forums or in communities in in social networks. Among the most respected and visited forums on the Internet are such projects as: bitcointalk.org, forum.bits.media.

Commissions

Commission payments to pool owners are the norm for the mining community. Moreover, their value, that is, the fee for participation in the community, in most cases does not exceed 0.3-2%. If the project provides for higher commissions, the benefit from participation is reduced, and in some cases it may even turn out to be unprofitable.

Withdrawal limits

It is also worth taking into account the conditions for withdrawal of funds. Often, pool rules set not only the frequency of withdrawals, but also the minimum allowable transaction size. This factor is especially important for miners who use low-power equipment and cannot count on serious income.

You can check the pool by testing, connecting to it for just a few days, and taking the appropriate measurements. If the working conditions turn out to be really interesting, you can stay in the pool and continue working on a permanent basis.

", "cryptocurrency".

Virtual money has firmly entered our consciousness and has become a common occurrence in recent years.

Let's try to understand one of the concepts and processes such as "Pool Mining"

The main purpose is the extraction of crypto coins, and the main role in this is played by virtual server, which in turn distributes profits evenly among the participants in the involved process.

If someone manages to “capture the target,” a conditional block is formed around him, and all involved groups or participants receive a certain amount of reward.

Contents:

A mining pool has a greater chance of extracting a crypto asset than a single miner, but there is a significant disadvantage.

A single miner does not share profits with anyone, and all participants in the “pool” receive an equal reward.

Let us also note this fact: mining alone is becoming more difficult day by day, and the costs of equipment and electricity are growing every day.

Pool mining solves this issue by combining several participants, while the costs are borne equally by everyone.

Cloud pools stand apart in this process, such as HashFlare And Genesis Mining, where the total capacity is distributed within the buried project.

This, in turn, increases the prestige of the service, makes the mining process maximum autonomous, and, therefore, the main profitability of the mining process is not lost.

The main principle of the system’s operation is that it should not be more than 51% of the total hash power of the entire network.

As an example, let’s take the experience of one mining pool, Ghash.io, which in 2015 reached a critical threshold and asked its participants to leave the service without any questions, for one trivial reason - for the safety of the operation of the entire network.

If we give current statistics, today the number of pools has exceeded 1,500 services. Moreover, most of them work exclusively on Bitcoin pools.

The essence of Bitcoin mining is so difficult that now no one mines alone, and only at the dawn of the currency, only 1 person was engaged in mining, using an ordinary personal computer, and the name of this person is well known to everyone - Satoshi Nakamoto.

Today, even with a super-powerful computer It's impossible to mine Bitcoin easily, all pool participants are connected to this work. You can use other currencies that do not require such super-powerful computers, but the cost of such a currency will be “mere pennies.”

Only the top ten crypto assets attract great interest, among which are in high demand.

How to choose your pool correctly

Now let's move on to the practical part. What is pool mining in principle?

To do this we will need to find out basic terms:

Pool power. New associations will not be able to give you a decent profit, since there is not enough capacity, and, therefore, the block reward will rarely fall on the group;
Evaluation of your own equipment. It is necessary to study the parameters of your computer in detail, almost with a magnifying glass. Having studied all its possibilities, you can safely join the general flow;
Profit sharing options. Income is divided among all members of the crypto club depending on how much participation each member of the pool takes. As a rule, profits are divided proportionally;
Pay. In this case, you will need to study the withdrawal limits so as not to wait for months for payment.

How are pools differentiated?

Now let's stop at important point- how profits or remuneration for conducting business are distributed.

PPS, PROP, and PPLNS technologies are used as such techniques.

Let's look at the characteristics of the services.

For example, if you use ASIC, then set a conditional variable complexity of the form VARDIFF (Variable Difficulty) on your section of the pool. This will allow you to avoid wasting valuable time on low shares of the mining pool, which contributes to achieving higher goals. As a rule, the configuration is carried out automatically, but if you want to configure it manually, then do not forget about the power of your hashrate. Some operators may ask for your mining hash power.

Review of the best Bitcoin mining pools

If you do not want to delve into the operation of each service, that is, you have neither the knowledge nor the desire to study this entire “kitchen”, we suggest you stop your choice on the NiceHash multipool service.

Enough clear interface, completely Russified.

The service supports almost all known algorithms for mining.

We have our own software and rewards are provided only in today’s most profitable cryptocurrency - .

BTC China. The third Chinese service, which, according to its own information, holds up to 12% of the network hashrate. There is no Russian version, you can use the English version of the resource. Despite the rather impressive hashrate, for some reason this service is not popular among the Russian-speaking audience.

