Ethereum Mining 2021: Ethereum Mining Calculator, Hardware & Earning Experience

More and more former Bitcoin miners are looking for alternative cryptocurrencies to mine. The reason for this is that Bitcoin mining no longer seems profitable enough, as the mining difficulty is now very high.

Mining difficulty is the mathematical difficulty of successfully finding a hash, built in by the Bitcoin network to prevent all Bitcoins from being mined quickly.

This means that Bitcoin mining becomes slightly more difficult after each Bitcoin is mined. Ethereum has therefore been one of the most popular alternatives when looking for a way to mine for cryptocurrencies.

The question now is whether it is worth mining for Ethereum and also what the shift of the Ethereum network from a proof-of-work consensus to a proof-of-stack consensus means for investors.

This Ethereum Miner Review also aims to clarify what options still exist for mining Ethereum today and what alternatives are available in the mining market.

Our recommendation: Mining cryptocurrencies at The Bitcoin Miner

  • Serious crypto mining
  • Automatic Mining
  • Easy and uncomplicated registration
  • Best mining returns
Bitcoin Miner

What is Ethereum Mining or ETH Mining?

In Ethereum mining, you provide your computing power so that a block can be completed in the Ethereum blockchain. In return, the Ethereum miner receives a payment in Ethereum. In Ethereum, a new block is mined every 5 seconds.

Of course, different Ethereum miners compete for the reward, which is currently 5 Ether per completed block. This principle has so far made profits possible for Ethereum miners.

Ethereum, like Bitcoin, is based on a blockchain. The blockchain is a kind of large account book in which all transactions are recorded and verified.

Since the Ethereum network does not have employees who write down these transactions, an option to keep an account book was created with Ethereum mining and the proof-of-work consensus. This is where Ethereum mining comes in.

Today, however, things are a little different. Ethereum is switching from the Proof-Of-Work consensus to a Proof-Of-Stack consensus with the Casper update. This makes mining obsolete for Ethereum in the future, so no more earnings will be shown from an Ethereum mining machine.

It will therefore no longer be possible to mine for Ether if one is limited to an Ethereum mining rig for this purpose. Alternatively, however, one has the option to fall back on Ethereum Classic.

This cryptocurrency, which was created from a hard fork of Ethereum, will continue to follow a proof-of-work consensus and will accordingly continue to be available for Ethereum Classic mining.

It is therefore hardly worthwhile to continue with Ethereum mining, as one no longer receives rewards for provided computing power.

However, there are many alternative cryptocurrencies that are based on a blockchain and follow the Proof-Of-Work consensus. Those who want to mine are better off with these alternatives.

How does Ethereum Mining or Ethereum Farming work?

Ethereum price rises above $2800 amid successful hardfork

Similar to Bitcoin, Ethereum is based on the so-called blockchain. Since the coins are traded continuously and worldwide via the Ethereum network, it must be possible to detect and process these transactions. Ethereum, like Bitcoin, is not a FIAT currency issued by banks, but a digital currency.

Rather, the entire community that trades Ethereum is its own bank. Users trade the cryptocurrency, but at the same time it must be ensured that transactions made are documented to ensure that a coin has actually changed hands.

To validate these transactions, they are combined into blocks, which are then added to the existing blockchain. This is done through the proof-of-work method. In the Ethereum network, a new block is added to an existing Ethereum blockchain every five seconds.In addition, smart contracts must be processed.

Ethereum miners then combine transactions into a block and create a hash from its metadata. This is a kind of checksum that always corresponds to a certain form. For validating the transactions and also the smart contracts and creating blocks, miners receive Ether tokens as a reward - even all those whose block was not selected in the blockchain.

Do you want to mine Ethereum yourself or use an Ethereum mining pool or cloud mining?

If you want to become an Ethereum miner yourself, you have various options for doing so. On the one hand, you can upgrade your computer with various tools, software and hardware and start mining for Ethereum yourself. Alternatively, you can join a community that searches for the popular coins together and shares the profits. Such a community is called an Ethereum mining pool.

How does Ethereum mining work in a pool? Due to the fact that it is relatively difficult to mine Ethereum by yourself, it is rarely worthwhile to mine for Ethereum on your own. The probability of successfully creating a hash is too low. In addition, it is important to note that it may soon no longer be possible to mine Ethereum - those who are still in an Ethereum mining pool can still try to get the best out of it.

Solo mining is not worth it

Ethereum (ETH)d


If, on the other hand, you decide to mine for Ethereum on your own, it's just like the real gold prospectors in the old days. Most of the time you won't find anything and thus won't be able to earn any mining money. Rarely, however, a few very lucky people will strike a vein of gold and can then enjoy a high profit, which they do not have to share with anyone.

