Editor's Note: This article comes fromZhikuang University (ID: gh_37c9e0eaf00a), reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
Zhikuang University (ID: gh_37c9e0eaf00a)
Zhikuang University (ID: gh_37c9e0eaf00a)
, reprinted by Odaily with authorization.Recently, the popularity of liquidity mining has directly caused network congestion on Ethereum, the underlying public chain that hosts various DeFi applications, and the average Gas price paid by users has reached a maximum of 480Gwei (now it has fallen back to 110Gwei).image description
Figure: Average handling fee for ETH transfer
The Ethereum network is congested and the fees are high, and the Ethereum miners benefit the most. In the previous article "
Is Ethereum mining a good business?
According to the current currency price, the 5700XT 8-card machine has a daily net income of 115.6 yuan, and the static payback period of Ethereum mining is about 240 days; the static payback period of the Nvidia series 1660S is only 210 days.
(Note: The post was published on August 31, when the price of ETH was $480. Now that the price of ETH has fallen, the fee income has also decreased, and the static payback cycle has changed greatly)
From the perspective of the static payback cycle, Ethereum mining is extremely attractive.
However, compared to Bitcoin mining, Ethereum mining is more niche, and there are fewer people who understand it and actually participate. In today’s article, we will help you better understand Ethereum mining by comparing it with Bitcoin mining.
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Mining algorithm, equipment, computing power scale
Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 encryption algorithm. When mining, the competition is computing power. In order to improve the computing power, Bitcoin has gone through four stages of CPU mining, GPU mining, FPGA mining machine mining and now ASIC mining machine mining, and the degree of specialization is getting higher and higher.
Ethereum uses the Ethash encryption algorithm. During the mining process, it is necessary to read the memory and store the DAG file. Since the bandwidth of each read memory is limited, and it is difficult for the existing computer technology to make a qualitative breakthrough on this problem, no matter how the computing efficiency of the computer is improved, the memory reading efficiency will still not be greatly improved. Big change. Therefore, in a sense, Ethereum's Ethash encryption algorithm is "ASIC-resistant".
At present, Bitcoin mining equipment is mainly ASIC mining machines with a high degree of specialization. The computing power of a single mining machine can reach up to 110T/s (Antminer S19 Pro mining machine), and the scale of the entire network computing power is 120EH/s above.
Ethereum’s mining equipment is mainly graphics card mining machines, and there are very few specialized ASIC mining machines. On the one hand, it is because the “ASIC resistance” of the Ethereum mining algorithm has raised the threshold for developing ASIC mining machines. On the other hand, it is because After Ethereum is upgraded to 2.0, the consensus mechanism will be transformed into PoS, and mining machines cannot continue to mine.
Compared with ASIC mining machines, graphics card mining machines have a difference of 2 orders of magnitude in computing power. At present, the computing power of the mainstream graphics card mining machine (8 cards) is about 420MH/s, and the computing power of the entire Ethereum network is about 230TH/s.image description》。
Figure: From 2018 to the present, the total network computing power of Bitcoin VS the total network computing power of Ethereum
Bitcoin’s ASIC mining machines are monopolized by several major mining machine manufacturers, and miners can only buy them from the market; Ethereum’s graphics card mining machines are also produced by specialized mining machine manufacturers, and miners can DIY according to their own needs. Buy accessories in the market and assemble them yourself. Regarding the pitfalls of the graphics card mining machine, especially the self-assembled graphics card mining machine, you can read the previous tweet of Zhikuang University "
What are the pitfalls of buying a mining machine? Minor graphics card miners
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ASIC mining machines have high computing power and high power consumption. For example, the latest Antminer S19 Pro mining machine has a rated power consumption of 3250W and consumes 78 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day. According to the current currency price and the high water season electricity price of 0.23 yuan, electricity costs account for The ratio is 30.68%. For other older-generation Bitcoin ASIC mining machines, such as the Antminer T17 series, electricity costs generally exceed 50%.