BW pool. An additional Chinese resource that holds up to 9% of the network hashrate. You can mine bitcoins, the popularity is average among the Russian-speaking audience of miners.

This list can be continued endlessly; there are also a couple of pools that own from 5% to 12% of the total hashrate, such as Slush, Eligius, Ghash.io, Mining Pool Hub.

As you can see, the main segment of mining in the pool is related to Bitcoin mining. Recently, Ethereum mining services have been on the rise, so The demand for this crypto asset is growing exponentially.

The best pools for mining Ethereum crypto funds

Let’s take a brief look at Ethereum mining services, which have similar characteristics to Bitcoin.

Ethpool.org. The very first of the recognized official services, which almost everyone can join. The network traffic volume is 20%. Now the service’s policy has changed, and they work exclusively with old “personnel”.

ETH Nanopool. The service collects up to 40% of all hash power, with a commission of about 2%. Currently, the service is actively developing and growth prospects are quite large.

Let’s say right away that these methods are suitable for those who want to try their luck in making money, but for serious work you will have to either buy powerful video cards and mine alone (as mentioned above, this is very difficult), or join the ranks of a pool where you will get their share of the profits of all participants.

Ethereum is a universal cryptocurrency that acts as a payment instrument and a form of asset storage. But the main feature of Ethereum is the creation of projects using blockchain: from charitable foundations to poker rooms. The editors of the site decided to figure out how to mine Ethereum in 2019, what is needed for this, how to set up Ethereum mining on a computer step by step and in which pool is the best way to mine Ethereum.

Ethereum's capitalization is $9,704,615,355, and the cost of 1 ETH at the time of writing is $93.57.

How profitable is it to mine Ethereum?

Let's take 8 Radeon video cards RX, Radeon R9 or GeForce GTX 1070, each of which produces an average of 30 MH/s. With a total capacity of 240 MH/s, the income from such a farm will be $10/day. It’s better not to go solo mining with such a farm; one block is calculated in 159 days. It's better to mine in a pool.

On what principles does the mining pool operate?

The Ethereum mining pool is built on the same principles as other cryptocurrencies. Every year the complexity of Ether mining increases; the computing power of a single computer or farm is not enough, so miners are united in pools.

Ethereum mining in a pool is based on three principles:

participants solve common problems;
as soon as an Ethereum block is created, each participant receives a reward in proportion to participation (device power);
There is a mining fee, usually 1.5% - 2%.

What you need to mine Ethereum: computer equipment

Ether is mined on video cards. Optimally, no older than three years. Models Radeon RX, R9, GeForce GTX produce power of 30 – 35 MH/s. Powerful GeForce video card GTX TITAN V will deliver 70 MH/s with a relatively low power consumption of 250 W.

How to create an effective Ethereum mining rig:

video cards (optimal number – 8);
system unit (64-bit);
processor (according to the number of video cards);
RAM (the more, the better);
coolers (for efficient cooling of video cards).

How to set up Ethereum mining

Ethereum mining is carried out through special programs- miners. Programs for mining Ethereum on the Internet in open access. Traditionally, the best Ethereum miner programs are Claymore’s Dual (for AMD video cards) and EthMiner (for Nvidia video cards).

Setting up Ethereum mining begins with installing drivers on the video card. Then we install the miner, edit the bat files indicating the pool address, wallet address, and password for the forker (if necessary).

Step-by-step instructions for mining ETH

Let's look at the example of Claymore's Dual.

Step 1. Download the Claymore’s Dual miner (links to bitcointalk.org). (https://mega.nz/#F!O4YA2JgD!n2b4iSHQDruEsYUvTQP5_w). After that, go to the file and unzip it.

Step 2. In the program folder, find the “start.bat” file. Right-click and select “Edit” or “Open with Notepad.”

Step 3. Open the pool website (for example, https://etherchain.ru/) and copy the BAT file settings. It looks like this.

Paste “start.bat” into the file, the last line in the original file can be deleted.

Depending on the pool appearance bat file may change. The main elements that need to be entered are the server address, wallet address and name. If necessary, change the server address to one close in location. By default, in the settings of the etherchain.ru bat file specified above, it is specified Russian server. Instead of "WALLET_ADDRESS" insert the ETH wallet address. Instead of “STATION_NAME” the name of the farm for monitoring statistics. Enter your email address in ADDRESS_EMAIL.

Create a shortcut to the bat file on your desktop, adding the file to startup so that when you start your computer, the miner automatically starts working.

