10 Best Cryptocurrencies To Mine

Looking for the best cryptocurrencies to mine? You have come to the right place. 

It would not be wrong to say that crypto mining is the modern treasure hunt. People (or miners as they are called) claim that they have found a treasure when they manage to mine a particular crypto coin.

Mining is becoming so mainstream that there are many crypto enthusiasts around the world taking it up as a full-time profession. But while it may sound lucrative, cryptocurrency mining has its advantages and disadvantages from a business feasibility point of view.

But if you have decided to mine crypto in 2021, here are some options for the best cryptocurrency to mine. 

Note that the coins listed here are just suggestions. By no means we are crypto-experts. Since, the value of crypto coins fluctuates drastically, mine them at your own risk. Also, the following list containing various options for the best cryptocurrency to mine is non-exhaustive. 

Cryptocurrency Mining And GPU

Once you read through cryptocurrency mining guides, you will find that you need a powerful GPU. GPU is short for Graphics Processing Unit and it is the measure of how powerful your computer is.

More technically, it helps to digitally render in your system. The higher the GPU, the smoother and faster will be the rendering process.

Miners use extensive and advanced GPUs for their mining because of their potential in terms of speed and power. 

Types Of Cryptocurrency Mining

Before going into which coins to mine, it is important to know what are the different ways to mine cryptocurrency.

Depending on the resources available to you, your budget, and your goal with cryptocurrency mining, you can choose the appropriate method to mine. 

1. CPU Mining 

This mining is done with the help of processors. The advantage of this type of mining is that you can hands-on customize your CPU to improve its processing power.

If you have an existing CPU that is good in terms of power, you can try getting into mining right away. But note that, if you are mining for professional or income purposes, the CPU powers are usually way too low to create any value. 

2. GPU Mining 

This mining is done through the GPU which may also be called the video card for your computer. A good GPU has the potential to mine multiple cryptocurrencies.

You can thus switch between coins to mine depending on their ups and downs in the market value. GPUs also help enhance the experience in gaming, video editing, etc. But it consumes a lot of electrical power compared to the ASIC form of mining. 

3. ASIC Mining 

This uses particular algorithms to mine cryptocurrencies. ASIC machinery is specifically used to mine cryptocurrencies, therefore, they come in a variety of specialized features.

In terms of performance, it is superior to both the GPU and CPU. You can expect a greater chance to mine cryptocurrency, and using ASIC mining can be a little profitable too. 

How To Mine Cryptocurrency?

There are different ways through which you can achieve cryptocurrency mining. Here are the basic steps you need to ensure to follow: 

Firstly, get a mining rig. If you are planning to earn Bitcoins through mining on graphic cards and computers, it is a near impossibility. The mining rig is expensive, and it can be time-consuming to set it up. But the speed of ASIC machines is amazing, they can solve around 14 terahashes per second. 

Following this, you need to get a Bitcoin wallet or the wallet of the cryptocurrency that you want to mine. Once you mine the coins, they will arrive at the wallet from where you can do the subsequent transactions.

Your wallet will have a private address and a public address. The public address is what is shared with the others to receive money but the private address needs to be kept a secret. 

Following this, if you want to further optimize your mining activity, it is best to join a mining pool. It is essentially a group of miners who contribute in terms of computing power. The resulting power is great and can effectively mine Bitcoins.

The rewards are accordingly divided between the members of the pool. But there is a fee that the members of the pool have to pay to the pool owner, this can range from 0% to 2% of the reward. 

The next step is to get a mining program to run on the computer. It connects to Bitcoin and the blockchain network. This software is responsible for delivering work to the miners, collecting the results from them, and adding information to the Blockchain network.

The software will also show basic statistics and parameters such as temperature, hash rate, cooling, and average mining speed.

There are many free programs through which you can mine Bitcoins, but they have their advantages and disadvantages. If you join a mining pool, they may have their software. 

Lastly, you can start mining your cryptocurrency coins. Fill in the basic information in the mining software, plug in your hardware, and get started. But do refer to the instruction manuals before using the hardware and software. 

