How to Start Mining Ethereum Classic (ETC)

Ethereum’s time is over. Ethereum Classic mining is where its at now.

In the recent past, GPU-powered Ethereum mining could be a highly lucrative endeavor. However, the Ethereum merge has virtually eliminated GPU mining, making it impossible for seasoned Ethereum miners to continue earning money from this coin using their GPUs. However, if you’re looking for another application for your GPU or GPU setup, Ethereum Classic (ETC) mining might be the right choice. But how do you begin mining Ethereum Classic?

What is Ethereum Classic (ETC)?

In the cryptocurrency sector, Ethereum (ETH) is well-known, whereas Ethereum Classic (ETC) is less well-known. A decentralized blockchain platform called Ethereum Classic supports smart contracts. The native coin of Ethereum Classic is ETC, as you might have guessed. The mining of Ethereum Classic is possible, like with many other cryptocurrencies, but there are some factors to take into account first.

Ethereum Classic Mining Considerations

Prior to taking on any mining venture, you should be aware of the risks and downsides involved, the first of which is the upfront and long-term costs of hardware. Hardware for mining can cost as little as a few dollars or as much as thousands of dollars. Your upfront costs shouldn’t be too high if you’re using a GPU, but if you’re using an ASIC, be prepared to spend a significant sum of money.

The long-term costs of cryptocurrency mining primarily concern the electricity needed for mining. Mining hardware is usually kept on around the clock and can be very energy intensive, so you’ll see a noticeable increase in your monthly or annual electricity bill if you decide to start mining.

You should also note that crypto mining isn’t a guaranteed win for everyone. As the size of a coin’s mining community increases, the chance of mining a block or circulating a new coin decreases. Because only strong ASICs can be used to mine Bitcoin successfully, this is a problem unique to that industry. Before you begin your mining endeavor, it’s critical to keep all of these factors in mind.

Additionally, you must choose whether you want to mine Ethereum Classic alone or in a mining pool. To increase the likelihood of mining a block, many miners pool their hashing power in mining pools. However, keep in mind that in a mining pool, the rewards are divided among the participants typically in proportion to the amount of hash power allocated. This can significantly increase the reliability of your mining operation. Membership fees in mining pools are also charged, though these fees vary from pool to pool.

Solo mining gives you the full reward, but it can be much less reliable, so you might have to wait a lot longer to mine a block and get the rewards.

Let’s move on to the mining equipment for Ethereum Classic.

1. Hardware

Either a GPU miner or an ASIC miner can be used to mine Ethereum Classic. It is also possible to use GPU mining equipment. Depending on the model of GPU you choose to use, the cost to set up a GPU mining rig can easily exceed $1,000. The cost of ASICs can also differ significantly depending on the model and its state. While some ASIC models can cost up to $10,000, others may only cost you $1,000 or less.

But since the Thanos hard fork in 2020 made it simpler for GPUs with less RAM to mine blocks, GPUs are typically the preferred choice for Ethereum Classic mining. (Best GPUs for ETC Mining) On the other hand, after the fork, ASICs found it difficult to continue mining Ethash cryptocurrency profitably. That said, Ethereum Classic can still be mined using an ASIC.

There are many different types of GPU and ASIC available today, so let’s discuss four of the top models so you’ll know what to look for.

GeForce RTX 3090 (GPU)

The GeForce RTX 3090 is a big ferocious GPU (BFGPU) with TITAN class performance. It’s powered by Ampere—NVIDIA’s 2nd gen RTX architecture—doubling down on ray tracing and AI performance with enhanced Ray Tracing (RT) Cores, Tensor Cores, and new streaming multiprocessors. Plus, it features a staggering 24 GB of G6X memory, all to deliver the ultimate gaming experience.

RTX 3060 Ti LHR (GPU)

ASUS Dual GeForce RTX™ 3060 Ti V2 OC Edition 8GB GDDR6 with LHR features two powerful Axial-tech fans for AAA gaming performance and ray tracing. Leveraging advanced cooling technologies derived from flagship graphics cards, the Dual opts for substance over style, the perfect choice for a well-balanced build.

Bitmain Antminer E9 (ASIC)

The Bitmain Antminer E9 (2.4Gh) is one of the most anticipated Miners for Ethereum Classic in 2022. July 2022 is the scheduled release date. The standards for the performance of mining equipment have been raised by the manufacturer Bitmain. Once again, the Bitmain Antminer E9 (2.4Gh) does not disappoint. The miner has a maximum hash rate of 2.4 Gh/s and a power consumption of 1920W.

Innosilicon A10 ETHMaster (ASIC)

The Innosilicon A10 ETHMaster (500Mh) is one of the most anticipated Miners of Ethereum Classic for 2019. It has a release date of Sep 2019. The standard for mining equipment performance has been raised by the producer Innosilicon. Once again, the Innosilicon A10 ETHMaster (500Mh) does not disappoint. The miner uses 750W of power and has a maximum hash rate of 500 Mh/s.