Miner window running. Found video cards are highlighted in green.

Step 4. To view farm statistics, copy the wallet address, go to the website and paste the address into the search bar. Statistics and reporting will be displayed on the screen: hashrate, unpaid balance, shares, profitability statistics.

Ethermine.org pool statistics window

The farm will begin to make a profit. But the return depends on the mining pool. We hope this helped you learn how to mine Ether.

Ethereum mining pools: what are the differences?

Ethereum mining has reached the point where mining cryptocurrency alone is very problematic. Ethereum block counting requires high power that is not available to solo miners. This is why miners join together in pools.

Among Ethereum mining pools, you can run into a scam. Therefore, the editors of the site present to your attention the rating of the best ethereum pools for mining. Pools vary in capacity, commission and minimum payouts.

Pool power

The first and most important indicator of an Ethereum pool is power. It's simple: the more powerful the pool, the more often it creates blocks, and its participants make a profit. It is best to mine Ethereum in powerful pools.

Pool commission

The second important indicator is commission. This is the profit that the pool retains for itself for the right to be in it. Typically, Ethereum pool fees are 1%-2%.

Minimum payout

The minimum payout determines how long you will have to mine to get the money in your hands. Compare: in some pools the minimum payout is 0.001 (eth.suprnova.cc), in others 1 ETH (ethpool.org).

The best Ethereum pools according to RuscoinsInfo

New auto-switching pool for mining ETH, ETC, UBQ, ELLA and other coins using the ETHash algorithm.

Commission - from 0.9% to 3%, instant payments from 0.05 ETH. The Whalesburg pool is built on proprietary software, uses PPLNS, a telegram bot for alerts, a Proxy to combat connection loss, and other tools to make life easier. Current hashrate is ~140 GH/s from 70+ miners and continues to grow.

Review by gigahuman:

An excellent option for those who want to connect once and forget.

ETHERCHAIN.RU

Address: etherchain.ru

A small (101 participants) Russian-speaking pool of Ethereum miners. Overall speed - 61.53 GH/s. The servers are located on the territory of the Russian Federation. Payments are made every 12 hours, the minimum threshold is 0.05 ETH.

Review by Delister:

Good pool, they always pay regularly. Even when the speed was 30GH/s. The standard payout is 0.25 ETH, but can be reduced to 0.05.

CoinMine.pl

Address: www2.coinmine.pl

Polish Ethereum mining pool. Number of participants - 544. Total speed - 77.784 GH/s. The minimum payout is 0.1 ETH.

Ethermine

Address: https://ethermine.org/

One of the largest and most time-tested Ethereum pools. The total number of miners is 130,000. Total speed - 68.6 TH/s. The minimum payout is 0.05 ETH. Does not require registration. The downside is an additional fee of 0.001 ETH in case of withdrawal of an amount less than 1 Ethereum.

Review by predator89:

Ethermine is best for small change due to the minimum payout of 0.05 ETH. They pay consistently.

Supernova

Address: eth.suprnova.cc

Supernova is a well-known altcoin mining pool. The total number of miners is 100. The total speed is 9.9 GH/s. Minimum payout 0.01 ETH. The downside is that it requires registration.

In the comments, some users complain that the pool blocks the transaction upon the first withdrawal of funds.

ETH Nanopool

Address: eth.nanopool.org

Another large pool of Ethereum miners is 84,667 miners. Overall speed - 42.9 GH/s. The minimum payout is 0.2 ETH. Does not require registration.

COLT review:

It is unclear how the reward is calculated. With the same power, either 0.6 ETH will be credited, or 0.3.

Address: ethpool.org

The first official pool for ether is 1000 miners. Overall speed - 3.3 TH/s. The minimum payout is 1 ETH.

Review by penetrator89:

Roughly speaking, this is a Solo pool. Suitable for powerful miners, because the minimum payout is 1 ETH. One of the advantages of solo mining is that there is no element of chance, luck, luck.

2Miners.com

Address: 2miners.com

One of the largest altcoin mining pools. 1586 miners online. Total speed - 519.3 GH/s. The minimum payout is 0.05 ETH.

There are mixed comments online about 2Miner.com

Review by Serega_Miners:

Mine several times in this pool. The result is 3 times lower than in the other one. Once a day in this pool it’s $4, while in others it’s $40.

Users Iskander Stolz, Yakushevsky complain about sharp jumps in the complexity of the network, due to which it is impossible to mine the coveted broadcast. And hours of effort go down the drain.