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.

Thanks to the liquidity mining incentive mechanism of various DeFi projects, the fee income of the entire Ethereum network in August reached 261,389.62 ETH (about 108.9 million U.S. dollars), and the single-day fee income of Ethereum on September 2 was even higher. It reached 37967 ether coins.

Figure: Daily ETH network fee income, source: etherscan.io

The generous fee income, attractive static payback cycle, extremely low shutdown currency price, and high residual value of mining machines make Ethereum mining a favorite in the eyes of many people. This can also be confirmed from the growth of the entire network computing power of Ethereum:

At the beginning of the year, the computing power of the entire network of Ethereum was 147505GH/s, and it was 189228GH/s on June 30. In half a year, the computing power increased by 41723GH/s, an increase of 28.3%;

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Figure: Growth of ETH’s total network computing power, source: etherscan.io

A large part of the reason behind the rapid growth of Ethereum’s computing power in the past three months is that Compound pioneered liquidity mining in mid-June, and more and more DeFi applications have followed suit and launched liquidity mining one after another. Sexual mining promotes the rise of ETH prices and the rapid growth of fee income, attracting miners to invest more computing power in mining.

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Cloud computing power

Cloud computing power mining refers to the mining of digital currency by remotely calling the computing power of the mining machine. Users only need to purchase or rent the required computing power from the relevant platform.

Among the three participation methods, purchasing cloud computing power is the easiest one. Similar to Taobao shopping, users only need to place an order on the cloud computing power platform for the required computing power scale, and after payment, they can lie down and collect coins. Different platforms have different regulations on the validity period of cloud computing power. Some are several years, and some are permanently valid. However, if the mining income cannot cover electricity expenses and the duration exceeds 90 days, cloud computing power will start liquidation.

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Although cloud mining is simple, convenient, time-saving and labor-saving, it also has many disadvantages and risks.

First of all, it is the risk of the platform. There are good and bad cloud computing platforms. Some platforms do not have mines and mining machines under their own actual control. In essence, they are second-hand dealers. There are also many platforms that are small in scale and weak in risk tolerance. Such a platform has a very high risk of bankruptcy and running away, especially when the currency price plummets and a "mine disaster" occurs.

Second, the premium for cloud computing power is high. Mining is an industry that pays great attention to cost control, and the premium of cloud computing power is high, so compared with other mining products, the payback cycle of cloud computing power is longer.

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Figure: Ethereum cloud computing power product parameters launched by a certain platform

Finally, users of cloud computing power cannot enjoy the value-added bonus of mining machines. Generally speaking, as the currency price rises, the price of mining machines will also rise. However, cloud computing power is essentially a contract product, and users do not have ownership of mining machines, so cloud computing power users cannot enjoy the bonus of value-added mining machines.

To sum up, cloud computing power is simple, convenient, time-saving and labor-saving, but the premium is high, the payback period is long, and there is no ownership of the mining machine, so you cannot enjoy the value-added bonus of the mining machine. In addition, there are platform risks in cloud computing power. When purchasing, you must choose a platform with strong strength, good reputation, and long operating time.

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Combined mining

Joint mining is also a one-stop service, from the group buying of mining machines, loading and unloading, hosting, operation and maintenance, maintenance, migration, access to mining pools to the sale of residual value, all the package activities related to mining are provided by joint mining. The service provider is done. Like cloud computing power, users can lie down and collect coins after paying, which is very simple and convenient, saving time and effort.

Compared with cloud computing power, the advantages of joint mining mainly include:

1. The price is lower. Generally speaking, the price of cloud computing power products is more than 30% higher than the price of joint mining products of the same specification. In the above, we compared the Ethereum graphics card cloud computing products of a certain platform with the Ethereum joint mining products of B.TOP. more advantage.

In addition, the residual value of graphics card mining machines is also an important part of the income of Ethereum miners. For the graphics card that has been mined for two years, the residual value rate is generally about 30% of the market price of the graphics card (mainly refers to ordinary assembled graphics card mining machines, non-customized machines), and the remaining parts except the graphics card (mainboard, CPU, power supply, hard disk, etc.) It also has a high residual value, which can generally be sold for 500 to 1,000 yuan. In the combined mining mode, the residual value of the mining machine is owned by the user.

3. The post-sharing model bundles the interests of the service provider and the interests of the user, which is conducive to promoting the refined operation of the service provider and accelerating the cost return. Take B.TOP, a subsidiary of LeBite, as an example. Before the joint mining products purchased by users are paid back, service fees are not charged, which minimizes the mining risk of users; after paying back, Profit is divided proportionally. This post-sharing model encourages B.TOP to carry out refined operations and help users get back their costs as soon as possible. The Ethereum mining machine is very "fragile", which is a test of the ability of on-site operation and maintenance personnel. Refined operation and maintenance have a great impact on mining revenue.

Of course, joint mining also has risks, and the biggest risk is still platform risk. Therefore, when choosing joint mining, you must choose a platform with strong strength, good reputation, and long operating time.

To sum up, joint mining is also a one-stop service, which is very simple, convenient, time-saving and labor-saving, and the price is lower. With the ownership of the mining machine, you can enjoy the value-added bonus of the mining machine and the residual value of the mining machine. Mining risks and shorten the payback period.secondary titleBuy a mining machine and host it in the mine

The third way to participate in Ethereum mining is to buy an Ethereum mining machine yourself, and then host it in a professional mine. This method is only suitable for experienced and relatively large miners for the following reasons:

1. There are many pitfalls in purchasing mining machines. The pitfalls that you may encounter when buying mining machines We wrote in the previous article "

What are the pitfalls of buying a mining machine? Inventory of stepping on the pit

3. High requirements for hosted mines. Compared with ASIC mining machines, Ethereum mining machines are larger in size and low in power consumption. For mining farms that rely on electricity price differences for profit, Ethereum mining machines are not so popular. Not only that, Ethereum mining machines have higher requirements for the mine environment than ASIC mining machines. The mine must not only do the most basic temperature and humidity control, but also take dust-proof and anti-static measures. Now the industry is better Graphics card mining machine rooms are basically designed and constructed in accordance with IDC-like specifications.

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In addition to the environment, there is also the power stability of the hosted mine. The software and hardware of the Ethereum graphics card mining machine are highly complex. Frequent power outages will lead to an increase in the damage rate of various components of the mining machine. The power stability requirements are also very high.

To sum up, buying the mining machine by yourself and hosting it in the mine has the advantage of high degree of freedom and lower cost, but this method is only suitable for experienced and relatively large miners.