Recommended: The Future of Cryptocurrency Explained

Is Cryptocurrency Mining Profitable?

If you need to obtain profits through cryptocurrency mining, you need to take some variables into account. Using these, perform a cost/benefit analysis or you can use a profitability calculator online too. 

• Cost of Power: You need to check what cost you are paying for consuming one unit of electricity. Keep in mind that the prices may vary with season, other factors, and even the time of the day. You can find this information in any previous electricity bill, or check with your local electricity board. 
• Efficiency: Depending on the hardware you use, you need to identify how much power it consumes. This will roughly give you the cost of electricity. 
• Time: Through this, you need to determine the time you will be mining for every day, or in specific periods. Depending on the cryptocurrency you want to mine, you may have to mine every day throughout, or once in a while for a few hours. 
• Value of the Cryptocurrency: The cryptocurrency you earn is going to be revenue. You need to compare this with the costs and check if you can make overall profits. If not, think about how you can reduce spending. Typically, if the gap between the spending and the value of the cryptocurrency is too much, it is hard to create profits. 

The best way to get started is to use online cryptocurrency mining calculators. Note that the cryptocurrency calculators may vary with each other slightly, and some could even be a little complicated to use. 

Risks Involved In Crypto Mining 

One of the biggest risks concerning crypto mining is the crypto mining software malware. It can prove to be a great threat for the end-user and can steal vital information, hijack the system and execute other malicious acts. These kinds of malware can turn the systems into literal zombies, and they can make the victims part of the problem. 

Another way crypto-mining malware might affect the computer system on which it runs is by reducing its performance. Parallelly, it may also cause wear and tear on the system’s processors. This can lead to increased power consumption, which means more money is lost to you. 

In a summary, the malware may cause the following effects on your computer system: 

• Slows down the performance of the user
• Can create vulnerable points for the attackers to exploit 
• Increases costs for computing and electricity 
• Puts the privacy of the user at risk

Apart from this, there are also other risks associated with the hardware (physical theft), and a Bitcoin wallet (hacking). One way to mitigate the risks is to choose hardware, wallet, and software from trusted suppliers and those who have a great track record among users. These may then have stringent security measures that reduce the overall risk with mining. 

How To Choose The Best Cryptocurrency To Mine?

Since there are so many cryptocurrencies out there, you might be confused about which is the best cryptocurrency to mine. Here are few tips to note: 

1. Depends On The Power Of Your Mining Hardware 

Despite the many cryptocurrencies out there, you will not be able to mine all of them. One thing that will limit which coin you can mine is your hardware. If you use an ASIC miner, for example, you can only mine a few cryptocurrencies. 

2. Market Price V Block Award Vs Difficulty 

Another factor that determines which cryptocurrency to use is the set of these three parameters. The more the difficulty, the more will be the network hash rate and it will be less profitable to mine that particular cryptocurrency.

This will be even if the block reward and your hash rate are high. Factor in the costs of electricity as well. If you are using free electricity or if the electricity is cheap, then you potentially make a profit out of many cryptocurrencies out there. 

3. Use Online Profitability Calculator 

It is not recommended to do profitability calculations on your own. For this same purpose, there are multiple online calculators out there, where you need to input the basic parameters such as electricity consumption rate, the specifications of the hardware, etc.

Once you do this, it tells you what will be the rate of production of each cryptocurrency, the hash rate, and the time required for them, along with various other parameters. But note that these calculators just give you an estimate and they are not actual predictions. 

4. Choose The Right Mining Pool 

Even if the cryptocurrency calculators forecast good profits, you will not be able to leverage it without joining a particular pool.

Before joining the pool, check its legitimacy, the overall computing power, and its performance in the past. Depending on the pool you choose, it may focus on mining one or a few types of cryptocurrencies only. 

Typically, these factors should guide you towards choosing which cryptocurrency to mine:

1. Network Hash Rate 

To put it simply, it is the computing effort that is contributed to the cryptocurrency network while mining.