Therefore, ASIC mining machines are very sensitive to electricity costs. This is why every year after the flood season in Sichuan, many ASIC mining machines have to migrate from thermal power mines in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and other places to hydropower mines in Sichuan. When the mining output cannot support the electricity bill, the mining machine has to be shut down.
In contrast, graphics card mining machines have low power consumption and a low proportion of electricity bills. For example, the 5600XT 8-card graphics card mining machine, calculated according to the electricity price of 0.36 yuan, the daily electricity bill is about 10.4 yuan, accounting for about 11.5% of the electricity bill; another example is the 1660S 8-card graphics card mining machine, the daily electricity bill is about 6.9 yuan. The proportion of electricity bill is about 10.3%.
Because the proportion of electricity costs is low, graphics card mining machines are rarely migrated back and forth every year (another reason is that graphics card mining machines are very "fragile"), and are generally hosted in electric mining farms throughout the year.
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Hosting of mining machines
The graphics card mining machine of Ethereum not only consumes less power, but also has a large volume. Compared with the Bitcoin ASIC mining machine, the ordinary graphics card machine occupies a ratio of 1:3, which means that the space of 3 ASIC mining machines can only accommodate one graphics card mining machine.
In addition, graphics card mining machines have high requirements on the mine environment. In addition to the most basic dust-proof, moisture-proof, and temperature control inside the mine, anti-static treatment is also required for the mine.
When the graphics card mine is shut down and then restarted, it will generally lose computing power and increase the workload of on-site operation and maintenance. Therefore, when choosing a managed mine, the stability of the mine's power supply and operation and maintenance capabilities are very important considerations.
Graphics card mining machines are not popular in many mining farms, and there are relatively few managed mining farms to choose from. Generally speaking, when the graphics card mining machine is hosted, the electricity price charged by the mine is generally higher than that of the ASIC mining machine.
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Residual value of mining machine
The chip of the ASIC mining machine is customized and can only mine fixed-algorithm currencies. For example, the SHA-256 mining machine of Bitcoin can only mine BTC, BCH, and BSV. After the ASIC mining machine is scrapped, it can only be sold as hardware, and the precious metals in the mining machine will be extracted and reused. A scrapped ASIC mining machine hardware can only be sold for about 30 yuan, so the residual value of the ASIC mining machine is very low.
In contrast, the residual value of Ethereum’s graphics card mining machines is very high.Secondly, even if you don’t mine, the graphics card of the graphics card mining machine can be disassembled, and it can enter the consumer field and be sold to Internet cafes, gamers or companies that need to process a large number of graphics images. Generally speaking, for a graphics card that has been mined for two years, the residual value rate is about 30% of the market price of a new graphics card.》。
In addition, the remaining parts of the graphics card mining machine (mainboard, CPU, power supply, hard disk, etc.)
If you want to know more about the residual value of the mining machine, you can read the previous tweet "
How to calculate the residual value of the mining machine in "Question and Answer of Zhikuang University"? Where will scrapped mines go?
Bitcoin's block rewards are deterministic, halved every 4 years on average until all Bitcoins are mined in 2140. After the halving in May this year, the Bitcoin block reward is 6.25BTC, and the next halving is expected to occur in April 2024. As long as mining output can cover electricity expenses, miners can continue to dig until 2140.
Summarize
The block reward of Ethereum was originally 5ETH. In October 2017, Ethereum’s Byzantium was upgraded, and the block reward was reduced from 5ETH to 3ETH; in March 2019, Constantinople was upgraded, and the block reward was reduced from 3ETH to 2ETH.
The Ethereum 2.0 consensus mechanism will be upgraded to PoS, at which time all mining machines will be unable to continue mining. There are uncertainties about when to upgrade, how long the mining machines can continue to mine, and whether the block rewards of Ethereum will decrease step by step during the upgrade process. At present, the mainstream view in the industry is that Ethereum can be mined for another 1 to 3 years.
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