When I had first started getting into the world of blockchain mining, USB miners caught my eye. A simple, cheap, plug and play solution that mines and generates Bitcoin. Sounds great right? Not so much… Here’s why they look like an attractive option, and why you might want stay away from them.
Ease Of Use
A mining solution couldn’t have been made any easier. All you’ve gotta do is order your USB miner online, then plug it in to your computer and start making hundreds of dollars(sike)!
This ease makes it seem great to people who are new to the crypto-space, which is the exact demographic these products are aimed at… Blockchain noobs(no offense).
Contrary to popular belief, getting your USB miner requires some software and configuration in order to get it recognized properly by your PC, and hashing.
Profitability
To no surprise, there’s not a single USB miner on the market that’s a magic money printer… Or even provides a six month ROI(return on investment).
- Sapphire Miner – 330MH/s – Less than 1 cent a month.
- Avalon Nano 3 – 3.6 GH/s – 10 cents a month, if you’re lucky.
- Bitmain Antrouter – 5.5 GH/s – Roughly 12 cents a month, but it also acts as a router(what)?
- GekkoScience – 8 GH/s – 15 cents or so a month.
Not impressed, huh? I don’t blame you.
Mining Difficulty
Due to the increase in difficulty with bigger, better, and new ASIC machines USB miners have turned into more of a “just for fun” kind of miner.
Each and every month, new ASIC machines are coming out to squish any competition from the old ones. Do you really think that this tiny USB stick is going to do any good?
Power Efficiency
Not only do the USB miners have an incredibly poor hashrate, compared to normal ASIC miners… But their power consumption per MH, is not even close to on par with it’s competition.
These USB miners are working harder than other machines, and providing a much lower hashrate.
Investing in one, is really just a lose-lose situation.
In Conclusion
USB Miners look great, initially. They’re plug and play(sorta), small, and easy to use.
However, they aren’t worth the investment anymore, as newer ASICs blow them out of the water. If you do buy one in the current state of cryptocurrency, there’s no way you’ll ever make your money back, and if you do manage to… You’ll probably be dead, or on your death bed.
If you’re looking to get started mining, try learning to do it on your Home PC with your CPU. It’s not as effective, but it’s free, and a great learning experience.
Although, to be fair… If you have a ton of them, they do look pretty cool.
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