Cryptocurrencies have proven to be very profitable throughout the years, but trading them is not the only way people can profit. Mining is one of the best ways that traders can use to ensure financial prosperity. A lot of cryptocurrencies offer the option of mining in the blockchain. One of them is the cryptocurrency that has become a trend in social media and a powerful project in the market – Dogecoin.
While mining Dogecoins may seem a simple process, there are a lot of layers worth considering before deciding on whether you should mine DOGE or not. In order to understand the topic thoroughly, let’s briefly go through Dogecoin and the mining process.
A Brief History of Dogecoin (DOGE)
Dogecoin started as a meme, influenced by a meme of a Shiba Inu dog, which is represented by the word ‘Doge’. Created by Billy Marcus and Jackson Palmer, Dogecoin had less seriousness in its approach to the cryptocurrency market since it was considered an internet-influenced cryptocurrency involving the comedy behind the Doge meme. The Dogecoin community was serious enough when needed as they managed to accumulate funds for sponsoring sporting events, as well as building water wells in Kenya.
Dogecoin had an initial price of $0.0002 when it was released in 2016, as per Coinmarketcap. As of April 2021, DOGE has an average price of $0.24. Currently ranked at number 7 based on its market capitalization, Dogecoin has managed to keep its relevance for more than 4 years even though it began as a ‘joke’ coin. Dogecoin uses Proof-of-Work (PoW) as a consensus mechanism.
How Does Mining Work?
Since cryptocurrency transactions are decentralized, no third party is involved in confirming and verifying transactions. Because of this, every node that is part of a cryptocurrency network is involved in verifying transactions collectively with other nodes.
For a transaction to be verified, a difficult mathematical problem needs to be solved. Nodes in the network compete with each other on which one manages to solve the problem faster. When the problem is solved, the verified transaction information is added to a chain of previous blocks of information, forming the blockchain. The blockchain serves as a digital, distributed ledger containing a history of all the transactions confirmed by the nodes of the network.
But verifying a decentralized transaction requires a node with high computational powers and other additional costs. So why would nodes compete with each other to verify these transactions if there are costs involved? As an incentive for nodes to verify transactions, the network rewards the nodes responsible by giving them free coins. This whale process is known as mining and the nodes of this network are known as miners.
With Proof-of-Work as a consensus mechanism, Dogecoin is one of the most time-efficient large-cap cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin that have no limited supply can have the same mining rate even years from now. However, in every market, the entry of new participants (nodes) in the network increases competitiveness and makes the mining process even harder. Harder mining entails more mining costs. More mining costs mean less mining profit. Because of this increase in difficulty, three main mining approaches exist: solo mining, mining pool, and cloud mining
Types of Mining
Below we have listed the three types of mining:
1. Solo Mining
Solo mining is the mining we have been explaining so far. Nodes try to verify transactions independently. It is the fundamental and the basic model of mining. The nodes with better computational powers have a higher chance of solving a problem first and mining cryptocurrencies such as DOGE. While the chances of being rewarded as a solo miner are less likely than other forms of mining, the reward is bigger.
2. Mining Pool
Since mining becomes increasingly difficult as the network increases, nodes have the option of joining a pool of other nodes and mine together as a collective unit. By doing so, this unity means that the computational power behind the mining is higher, so mining through a pool is more likely to be successful. However, in order to be a part of a mining pool, nodes have to pay entry fees. Moreover, whenever a DOGE is mined, the pool divides the DOGE into smaller units and distributes it to all the nodes that are a part of the pool. So even if it is more likely for a node to be rewarded by joining a mining pool, the reward will be much lower.
3. Cloud Mining
The third approach that you can choose to mine cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin is cloud mining. Cloud mining is centralized, and it requires a third party that offers to do the mining for you. This third party has the necessary computational power needed to mine, so they mine as much as you pay them. The more you pay them, the more Dogecoins can be mined and be added to your wallet. The problem is that these third parties require additional fees for this service, as well as compensation for the mining costs. Due to this, profitability can be lower with cloud mining, even though you may mine more through cloud mining. However, it is important to not fall for frauds, as there are people who offer you such services but steal your assets. So it is important to do thorough research before deciding to mine through cloud mining.
Dogecoin Mining
Now that we have briefly covered the fundamentals, let’s look at how mining is done in the Dogecoin network. To mine Dogecoins, hardware, software, and internet connection are required.
Hardware
Hardware is one of the essentials required for mining Dogecoins. Any setup with a CPU is enough to start mining, but it is not necessarily always profitable. Hence, mining is not recommended with less powerful consoles such as mobile phones.
There are two main hardware mining options for mining Dogecoin: Mining rig or Dogecoin miners.
A mining rig is a custom-built miner. Usually, a PC is considered a mining rig because its parts can be adjusted accordingly. It is recommended that the PC you decide to use as a mining rig prioritizes GPU power rather than CPU. The more GPU power, the higher the miner’s computational power. But GPUs should be added accordingly and only if the motherboard supports them. GPUs can be rather expensive. Whether you choose Nvidia, GeForce GTX, or any other sort of GPU, you should be aware that they can be relatively expensive.
