Smart Investors

With cryptocurrencies increasing in usage and gaining more widespread acceptance, it is not surprising that crypto mining companies are also stepping into the spotlight. You will find cryptocurrency mining news dominating the space of late because of the increase in mining activity. What does crypto mining mean? To put it simply, it refers to the process used for creating cryptocurrencies through the validating and processing of crypto transactions. Data blocks are verified by miners on the blockchain, which is the public ledger that is the foundation of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

When miners solve complex mathematical puzzles, they are rewarded in the form of bitcoins or the crypto they are mining. The computations they have to do are very complex and extremely powerful computers are required for processing them. When crypto mining was first introduced, people could simply use their home computers for this purpose as the computations were pretty straightforward. These days, miners have to invest a significant amount of electricity and processing power for doing the calculations. Crypto mining will become even more demanding a decade later.

Three Variables of Crypto Mining

The profitability of a crypto miner depends on three key factors; the cost of hardware, energy prices as well as the price of the crypto they are mining. You can simply check out crypto reviews to find out which cryptocurrencies are popular and worth mining.

In order to gain a foothold in the crypto mining industry, a lot of money has to be invested in high-end semiconductors and this can change because of the fluctuating cost of chips. There is a hefty demand for these crypto mining rigs because of more people moving into the nascent industry.

Another aspect that crypto miners have to deal with is the cost of energy. A tremendous amount of power is required for operating the crypto mining rigs and doing the calculations. Therefore, miners are in search of the cheapest possible sources. With prices of renewable energy falling, there is a possibility that miners will eventually switch to this option. Furthermore, the use of renewable energy can also assuage increasing concerns of the environmental impact of mining cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

The low prices of renewable energy in China was one of the top reasons why it was the crypto mining hotspot. During the rainy season in China, its hydroelectric dams produce extra energy that results in a drop in energy prices. Miners were able to take advantage of this season for getting access to cheap energy and switched to coal or other cheap options after the rainy season. But, this has obviously changed now after China imposed a crypto mining ban in the country in May.

The third aspect that miners have to take into account is the price of the crypto they are mining. When crypto prices go up, so does the stock of mining companies. There are some companies that primarily function as crypto mining companies and are fully focused on it, while others engage in it as a side hustle.

Crypto mining can be conducted anywhere in the world, but before May of this year, 60% of crypto mining was conducted in China, whereas 10% of it was in the United States. But, the cryptocurrency mining news headlines in May announced that crypto miners were no longer permitted to continue their activities in China. This forced a number of businesses to shut down, or relocate. Statistics indicate that Russia and the United States are the top two locations where most of the Chinese miners have shifted. Kazakhstan is also on the list of countries that has seen an influx of miners, so much so that the country is experiencing blackouts due to shortage of electricity. The demand for cryptocurrencies and crypto mining activities does not appear to be subsiding anytime soon. The value of the crypto market surpassed the $3 trillion mark in 2021 and while it has come down since then, it is still above the $2.5 trillion mark.