The mining machines essentially earn the cryptocurrency by solving complex mathematical equations. The more powerful the mining set-up, the faster it can find the solution and can beat other mining machines competing in the same network. 

Typically, every mining set-up guesses the solution millions of times per second. Of course, this requires lots of electricity and this is where you will have a major expense if you want to begin mining on your own. 

2. Block Reward

According to conventional definition, a block reward is the number of crypto coins you get as a reward on solving one block on the cryptocurrency’s blockchain.

Every block comes with its cryptographic problem which the mining systems have to solve in order to earn that block. Once the problem is solved, the block is added to the blockchain. In these blocks, the information related to that cryptocurrency’s transactions are stored. 

Let us take the example of Bitcoin – the reward for solving one block at the time when Bitcoin came into existence was 50 BTC.

But the block reward is halved roughly every 4 years or when 210,000 blocks are solved. At the time of writing (July 2021), the BTC reward for one block is 6.25 BTC. This is a way to bring balance to Bitcoin and is it’s own synthetic way of maintaining healthy inflation. 

Depending on the cryptocurrency, the block mining reward may vary. 

Top 10 Cryptocurrency To Mine

Note that the list of the best cryptocurrency is in no particular order. 

1. LiteCoin 

It is open-source software that was released under the MIT/X11 license. Established in 2011, LiteCoin has cemented itself as one of the most popular cryptocurrencies around the world alongside Bitcoin, therefore it could be one of the best cryptocurrencies to mine. 

LiteCoin is being used by a variety of users and it is a robust cryptocurrency with a good team working behind it. Since LiteCoin uses the SCRYPT protocol, you can even mine these with the help of a GPU. The other advantages of Litecoin include high-speed transactions and lower fees associated with these transactions.

Cryptocurrency	Network Hash Rate	Block Mining Reward
LiteCoin	352.97 TH/s	12.5 LTC

2. Ethereum Classic 

It is a cryptocurrency created with the intention to maintain the original Ethereum blockchain. Launched in 2016, this crypto coin has taken on user’s interests rapidly. If you are looking for the best cryptocurrency to mine, consider this.

The market capitalization of the cryptocurrency is more than $13 billion and recently, it set a limit for the total circulation of the coins to be 210 million. You can begin mining Ethereum classic by just purchasing a wallet and a graphic card. 

Cryptocurrency	Network Hash Rate	Block Mining Reward
Ethereum Classic	31.40 TH/s	3.2 ETC

3. ZCash 

Established in 2016, this cryptocurrency was initially created to be resistant against mining through ASIC machines. The value of this crypto coin is less fragile and volatile than many other cryptocurrencies, according to the past data until this time, this makes it among the best cryptocurrency to mine.

It has robust privacy features compared to other coins, therefore, ZCash is best if you prefer doing private transactions. 

It has been viewed for a long time as a good altcoin for trading and selling. 

Cryptocurrency	Network Hash Rate	Block Mining Reward
ZCash	6.76 GS/s	10 ZEC

4. Grin 

Unlike Bitcoin, there is no limited supply of GRIN. This makes the coin attractive to upcoming miners. At the time of writing, around 73 million coins are in circulating supply.

Grin is one of the newer cryptocurrencies out there, and it can enable you to mine without investing large amounts of money on equipment and software. But note that this crypto coin is ASIC-resistant. 

Cryptocurrency	Network Hash Rate	Block Mining Reward
Grin	11.84 KGbps	60 GRIN

5. Bitcoin Gold 

You cannot talk about GPU mining without mentioning Bitcoin Gold. It comes in the list of the best cryptocurrency to mine using GPU, and this was launched as an effort to eliminate the use of ASIC machines. You will also require only minimal investment to begin mining of Bitcoin Gold. 

The objective of Bitcoin Gold is to use the thermal energy associated with the mining in digital assets. Thus, if you are starting to mine the best cryptocurrency, consider Bitcoin Gold. 