The second option is buying a Dogecoin miner. Usually, getting ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) miner. You do not need to build these types of miners as they are sold prebuilt. ASIC miners are known for their efficiency.
Besides the technological costs of GPUs needed for mining, a lot of energy is required – more than with just a normal PC. To know how efficient the mining is, you can calculate it through a mining profitability calculator. After a benchmark, you insert the hash rate that you are given in a mining profitability calculator, and then add the electricity costs at your location. If the results show that your mining rig is not profitable, you can increase the clocking rate of your hardware. However, you should be aware to not overclock because your node can be damaged permanently, resulting in losses.
The setup complementing the miner is also important. It is recommended to have a cooling device for your miner because the mining rig can overheat, which can cause malfunctions. Also, if you keep your mining rig or ASIC miner in your house, be aware that they can create a lot of noise.
Software
Software is also an essential component of mining Dogecoins. Combining with hardware, the software is important for the mining to occur. There are a lot of options when it comes to mining software for Dogecoins. The most widely used software, especially for beginners, is EasyMiner. Other options would be CGminer, CuraMinder, MultiMiner, etc.
Internet
Without a doubt, internet connection is also a key component of mining cryptocurrencies, including Dogecoin. It is required that your internet connection is strong and stable to ensure a higher likelihood of being rewarded from mining.
Dogecoin Mining Pools
Prohashing
Prohashing is a big mining pool that supports a lot of cryptocurrencies. It is relatively transparent, so you know everything related to the data of your mining. You can merge mine cryptocurrencies, meaning that you can mine two cryptocurrencies at the same time. The Pay per Share (PPS) fee is 3.99% and the Pay per Last N Shares (PPLNS) fee is 1.99%, which makes Prohashing a reasonable mining pool.
AntPool
AntPool is definitely one of the best mining pools and not just for Dogecoin mining. The fact that AntPool is owned by Bitmain, the biggest ASIC miner producer, gives it the reputation as one of the biggest and most trusted mining pools. It also uses Pay per Share with a 3% fee and PPLNS with 0%.
Poolin
Another great mining pool is Poolin. The founders of Poolin are the same as the founders of AntPool (Bitmain). A feature of Poolin is that it is one of the biggest shares of the Bitcoin network, precisely 13%. As for Dogecoin, you can mine Dogecoin by mining Litecoin, since free Dogecoins are rewarded for every LTC mined. It has a fee of 2.5%.
Trustpool
It only supports 7 cryptocurrencies. Dogecoin can also be mined through merged-mining, accompanying Litecoin. It uses the PPLNS method of rewarding. It has been growing as a pool over the last few years.
Aikapool
It is considered the best mining pool for Dogecoin and has the largest share of Dogecoin among other mining pools. It also uses PPS as a reward mechanism, with the fee being only %1.
Dogecoin Cloud Mining Options
As suggested earlier, it is important to research and do a careful analysis before deciding to mine Dogecoins through cloud mining. Nevertheless, if you decide to do so, you should use trusted and credible platforms such as NiceHash.
NiceHash is one of the most popular cloud mining platforms. It has earned the trust of many people throughout the years. It is considered the best cloud mining platform in terms of transparency. The maintenance fees are relatively the same as other platforms.
Is Mining Dogecoin Worth It?
Now that we have covered everything about Dogecoin mining, we come to the most important part. Is mining Dogecoin worth it in 2021? The short answer is yes. Mining profitability increased so much during the bull run of the first quarter of 2021. With the price of DOGE increasing to $0.43 in April, it marked an all-time high. Profitability was not the same in previous years when 1 Dogecoin had a very low price.
As for the future, profitability cannot be predicted. Unlike Bitcoin, Dogecoin is unlimited so the mining rate might not become as hard as for Bitcoin. Nevertheless, as more people join the network, the probability that your node is rewarded becomes lower. Lower probability means more costs, and more costs may lower the profit. But a cryptocurrency such as Dogecoin, which has managed to exceed everyone’s expectations is projected to have an even brighter future.
Also Read:
Dogecoin Price Prediction 2022 – What Will the Dogecoin Price be in 2022 and in Next Years to Come?
How to buy Baby Dogecoin? – A Step-By-Step Guide
How High Can Dogecoin Go? – Dogecoin Price Prediction
Will Dogecoin Go Up Again? – How High Could DOGE Price Go?
Takeaways
- Starting as a meme, Dogecoin has become one of the biggest cryptocurrencies of 2021.
- Dogecoin mining can be done solo, through a mining pool, or cloud mining.
- Overall, mining pool is a slightly better choice when it comes to mining Dogecoins.
- In order to mine Dogecoin, hardware, software, and a good internet connection are required.
- You can build your own mining rig or buy a prebuilt ASIC miner.
- If you decide to build your own mining rig, a good GPU is a priority, but you should make sure that the motherboard supports the GPUs power.
- Mining can be costly because good graphic cards are expensive and electricity costs are higher.
- Some of the biggest Dogecoin mining pools are Prohashing, Antpool, Poolin, Trustpool, Aikapool, etc.
- One of the best platforms for cloud mining Dogecoins is NiceHash
- Mining Dogecoin in 2021 is profitable and might become even more so in the future.