Bitcoin Mining is a great way of being part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem so you can create your own Bitcoin. The best way to mine is to use one of the many mining farms like Genesis and Elevate. I started out mining with Genesis and have now moved to Elevate. I’d like to share why I made this move and at the same time highlight the differences between both companies based on my experience.
Types of Bitcoin Mining Available
Let’s quickly summarise the ways in which you can mine Bitcoin with a mining farm…
Firstly you can use a “cloud mining” farm like Genesis where you rent a certain amount of hashing power from their miners over a period of time. I took out a lifetime Bitcoin contract with them but now they only offer five year contracts. They charge a daily maintenance fee of $0.28 per terrahash and their costs per terrahash are around $280. Both of these costs have to be covered by the market price of Bitcoin before you as a customer receive any Bitcoin payouts.
The other type of mining farm provided by the Elevate Group is called “mining as a service”. You own a physical miner like the Antminer S9j and it mines at their farm. Typically the life of this miner is three years and most of the time they can mine for longer. They take 20% of all mining output paying you the remaining 80%. There is no daily fee and their price per terrahash is around $70 making it cheaper to mine Bitcoin with them than Genesis.
If you want to learn more about Bitcoin mining read my guide “Demystifying Bitcoin Mining”.
Genesis only pay out when Bitcoin’s price is high
I was fortunate to start mining with Genesis when the price of Bitcoin was on a bull run. I took out a 15 terrahash (TH) “lifetime” contract with them when Bitcoin was $2000 and it continued to rally up to $19,000 at the end of 2017. This meant that their mining costs were covered and I received regular average monthly payouts of 0.005 Bitcoin and recovered my initial investment with them.
Then came the bear market and the price of Bitcoin dumped throughout 2018 down to $3400. This meant that for over three months i had no payouts from Genesis. For some people who started mining with them at the start of 2018 they have hardly received any payouts and are still operating at a loss.
Genesis cancelled my contract!
I guess I should have read the small print that told me if my contract with Genesis was unprofitable for more than three months, my contract would be cancelled. The big question I have is, “Did they turn off the mining machine?”. I doubt this is the case and I reckon the miner is still creating Bitcoin for Genesis, just not for me. So why not simply pay me when the price of Bitcoin rises again? After all I had a “lifetime” contract with them. Above is a screenshot of my the farewell email Genesis sent me…I love their their parting words “Happy Mining!”.
Mining is easier in a Bear market
The thing that puzzles me about Genesis’s decision is that during the recent bear market a lot of mining companies have stopped mining. When the number of miners reduces the difficult for mining Bitcoin becomes easier. This means that Bitcoin can be mined at a faster rate for the remaining miners.
The Elevate Group has taken advantage of this bear market and the reduction in mining difficulty. I have five miners with them and each month they are producing Bitcoin for me. It’s now December 2018, Bitcoin’s price is near to $3000 and over the past three months I have averaged 0.005 BTC per month similar to what Genesis were paying me when Bitcoin’s price was six times what it is today.
They have low power costs
Elevate mining farm is based in cold Siberia which means that their power costs are way lower than Genesis. This means that even when Bitcoin’s price is down they can still hold a decent profit margin and mine Bitcoin for its Customers.
Miners can can be repaired quickly
One of the most attractive reasons for moving to Elevate is that they are based in the same town as the repair centre for the Antminer s9js. Bitmain the company that make the Antminer are literally down the road from Elevate so if a miner needs repairing its rarely offline for long. AS they have access to a supply of parts it could mean that the miners continue mining beyond the official three year lifespan.
Their Miners outperform others
In a bear market profitability is key so Elevate have been able to overclock the Antminer S9js to mine at 16 terahashes per second (TH/s) instead of the miners default 14.5 TH/s. This is a key sign that they are invested into the future of the mining ecosystem.
Excellent and Friendly Customer Service
Unlike Genesis who sent me a standard farewell email, Elevate have a an active Telegram group and all of their key people are contactable via email and phone. I have also been able to forge connections easily with the team there and they are always happy to answer questions.
Elevate, much more than a Mining Farm
Amir Ness one of the cofounders of Elevate has a background in trading and finance and also runs “Global Coin” report. He is passionate not just about mining but about spreading awareness of Cryptocurrencies. I feel that as an investor in Elevate I am also welcomed into a wider supportive community.
Transparency and Reporting
Genesis provided an online portal informing me how much Bitcoin had been paid to me. Elevate go a stage further and provide an online portal so I can see in real time the performance of my miners and how much they are mining in realtime.
They have also recently moved their payments to the NEM blockchain to provide 100% transparency about payments. By putting this information onto a blockchain it cannot be tampered with and investors get clarity about performance and payments.
Is now the time to get involved in Mining?
Typically the cost of miners tends to follow the price of Bitcoin. Currently Elevate are selling an Antminer S9j for $699. Three months ago they were double that price at $1299. Now is a perfect time to get involved in mining with low miner costs, limited overheads and mining difficulty reduced.
If you are interested in mining with Elevate please use my affiliate link as it helps pay for me writing content like this in the future.
How I can help you?
My background is in technology and training and for over 10 years I have provided IT Support to home and small business users through my IT company ithound.co.uk. In recent years I have added cryptocurrencies to my product offering with cryptohound.me.
Whether you are a business wanting to accept cryptocurrencies or an individual interested in investing in them, I will help you get started and provide training and support to give you confidence using them.
I regularly write blogs both on my website and the Steemit platform so be sure to connect with me there. If you would like to support my work please check out my affiliate links below which help finance my work:
- Mine Bitcoin and earn passive income with the Elevate Group
- Earn $10 worth of free Bitcoin on your first trade with Coinbase
- Buy Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies using the Binance Exchange
- Protect your Cryptocurrencies with a Ledger Hardware wallet
Carl Hughes, The Crypto Hound
carl@cryptohound.me | Signal Messenger: +447919 562 418 | Telegram: @ flowingman
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