Get more infromation about ETC ASIC miners.

2. Software

Software is yet another crucial component of cryptocurrency mining. The pros and cons of various crypto mining software programs vary, and not all software is appropriate for all coins. Let’s now examine the two top Ethereum Classic mining software.

GMiner

With more than 600,000 users each day, GMiner is a well-known cryptocurrency mining program. For a variety of coins, including Ethereum Classic, GMiner was created. Ethash, ProgPoW, and Equihash are just a few of the mining algorithms that this software supports. ASICs are not supported by GMiner, but you can mine using AMD and Nvidia GPUs.

GMiner provides users with various overclocking statistics, as well as temperature control to prevent hardware from overheating. However, it’s important to be aware that mining Ethereum Classic carries a 1% fee that will be deducted from your earnings. However, the program itself can be downloaded for free and is compatible with both Linux and Windows.

NBMiner

With over 700,000 daily users, NBMiner is another favorite among Ethereum Classic miners. This program only supports GPU mining with Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, in line with the Ethereum Classic mining community’s preference for GPUs.

NBMiner supports a range of different cryptocurrencies, as well as various mining algorithms. A secure SSL connection to mining pools is also made available to users by the program. Similar to GMiner, NBMiner deducts a 1% fee from your earnings when you mine Ethereum Classic. It’s also a command line program, which is more difficult to use if you’re not a complete techie.

There are several applications you may want to take into consideration when mining Ethereum Classic with an ASIC, such as MinerGate.

3. Wallet

You will need a wallet to transfer your profits to before you can begin mining any cryptocurrency. Naturally, in this scenario, your wallet must support Ethereum Classic, so check that it does so before downloading any potential wallets.

Today, a variety of virtual and physical (or hot and cold) wallets that are compatible with ETC are available.

Think about Trust Wallet, Exodus, or Atomic Wallet if you prefer software wallets over other options available today. Given that software wallets can be remotely compromised, you should make sure that the provider you select has a variety of security features available so you can protect your money.

Hardware wallets like the Ledger and Trezor can both store Ethereum Classic and are generally a safer option because they keep your money safe in cold storage, preventing remote attacks.

Why Are Ethereum Classic Miners Important?

Mining is the trustless, decentralized mechanism used by Ethereum Classic to secure the network, and miners are required for this to happen. To process transactions and defend the network against 51% (double spend) attacks, miners use their computing power.

When a malicious actor tries to spend the same digital currency unit more than once, it is called a double-spend attack. Attacks take place when a malicious miner rearranges the blockchain to steal money or spend already-spent funds.

Most often, double-spends or 51% attacks are a problem suffered by smaller blockchains that have very little in terms of computing power or hashrate. It is simpler for malicious actors to carry out a 51% attack when it is simple to amass more than half of the networks’ total computing power.

To guard against such disruptive attacks, blockchain networks rely on a distributed network of miners. Together, the miners are encouraged to identify legitimate transactions, with all erroneous ones being ignored. Giving miners a reward, such as new coin issuance, aids in compensating them and encourages them to keep exerting effort to secure the blockchain.

Ethereum Classic Mining Limitations

Ethereum Classic voted to fix its maximum supply at a cap of 210,700,000 ETC in December 2017. There will only ever be that specific number of ETC coins in circulation thanks to the cryptocurrency’s adopted monetary policy. No single entity has the power to alter that or increase money printing to counteract economic crises, as governments have recently done with fiat currencies.

For ETC, new coins are created every 15 seconds, and miner rewards for each block also get smaller over time.

The Ethereum Classic protocol permits a 20% reduction in block rewards every 5,000,000 blocks, in contrast to Bitcoin, which experiences a 50% reduction in block rewards every 210,000 blocks. The reward was decreased by this amount once before, from 4 ETC to 3.2 ETC. The following block reduction, from 3.2 ETC to 2.56 ETC, is scheduled for block height 15,000,000. Around April 2022 is when this is anticipated to be accomplished.

Tokenomics helps Ethereum Classic manage inflation, and it’s important to note that this mechanism operates within the confines of network difficulty protocol rules. Also called mining difficulty, this is a feature of the mining process that allows for adjustments to how hard it is to find a new block and add it to the blockchain.

The difficulty adjusts up or down with the number of miners, going up if the number increases and down if it decreases. All these happen to keep the block generation time within the 15-second limit.

Get Started With Ethereum Classic Mining Using the Steps Above

You can start your ETC mining journey with the best hardware and software by following the above suggestions. Even though cryptocurrency mining has drawbacks, it can undoubtedly give you a reliable secondary income without requiring you to put in a lot of work.