There are several reasons to mine Bitcoin at home. Profit, privacy, heat reuse, Bitcoin love.
Mining for profit
Investing your money is the most obvious reason for mining Bitcoin. That said, the good years have passed. It is now necessary to enjoy inexpensive electricity to take the trouble. Otherwise, you might as well buy BTC directly.
In France, the price per kWh is 20 euro cents. Difficult in these conditions to be profitable, unless you have your own source of electricity.
Let’s do the calculation with these parameters:
-BTC price: 30,520 euros
-Price per kWh: 0.20 €
– Electrical power: 3010 watts
-Hashrate of the antminer: 140 TH/s (i.e. 21.5 watts per TH)
-Antminer price (S19 XP): 30 euros per terahash, or about 4,200 euros
– Mining difficulty: 50646206431058
-Halving in 10 months
The tool of brains will do the calculations for you. Assuming that these parameters remain fixed, it is not profitable to mine. You lose 4 euros per day. It is therefore better to buy BTC directly.
For the game to be worth the candle, the price of Bitcoin would have to exceed 41,500 euros. Or that your price per kWh is less than 15 cents. By the way, 13 cents is the price paid during off-peak hours (1/3 of the time).
On the other hand, if your kWh was 5 euro cents, mining 1 BTC would cost you only 10,000 euros. That’s a nice margin of 20,000 euros after five years and wheelbarrows (time for an S19 XP to mine the equivalent of one BTC).
Much will therefore depend on the prices of electricity, Antminer, Bitcoin and the evolution of the hashrate.
For further : When is it better to unplug your Antminer?
Of course, profits increase if the heat from the Antminers saves on the heating (gas) bill.
Mining and Reusing Energy
In addition to satoshis and noise, mining also brings in a lot of heat. Electrical energy is dissipated in ASICs in the form of heat. The first principle of thermodynamics being what it is, almost 100% of the energy can be recovered.
And while miners have always strived to get rid of that heat, that’s no longer true. Now it’s a matter of looking for a cheap source of electricity and/or places where the heat can be resold or reused.
In particular to heat a greenhouse:
Since 2021, the French WiseMining has been offering a solution to reduce the energy consumption of buildings thanks to its boiler Sato. The ASICs (chips which chop and heat) are removed from their traditional enclosure and placed directly in a tank connected to a heat exchanger which heats the water in the tank.
Mining for stealth
Many are using their miners as a way to acquire “virgin” BTC. That is to say BTC freshly issued, and therefore linked to no spending history.
This makes it possible to obtain “KYC-free” BTCs, unlike those purchased on exchanges which, by the way, are now required to declare their clients’ assets to the tax authorities.
Of course, the mining pool must also be respectful of the privacy of its customers. Which is usually the case. For the moment.
Another solution: solo mining. In other words, mining without going through a pool. That said, you have to reach a critical size so as not to wait years before finding a block…
Finally, some, like those who have their own node, mine apart in order to participate in something greater than themselves. And that is beautiful.
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