Cryptocurrency	Network Hash Rate	Block Mining Reward
Bitcoin Gold	2.20 MS/s	12.5 BTG

6. RavenCoin 

It is one of the most profitable crypto coins, therefore, it comes in the list of the best cryptocurrency to mine.

The focus of the RavenCoin is to make the mining decentralized. Launched in 2018, this is one of the newer cryptocurrencies out there to mine, the primary features of this coin are to enable a highly advanced mobile wallet.

The market capitalization of RavenCoin is more than $135 million and has 21 billion coins in supply. 

Cryptocurrency	Network Hash Rate	Block Mining Reward
RavenCoin	6.93 TH/s	5,000 RVN

7. Monero 

It is the best cryptocurrency to mine, as it uses the RandomX hash function. It has a market capitalization of more than $3 million and similar to many other coins out there, this one is ASIC resistant. It is easy to set up a mining rig for this best cryptocurrency to mine. Get a wallet, and you will be ready to go. 

Cryptocurrency	Network Hash Rate	Block Mining Reward
Monero	1.86 GH/s	2.15 XMR

8. Metaverse 

It is a crypto coin that enables the Blockchain-as-a-service platform. It deals with digital identities, assets, properties as an infrastructure for both social and organizational needs. This could be the right time for the best cryptocurrency to mine in Metaverse 

Cryptocurrency	Network Hash Rate	Block Mining Reward
Metaverse	84 GH/s	2.5 ETP

9. Ethereum 

One of the best cryptocurrencies to mine out there, you will need a powerful GPU to mine Ethereum. You can try out pool mining, as it can have more chances to mine out Ethereum.

The use cases of Ethereum are numerous, one major is serving as a base for the development of other dApp platforms in the blockchain. It would not be a silly decision to mine Ethereum given its popularity and an amazing team working behind it. 

Cryptocurrency	Network Hash Rate	Block Mining Reward
Ethereum	525.12 TH/s	2 ETH

10. Haven Protocol 

Based on Monero, Haven Protocol is a private coin. It enables the users to transfer, convert and store monetary value without any middlemen. If you are looking for a way to do private transactions, this is one protocol you can consider using. You can mine Haven Protocol through software that can be used to mine Monero. 

Cryptocurrency	Network Hash Rate	Block Mining Reward
Haven Protocol	42.162 MH/s	6.02 XHV

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Cryptocurrency Mining

Sr. No.	Advantages of Cryptocurrency Mining	Disadvantages of Cryptocurrency Mining
1.	For coins with less network hashrate and more block rewards, it is easy to earn crypto coins	For coins with more network hashrate and less block rewards (like Bitcoin), it is near impossible to earn crypto coins
2.	It is a form of investment that is steadily growing, so this might be the right time to get into this	Requires initial set up and investment
3.	Is accessible by everyone as long as you invest on the pre-requisites	ASIC machinery might be noisy
4.	Lower fees, even if you join a good mining pool	Have to factor in large electricity costs
5.	Immediate settlement of the mining cryptocurrency, since there is no involvement of middlemen	Have to factor in large hardware costs
6.	It is not possible to deal with counterfeit cryptocurrencies since you will be directly mining them from the network	Cryptocurrency mining is highly complex and can be intimidating if you are not familiar with crypto in general
7.	Disables identity theft because credit of cryptocurrency typically uses a pull method	You could lose money if you do not carefully conduct a cost-benefit analysis
8.	Mining is getting cheaper because of improved hardware and competitive softwares	There are plenty of scam services out there offering crypto mining pools, hardware and software
9.	Through mining, you will be contributing to the growth of the cryptocurrency	Cryptocurrencies values are highly volatile, tough to forecast profits

Final Thoughts – Best Cryptocurrency To Mine

These are some of the best cryptocurrencies to mine. If you really want to begin mining, get started with the research of the hardware, wallet and software accessible to you and that which falls in your budget and requirements. Talk to a crypto miner for some valuable tips too. Make use of online cryptocurrency mining profitability calculators to help you estimate and visualize return on investments for your parameters and the crypto coins you want to invest in. 

FAQ – Best Cryptocurrency To Mine