Due to the fact that the mining difficulty of Ethereum is now very high, Ethereum miners will in most cases come away empty-handed if they mine alone. If one is looking for steady income from mining, Ethereum mining pools should be the better choice. However, anyone who still wants to get into Ethereum mining now, we advise against it. Because soon it will no longer be possible to mine Ethereum.

However, those who want to mine cryptocurrencies could venture into Bitcoin. In this case, it is worth registering with The Bitcoin Miner, as you can achieve very good returns here.

Ethereum solo mining advantages and disadvantages

Solo mining is usually only carried out by large companies or mining farms that also own the corresponding hardware. Of course, individuals can also engage in solo mining, but the success rate is far lower, as profitable hardware is usually not economical for private individuals.

Pros

  • Profits are not shared
  • Hardly any interruptions
  • No changes in the reward structure

Cons

  • Required hardware too expensive
  • High electricity costs
  • Low profit generation
  • Time consuming
  • Soon no longer possible

Our recommendation: Mining cryptocurrencies at The Bitcoin Miner

  • Serious crypto mining
  • Automatic Mining
  • Easy and uncomplicated registration
  • Best mining returns
Bitcoin Miner

The most popular Ethereum mining pools

Ethereum mining pools are groups of miners who have banded together to increase their chances of mining an Ethereum block. Pools differ in how they pay their miners, what fees they charge, and what general support they provide.

When mining with a pool, the chances of a steady income stream increase dramatically, unlike solo mining. Solo mining may bring bigger rewards if you mine a block, but the chances of actually mining just one block are slim to none.

The largest Ethereum mining pools are as follows:

Ethereum-Mining-Pools

Due to the size of the pools, however, you have to reckon with the fact that the mining earnings for the individual are very low. Whether it still makes sense to join a mining pool nowadays is questionable. Higher returns, accompanied by higher risk, are certainly achieved in trading. Moreover, with the new update of Ethereum, it will no longer be possible to mine Ethereum. Although some pools have joined forces to fight the update, it is still questionable whether they will be successful.

How to equip my PC for Ethereum mining

If you still want to join an Ethereum mining pool, you should upgrade your computer accordingly in advance. The Ethereum mining earnings are distributed by the pools to the individual Ethereum miners according to the computing power provided. The more power the individual miner contributes to the pool, the higher the share of Tether that is paid out to him.

Nowadays, there is a wide variety of hardware, mining tools and software that can be purchased to increase mining efficiency. However, it is important to bear in mind that due to the now very high Ethereum mining difficulty, it can take a very long time before the investment in one's own computing power pays off.

Mining through GPUs

How does Ethereum mining work best? In the meantime, countless companies have established themselves that offer so-called "miners". Such devices are, so to speak, the "pickaxe" of the Ethereum prospector. They have enormous computing power, which should make mining as efficient as possible. Here, it is important both that as much power as possible is produced and that the power consumption remains as low as possible.

Probably the most important difference to bitcoin mining is that GPUs are needed for Ethereum mining. The graphics cards can either be connected to your own computer or built into a mining rig. So you need several graphics cards, enough power and a computer designed for mining.

Ethereum Mining Hardware

To be able to mine successfully, you need a lot of computing power. If you want to try out mining, however, you do not need an expensive miner. Even the home PC already brings computing power.

At the beginning of 2018, the price of powerful graphics cards suddenly rose. The reason for this was that demand was growing, as miners were upgrading their PCs with these graphics cards to mine Bitcoin and Ethereum, among other things. With the appropriate software, you can easily turn your PC into an Ethereum miner.

Although miners are of course vastly superior to graphics cards, newcomers can nevertheless gain their first experience with mining if they have a powerful graphics card. This principle is called "GPU mining".

It should be noted that graphics cards and other tools are actually no longer competitive today. Due to the high mining difficulty, the high competitive pressure and more and more miners being sold, the classic mining tools no longer contribute enough power to the pool to be able to generate profits.

So it makes little sense today to upgrade your PC with mining hardware to mine Ethereum. In the vast majority of cases, it will be a losing proposition for the investor.

But if you wanted to invest in your PC anyway, because your business or hobby (e.g. high-end gamer) requires it, you can consider the possibilities of mining. In the vast majority of cases, however, the price of electricity will prevent you from making a profit.

Ethereum Mining Software App Germany: What is the best mining provider?

Ethereum mining is generally associated with very high costs. Moreover, it will soon no longer be possible to mine Ethereum from home. In most cases, you need special hardware if you want to mine Ethereum. However, this hardware is overpriced and simply not worth it in the long run. Of course, you can also download an Ethereum mining app for your smartphone - but is it worth it?

