How to Mine Bitcoin Cash (BHC)

If you have ever wondered how to mine Bitcoin Cash and how long it takes to mine one [BCH, ]https://bitcoincash.org/) this article is for you. Before blockchain, money transactions were primarily regulated by two bodies: the government-regulated central banks that print the new cash and regular banks that were involved in money transactions on your behalf. Acting as regulatory bodies, they had complete power over your transactions and money.

The Bitcoin blockchain and its native cryptocurrency BTC were created with the concept that a person should have complete control of the money and transactions they make, and that no other authority or regulatory body should have control of the funds. Mining is the method by which transactions are verified.

Miners have complete documents of ledgers which they update in sets called blocks. These blocks are then added to the network for other miners to update their ledgers.

The blocks are made by cracking cryptographic problems using computing power, a digital equivalent of the physical effort to mine valuable resources, hence the term miners.

Bitcoin miners receive Bitcoin tokens as rewards. In August 2017, a fork on the Bitcoin blockchain led to the creation of Bitcoin Cash (BCH). It improved scalability and allowed more transactions to be processed by increasing block size.

How to Mine Bitcoin Cash and How Long it Takes

In broad terms, crypto miners take 10 minutes to mine one block of Bitcoin Cash. To maintain the 10-minute speed to solve the complex mathematical query, the difficulty level of the problems alters automatically. When more miners and more computing power endeavour to mine, the difficulty level increases, whereas, when there are fewer miners and less computing power, the difficulty level decreases.

Requirements to Mine Bitcoin Cash

Mining is similar to any other business engagement, where profitability relies on several factors unique to that venture. In Bitcoin Cash mining, these factors represent the requirements you should have before starting the bitcoin cash mining, including the type of hardware and software to pick. Here is what you should know:

Hardware for Bitcoin Cash

Picking the right hardware is critical whenever you want to mine cryptocurrency. Today, an ASIC miner is what you require to get the hash rate needed to mine BCH. You need to remember that hardware is the major initial investment cost. The price of the ASIC miners has increased, seeing the power it supplies to the mining activity. A new AISC hardware costs anywhere from $2,000 to over $7,000, with older models available at lower costs. So, when evaluating an ASIC miner, pay attention to the price, which is relative to three other factors:

• Hashing/Computing power (in hashes/second)

• Power consumption

• Efficiency

Hashing power is the count of hashes a hardware machine can generate while solving a block. It's calculated per second, and the higher the figure, the more effective the machine and the more pricey.

Power consumption is related to the electricity (energy) required to run the miner optimally. It is measured in kilowatt-hours and can affect profit if too high. That's when you review the third factor, efficiency.

An ASIC miner is needed, and one with a high hash rate. However, it should not lead to too much power wastage. Efficiency: This factor reveals how much power must be used to get a single BCH coin. An effective and powerful machine consumes less electricity than others when mining Bitcoin Cash.

If you have chosen your hardware machine, it's worth checking the other related requirements:

• Electricity: cheap and stable is best. Having a backup is perfect.

• Internet connectivity: 24/7 internet connection- an inconsistent connection will smash your chances of success.

Software Requirements

Software is another critical requirement you must consider to look at as you opt to mine Bitcoin Cash. Mining software connects with your hardware machine to process the mining. It will deliver an interface for linking with the network to monitor the process and check profits.

You can get mining software applications for mobile and desktop use.

Which Software Do People Prefer to Use to Mine Bitcoin Cash?

There are multiple software applications you can pick from to mine Bitcoin Cash. However, the two most widely used in the industry today are CGminer and BFGminer. Both are command-line programs, which implies you can operate on the interface to get more into the mining process. Don't worry if you find the command-line interface (CLI) a little complex; EasyMiner is a great option that offers computerised functionality and sustains both self-mining (solo) and pool mining. Note: Most ASIC miners are available with pre-installed software. If it's not, perform research to find one compatible with your hardware.

Technical knowledge required to mine Bitcoin Cash

Before starting your Bitcoin Cash Mining journey, one of the basic requirements is understanding the technical terms connected with the mining process.

• Consensus algorithm:

It is a blockchain technology mechanism that permits agreement between a distributed network of users or machines. For example, a Proof of Work consensus algorithm lets miners agree on verifying blocks before they are updated to the blockchain.

• Blockchain:

It is a distributed ledger of all the trades on the network, managed in data blocks that are validated every 10 minutes. Miners get rewarded when they secure the network by updating a verified block to the blockchain.

• Block time:

This is a time estimate coded in the protocol: how much time miners take to validate blocks and update them to a distributed ledger. Bitcoin Cash has a block time limit of 10 minutes.

• Hash rate:

The measure of hashing power required to crack a complex puzzle and validate a block of trades. It's also called computing power and is calculated in hashes per second. The more per second hashes a machine produces, the more effective it is and the higher its probabilities of finding a block.

• Mining difficulty:

This is to calculate and find how difficult it is for a miner to find a new Bitcoin Cash block. It's also called a difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA) and corresponds to the hashing power a miner requires to mine a single block within the calculated block time. For Bitcoin, the difficulty alters every 2016 block, while BCH introduced an Emergency Difficult Adjustment (EDA) algorithm in November 2017. The latter also leverages a retarget of the last 144 blocks to alter the difficulty.

• Mining fees:

A miner fee is a small amount of money users link to the blockchain trade to incentivise miners to process their trades. This amount is in addition to the 6.25 BCH in the block reward.

• Block rewards:

This is a reward given to a miner(s) who cracks the complex mathematical cryptographic puzzle on the network. For miners, Bitcoin Cash offers a block reward of 6.25 BCH.

Pros and Cons of mining Bitcoin Cash

Mining Bitcoin Cash includes both pros and cons aspects. Let's see the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Block rewards can be very fruitful and profitable, and as a miner, you can earn good money.

2. The transaction fees also complement rewards for successfully mining.

3. A good mining pool selection can raise your chances of block rewards.

4. Your mining endeavours secure the Bitcoin Cash network.

5. Old ASIC hardware can still be traded second-hand, as the market exists for other networks.

Cons

1. A high hash rate implies you may experience losses if you can't compete.

2. ASICs need a heavy energy supply, resulting in a high electricity bill.

3. Pools can reduce your reward as it is distributed among members.

Is Bitcoin Cash Mining Profitable?

To determine how beneficial it is to mine BCH, you must consider the factors mentioned below.

• Hashing power

• Power consumption

• Cost of electricity

• Pool fee

• Bitcoin Cash price

You can decide if mining Bitcoin Cash will be profitable when you consider the hardware machine's computing power (output in Terahashes per second (TH/s) or Gigahashes per second (GH/s)). Another notable factor is the amount of power the hardware will consume and the expense of electricity per kilowatt-hour (kWh).