Cryptocurrency mining is slowly but surely becoming more and more commercial. Once reserved for enthusiasts nerds with a passion for Linux, computer science and cryptography, the process is slowly becoming adopted beyond that exclusive world.
The mining itself has been greatly simplified with people developing simpler mining software that can be set up by almost anyone. And while the latest software with Windows-based GUI is probably a best option for a mining beginner, more complicated text-based mining programs are still available for experienced miners.
So let’s take a closer look at the best available software for out there.
The top 7 Bitcoin mining software are:
CGMiner is a flexible mining program that supports almost every platform. It works via a simple command line interface and supports multiple mining pools and devices. It’s primarily designed to be used with hardware mining devices but can make use of any GPUs connected to your machine as well.
On the first run, CGMiner will ask you to enter the URL, username, and password (if necessary) for your mining pool, and it will automatically detect any hardware you have connected such as an ASIC device.
Although you have to work with CGMiner via the command line, the layout is very easy on the eye: the devices are listed at the top and you can use simple keyboard commands to change your settings.
It has a ton of features including config files, logging, monitoring as well as overclocking capabilities and API monitoring. The more advanced area of the software is its control on the hardware. It lets you change numerous settings in the ASIC or FPGA machine such as voltages and other features:
Mining Bitcoin is already going to be an expensive process, at least in the initial period, until you find your way around and start receiving proper rewards for your work. This is why you need to find a way to cut the costs wherever you can, and the best way to do so would be to use free miners, where BFGminer stands out as one of the best options.
BFGminer is available on Windows, Mac, or Linux, which makes it a pretty great option for those using any of the three systems. It is completely free, although it should be noted that it was designed for ASICs and FPGA, and that graphics card mining is not supported.
This software is also oriented towards an audience that likes manual tweaking, which is why it comes with advanced features, such as dynamic monitoring, remote interface capabilities, as well as clocking capabilities. It features a text-based but still pretty straightforward interface, and it allows you to set up hotkeys to enable different options.
MultiMiner is a graphical version of BFGMiner. Thanks to its graphical interface, the MultiMiner is many a novice miners’ favorite piece of mining software. It is a desktop application for crypto mining and monitoring on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. MultiMiner simplifies switching individual devices (GPUs, ASICs, FPGAs) between crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin. An open-source project, MultiMiner is compatible with many mining devices. These include Block Erupter, BFL/Bitforce and HashBuster Micro.
After setup is complete, MultiMiner will automatically scan for devices and list their details in a helpful table, such as the pool used and average hash power. Most importantly, the client will also display your daily projected profit with your current hardware.
MultiMiner is also capable of connecting to numerous pools at once too. There’s even the option to have the device automatically mine the most profitable coin at any given time or to target those which offer the lowest difficulty.
It's main features are:
If you are looking for a good miner for Linux, we can recommend EasyMiner, which is a pretty good option. It is a lot more of a GUI-based solution than some others mentioned previously, but it is still one of the most user-friendly solutions for that will let you start mining rather quickly.
Not only that, but this solution comes with a number of features, one of which is graphical visualization of your performance and statistics, which can be very useful for keeping track of your progress and the state of your mining hardware.
Similarly to most other mining software, EasyMiner also lets you configure your mining hardware in a way that will either let you connect to mining pools, or try to mine by yourself. Although, as mentioned before, mining Bitcoin solo is not really an option anymore.
In addition, this tool also has a mode called ‘MoneyMaker.’ This is an interesting mode that lets you create a paper wallet for Litecoin, and connect it to a private pool. This software can be used on Linux, but also Windows. However, there were reposts that say that Windows antivirus software often makes installation of this mining software a problem. Luckily, you should not have such problems if you use it on Linux.
Awesome Miner is a Windows application to manage and monitor mining of Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
Awesome Miner Next generation profitability switching uses both real-time multi-pool statistics and coin statistics to automatically switch between multiple pools, algorithms and mining software to always ensure highest possible profitability.
Awesome Miner can show Desktop Notifications on Windows and send email alerts about mining issues. With a Cloud Services subscription, the notifications can also be delivered via SMS or via Telegram.
Add, switch and manage mining pools easily. Track the status of each pool and define coin to see profitability. The Switch pool operation can be performed for multiple miners in a single operation, making pool switches for large number of miners efficient.
Awesome Miner is a Windows application, but also offers a built-in web frontend that can be accessed from any computer, tablet or smartphone.
CCMiner is one of the oldest mining software in the market and it was previously named CudaMiner. The software supports both the Linux and Windows operating system, and NVIDIA GPU users are known to utilize this mining software.
We've given many options, from which you can choose. Every software has its own benefit, and as per your feasibility, you should choose.
Mining on your computer in itself is a hectic task, and risky as well, as it's expensive with a not-so-sure return. It consumes a lot of electricity which is an environmental hazard.
Bitcoin software are needed to point your hash rate at the pool.
There are different regulations in different countries across the world, so one must abide as per the policies.
It all depends on the power of your equipment. On large and powerful mining farms, even few blocks can be mined, and there are 12.5 Bitcoins per block. But we also want to remind you that, the Bitcoin block mining reward halves every 210,000 blocks, the coin reward decreased from 12.5 to 6.25 coins. This happened on May 12, 2020.
There are many people that think that they can use Bitcoin anonymously since they do not have their personal identities on the blockchain, but this is not correct since Bitcoin can easily be tracked back to the owner due to its permissionless protocol.
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