Definitely not. Because you would need thousands of devices that you bundle together to even come close to the computing power of a hardware. A smartphone definitely does not have the capacity to successfully run Ethereum mining.



What is Ethereum

In general, we recommend mining Bitcoin instead of Ethereum. Because soon Ethereum mining will no longer be possible. In this case, we recommend The Bitcoin Miner. Here you don't need your own hardware or app to start bitcoin mining. In just a few steps, you can register to participate in Bitcoin mining.


Our recommendation: Mining cryptocurrencies at The Bitcoin Miner

  • Serious crypto mining
  • Automatic Mining
  • Easy and uncomplicated registration
  • Best mining returns
Bitcoin Miner

Ethereum Mining vs Bitcoin Mining

The Casper update makes Ethereum mining obsolete. Therefore, you can no longer earn Ether if you join an Ethereum mining pool. In contrast, Bitcoin mining is still possible and you can earn profits from mining for Bitcoin.

However, due to the high Bitcoin mining difficulty and the many competitors, Bitcoin mining is no longer really worthwhile. If you want to calculate whether you can make a profit with Bitcoin mining, there are so-called Bitcoin mining calculators available.

Here, the mining earnings are calculated against the power consumption and other variables, such as the Bitcoin difficulty. In our Bitcoin Mining Review, however, it was shown that Bitcoin mining is only worthwhile for the prospector to a limited extent.

In summary, it can be said that a comparison between Ethereum mining and Bitcoin mining is hardly profitable, as Ether mining is no longer possible. So if you absolutely want to mine one of these two cryptocurrencies, you are better off with Bitcoin mining.

But here, too, you should not expect to make high profits. The electricity costs, as well as the acquisition costs for the hardware, make it difficult to make a quick profit even with a high Bitcoin rate.

Therefore, those who look for an alternative early on are well advised. There are various other cryptocurrencies that can be mined, but one is usually best advised to buy Bitcoin, or Ether, directly.

Either you buy these cryptocurrencies directly, or you trade them indirectly via CFDs, for example. The risk is much higher here, but the potential profits are also much higher.

In any case, we recommend trading cryptocurrencies with our test winner broker eToro: Here you can trade with the best conditions and have the option of buying real cryptocurrencies as well as trading crypto CFDs.

Bitcoin Mining Taxes

Ethereum Mining Taxes

According to the Ministry of Finance, Ethereum mining is a commercial activity that creates another economic good. Accordingly, there are also taxes on Ethereum mining. In income tax law, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are therefore to be treated as ordinary intangible assets.

Any income from Ethereum mining is accordingly defined as income from the trade or business pursuant to Section 14 EstG if the following factors apply:

  • Intention to make a profit
  • Sustainable activity
  • Participation in the economy
  • Self-employment

Should mining be classified as commercial income for the taxpayer within the meaning of § 15 EstG, this has tax consequences.

Proceed as follows:

  1. One must register with the competent trade office
  2. Payment of trade tax in the case of natural persons or partnerships if the tax-free amount of € 24,500 is exceeded
  3. Derivative or original obligation to keep accounts.

In addition, in this case there must be no private asset management, self-employed activity or agriculture and forestry.

Ether Mining Calculator: Is it worth it at all?

Ethereum mining will soon no longer be possible, so it is clearly not advisable to invest in an ETH mining rig now. It can be assumed that the Ether mining pools will also close soon or that they will switch to Ethereum Classic.

Many miners have not been thrilled with the returns so far anyway, as GPU mining, which was mostly done with graphics cards, often did not yield enough profits.

Ethereum cloud mining services have also been mostly unprofitable, as participation requires expensive subscriptions.

At this point, we recommend the cloud mining service of The Bitcoin Miner: It is one of the few mining services with which you can still mine cryptocurrencies very lucratively without a great load from your PC.

There are many different ways to mine Ethereum. On the web you can find various Ethereum mining guides that have tested the best Ethereum mining hardwares. They also want to have used Ether Mining Calculators to develop the best strategies.

If you already own an Ethereum miner, however, it is not difficult to switch cryptocurrencies. It is important to note that the Ethereum mining hardware is used for a coin that is based on a blockchain and also uses the Proof-Of-Work method.

Ether Mining Calculator

To find out whether mining the newly chosen coin is worthwhile, you can search for an Ethereum mining calculator on the web. Most Ethereum mining calculators are not limited to Ethereum.

They can also calculate with various other cryptocurrencies, such as Dash or Bitcoin Gold. To switch your Ethereum mining rig to another cryptocurrency, you usually only need the appropriate software.

