Monero XMR Mining 2020

Monero (XMR) is a unique cryptocurrency with privacy-oriented features. Since launching in 2014, Monero has achieved a high level of popularity and acceptance, as the XMR coin has stood amongst the top 20 cryptocurrencies according to coin market cap. Monero also has a profitable mining approach that allows anyone to participate in mining operations and earn XMR coins. This guidepost explains how to mine XMR, what hardware or software you need, and provides you all the knowledge you need to achieve perfect monero mining profitability. Let's take a quick view of the XMR coin then dive into its mining process.

What is XMR?

Monero (XMR) is a decentralized, open-source cryptocurrency that provides a high level of privacy. It is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies, created through a fork of Bytecoin in April 2014. The Monero ideology was a brainchild of an anonymous person behind the Bitcointalk username thankful_for_today. XMR is a fast, private, and secure cash for a connected world. It allows you to have your own bank, spend safely, and no one can track your activities or see your balance. In addition to all the benefits that Bitcoin provides, Monero has many special features. It is a decentralized cryptocurrency, wherein it is operated by a distributed network of users that validate transactions through a consensus algorithm with no need for third-parties. Monero transactions are immutably recorded on the blockchain, but they are also untraceable, sender and receiver addresses in addition to transacted amounts are obfuscated by default. Thus Monero users are only able to read the blockchain parts that relate directly to their own addresses. The enormous growth of Monero is not only due to the attention of black market, but also as a result of the wide-spread amount of people who don't want to be monitored by governments, corporations, and hackers. Currently, XMR coin is ranked as the top 14th coin in the crypto market and it is the top one among the privacy-oriented altcoins which make it attractive for mining.

Monero Mining

The Monero blockchain network is based on the Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm and uses the CryptoNight hash mining algorithm that pushes Monero to a higher level in decentralization with its feature of ASIC — application-specific integrated circuits. Mining Monero does not require ASICs, the expensive hardware equipment that is optimized for professional mining operations. And it is associated with less power consumption than other altcoins mining operations, thanks to the Monero mining algorithm which is CPU and GPU friendly that allows you to lower the temperature of the equipment and extend its service life and you can use even your old laptops, as Monero mobile mining is also possible.

Fortunately, Monero mining can be accomplished by your computer’s CPU, GPU, or both. This could be a great opportunity for beginners to start mining Monero easily without any need to buy sophisticated mining hardware. As claiming Monero through mining operations allows us to gain from the growth in the price of the XMR  in the future — with less risk than with a normal purchase. Monero mining can turn your computer equipment into assets that generate profits and get free Monero coins for you. In other words, you can earn a good amount of XMR whether by Mining Monero on CPU, or Monero GPU mining operations, then you can sell it for profit. But the question arises, is it worth mining Monero coins? Regarding the Monero mining earnings, there is a good chance that XMR mining might end up in a form of money in the coming days. Use the XMR mining calculator to estimate how much you can get from the Monero mining operation depending on your hash rate, power consumption, and electricity costs. Here are some worth XMR mining calculators that help to gauge values:

How to mine XMR?

Monero miners use their resources to act as validators of transaction groups (blocks) that occur on the network, wherein Monero block is mined every 2 minutes on average, and the current Monero blockchain size is 63.75 GB according to Monero's website. In turn, miners earn 4.99 XMR coins for each block they mined. Before you join the Monero miners community, you first need to decide whether you are going to mine Monero on your own, or you want to join Monero mining pools, which are the two main approaches that mining Monero revolves around.

  • Monero’s solo mining (mining by yourself) While this approach is not recommended for beginners, it is good to know that you can make your PC play the role of the mining rig and all profits remain with you. However, solo mining could not be a profitable Monero mining approach unless you are prepared to get more mining hardware and handling all mining operations with performing maintenance of the associated hardware by yourself.
  • Joining a Monero mining pool. In a mining pool, a group of miners come together and combine their computing resources to mine XMR coins and share the rewards among themselves. While most mining pools charge you a pool fee, which is generally in the range of 0-2%, joining a pool provides you a greater chance of verifying transactions (blocks) and beating the competition, thus creating more stable access to XMR coins. Assume that you contribute 5% to the whole computing resources of the mining pool you are in... You will receive 5% of pool rewards then.