ETH mining instructions for switching are provided in various forums and are usually rounded off by ETH mining calculators.

Although Ethereum mining is no longer possible due to the Casper update, there are still many other ways to invest in cryptocurrencies or to continue mining cryptos profitably with The Bitcoin Miner, for example.

Our recommendation: Mining cryptocurrencies at The Bitcoin Miner

  • Serious crypto mining
  • Automatic Mining
  • Easy and uncomplicated registration
  • Best mining returns
Bitcoin Miner

Our recommendation: Buy cryptos with eToro

Incl. wallet
Buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly in the wallet
Paypal, credit card and instant bank transfer
Regulated provider
Real cryptos or CFD trades

etoro logo

The result: How much can you expect to earn from Ethereum mining?

If you take a closer look at Miner, you can already calculate from the promised performance how much Ethereum you could earn. If you enter the values into the Ethereum Mining Calculator, you will find that you can mine about €107.36 in Ethereum daily based on the performance. 

Ethereum-Rendite

As an example, we took the Innosilicon A11 Pro 8GB 2000 Mh/s Ethereum miner with an initial cost of 21,000 EUR. It would take 197 days alone to recoup the initial cost. And that is already a generous calculation, in which we have set the electricity costs to a minimum. Because of the high watts, it should take a lot longer!

And this is only if the Ethereum price stays consistently this high. In addition, the increase in mining difficulty and other cost factors come on top. Moreover, it will soon no longer be possible to mine Ethereum.

Conclusion

Ether Mining Conclusion - Our Evaluation and Recommendation

It has been established that ETH mining is not only not worthwhile, but will soon no longer be possible at all. So it makes little sense to join an Ether mining pool or to resort to an Ethereum cloud mining service.

If you already own an Ethereum miner, however, it can easily be used for other cryptocurrencies as long as they are based on a blockchain and follow the Proof-Of-Work algorithm.

Alternatively, you have the option of trading cryptocurrencies directly with an online broker. For a long time, mining for coins was a popular way to earn some extra money on the side.

Today, however, this is no longer quite so easy, as our Ethereum mining review has shown.

In the end, the only advice is to look for alternative investment opportunities such as cloud mining or Ethereum trading at eToro. A good alternative to mining would also be the provider The Bitcoin Miner, where you can easily mine cryptos without having to have special hardware or software.

Our recommendation: Buy cryptos with eToro

Incl. wallet
Buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly in the wallet
Paypal, credit card and instant bank transfer
Regulated provider
Real cryptos or CFD trades

FAQ

What is Ethereum Mining?

Ether mining refers to the principle of making computing power available for the creation of so-called blocks. A block contains all the information that was created in a certain period of time through transactions with the Bitcoin. Every time a Bitcoin has changed hands, this must be recorded so that the transactions remain traceable.

Mining Ethereum is therefore nothing more than an administrative activity that serves to secure the Bitcoin network. In return, the miner receives a portion of the transaction fees. Each time a block (hash) is completed, new Ether is also created, which accrues to the creator of the hash.

What are Ethereum mining pools?

Mining pools are associations of many miners who share the mined Ether among themselves. Each individual Ethereum miner is paid on the basis of their invested computing power. If you want to start mining Ether today, it is advisable to join a pool, as you hardly stand a chance on your own. To join an Ether mining pool, you usually need software, which is provided by the various providers. Nowadays, however, all Ether mining pools are closed.

What is a hash?

A hash is created through a mathematical process once a block is completed. The miners' computing power is needed to create it. In return, they then receive a reward. The hash is there to encrypt all the information that was created by the trade, i.e. the block. Since parts of the previous hash (the block before it) are also included in the creation of the new hash, it not only verifies the authenticity of the current block, but also that of the previous one.

What is a blockchain?

The blockchain is actually the "account book" of Ethereum trading. All transactions that have been made are stored in it for all to see. However, anonymity is preserved through encryption with the hashes.

Each block closes after a certain time; the Ethereum miners take care of the processing. The blockchain is the heart of the Ethereum network, so to speak. It ensures that all transactions have actually taken place. Due to its design, manipulation of the blockchain is hardly possible.

Is Ethereum mining worthwhile?

Ether mining is obsolete today. Therefore, you can no longer earn money with mining.

About the author

Hi there, my name is Zalman Weinberg. I'm enthusiast with over 7 years of experience in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Professional Trader providing Blockchain solutions to Startups and Enterprises. Expert in all cryptocurrency exchange APIs (BitMEX, Bittrex, Binance, Bitfinex, Kraken, Poloniex, Gdax etc.). I have also worked with multiple Forex broker APIs.

This site is registered on wpml.org as a development site.