As you may have noticed, the latter approach not only increases your chances of a higher Monero profitability but also easier and beginners friendly. So, let’s dig in.

How to start mining XMR

You can mine XMR by following these 3 steps: Step 1. Install Monero Mining Software You will find multiple software to mine Monero. Following are some software and the matching GPU configuration that works best. For AMD GPU Cards

  • XMR Stak (2% developer’s fee with self compilation, you can download XMR stak here)
  • Wolf’s Miner (Zero developer fee – less optimized)

For nVidia GPU Cards

  • XMR Stak (2% developer fee with self compilation)
  • CC Miner (A free Monero Mining software with no fees)

For CPU’s (Intel/AMD)

  • Monero Spelunker
  • XMR Stak (It can be used Monero Linux CPU miner also)
  • Wolfs Miner

Step 2. Join Monero Mining Pool Once the installation is finished, choose Monero mining and click next. Now, you will have the option of choosing to go for solo mining or to join a pool (by entering an address). For instance, let's assume you want to join minexmr pool, then you need to enter a port number for the Monero mining server which is ‘ca.minexmr.com:1234’. Step 3. Set up Monero Wallet The next step to complete the set up mining is to enter your Monero wallet address. Then mining will automatically run on the available GPUs.

Best XMR Mining Hardware

Monero does not support any ASIC mining, so you are left with the option of mining XMR with CPUs and GPUs units, with that said, the more powerful the hardware, the better. When it comes to Monero hardware, most miners declared that GPU cards offer better hash rates across the board compared to CPU. However, the Monero mining algorithm lowers the performance gap, so the efficiency gap between using GPUs and CPUs to mine is low relative to other cryptocurrencies, therefore, creates an arguably fairer playing field. Also, as Monero relies on the CryptoNight algorithm, it is useful to know that AMD GPU cards are often described as better performers compared to their Nvidia counterparts. You can get higher than AMD R9 280x or even Radeon Rx 580 cards. Or you also can stack a number of cheap GPU for mining Monero instead of spending a huge amount on one newer cutting edge GPU card. Here is a set of affordable GPUs to consider:

  • XFX Radeon 7990
  • Sapphire RX480 Nitro+
  • AMD Radeon R9 390
  • The Nvidia card 1080TI Monero mining machine

Consider that mining Monero on CPU units is still effective as much as Monero GPU mining. So, with the drop in prices of the intel i7 CPU units, you can use these models if you want to focus on Monero CPU-based mining.

Best XMR Mining Pools

Joining a mining pool is the best way for effective Monero mining. You can choose a Monero mining pool from the market. Or You can find one from the list of the top Monero mining pools from our Monero mining pool comparison table below.

NameNumber of MinersPool FeesMinimal payment
MineXMR.com is a popular XMR pool with a great number of miners.321571%0.1 XMR
SupportXMR.com XMR support pool, a proper choice for regular users.103390.6%0.3 XMR
xmr.nanopool.org Monero nanopool also have a pretty good reputation301321%0.5 XMR
monero.crypto-pool.fr21912%0.3 XMR
Xmrpool.net provides a Monero solo mining pool also.20860.6%, For solo 0.4%0.3 XMR

Conclusion

Knowing at least the basics about what you are going up to do is the path to fewer disappointments, and the same goes when you are setting a plan to mine Monero in advance. Fortunately, going back to our Monero mining guide is a great step in preparing yourself to mine this cryptocurrency. Moreover, getting XMR coins through mining operations involves fewer risks than normal buying for assets. And Monero has many fans and the XMR mining process is extremely friendly for beginners.

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