Which Is Better: Solo Mining or Pool Mining Monero?
Most crypto enthusiasts like to emphasize the decentralization of the market. In the traditional sense, that remains true in that financial institutions hold no control over circulation. Neither can public offices regulate the market for the most part. However, the development of ASICs for the most popular cryptocurrencies has skewed mining opportunities away from the average user.
Simply put, ASICs are dedicated processing units optimized for hashing a particular cryptocurrency. With their funding, organizations and corporations can invest in these to build facilities that can mine at greater capacities than any commercially available computer build. They can eventually hold a majority of the coins in circulation, essentially centralizing the currency.
Fortunately, Monero runs on a different algorithm to mainstream coins, and this keeps the playing field equal when it comes to mining. This cryptocurrency can be mined with either GPU or CPU.
With that, the only decision left to make is whether you should mine on your own or in a pool. Read on to gain insight into which method might be better for your needs or preferences:
Solo Mining
In solo mining, a miner relies on their own computer setup to connect to the blockchain and hash transactions. If an individual can connect to a block, their equipment alone handles validating the transactions of that block within a certain period. Afterward, they are rewarded with some XMR coins for completing the procedure.
When a person does solo mining, the mining rig is connected directly to the individual’s Monero wallet. This, in turn, means the entire reward for processing a Monero transaction goes to them. There are also no mining fees to get started. Furthermore, the process relies entirely on one computer staying on. Interruptions only occur if the power goes out in the area where the computer is operating from.
Although one person gets to manage the entire system, success and earnings are less guaranteed. Gaining access to a block depends on the processing power of a lone setup, which demands higher-end specs to compete with pools. Even if the setup is powerful and highly capable, it would still take more time to process transactions on its own versus a group of computers working together.
Pool Mining
A pool is a group of miners combining their computers’ resources to mine XMR. Each miner contributes the computing power of their own setups into a single system that connects to the blockchain. This system of computers collectively performs the hashes and validations. At the end of the mining process, the reward is divided among the individuals based on how much power each person contributed relative to the pool.
Because a mining pool often has a lot more processing power, it can more quickly handle the transactions on a block. Consequently, a pool can receive more transactions to process at more frequent intervals, resulting in greater earnings. This allows mining pools to have a steadier, more guaranteed flow of coins compared to an individual miner.
An individual looking to join a mining pool can join one through a cloud mining platform, but doing so comes with a fee for entry and usage. That means an expense is often cut from the crypto earned by the pool. Furthermore, mining may be slowed down by one computer’s underperformance. The pool mining platform may experience downtimes, interrupting the procedure for everyone involved.
Choosing between Solo or Pool Mining
It’s clear that there are positives and negatives to both methods of mining. When judged on their own merits, there doesn’t appear to be any compelling reason to pick one over the other. However, each person has their own unique circumstances and goals, and these inevitably determine which method they should use. Here are a few factors to consider when weighing the two options:
Consistency and Reliability
When it comes to any form of money making, the number one factor tends to be the trust that one can put in the flow of income. If a person were to rely on mining for serious funds, solo and pool mining still stand on roughly the same footing.
Solo mining incurs fewer costs and downtimes, but the odds for pulling transactions on the network are low. By contrast, a mining pool guarantees a regular flow of coins to mine. However, the net earnings may shrink due to platform fees and the division of earnings in the pool.
Available Computing Power
Mining relies heavily on what a person’s setup is capable of processing. In this case, a person who owns a computer equipped with the highest-end internals compatible with mining software is better off going solo. Their equipment makes up for the inconsistency of network pulls and the time it takes to hash. Thus, solo mining is ideal for more dedicated crypto enthusiasts.
Meanwhile, those who cannot afford a more complex rig are better off joining a pool. The costs incurred by fees are far fewer than the expenses that go into upgrading a personal computer. Even if they have to split the coins with others in the pool, the mining opportunities will be more consistent. Overall, this option makes mining more accessible to the average person who may not be able to commit as much processing power as someone with a more powerful rig.
Hopefully, you’ve found these insights useful when it comes to deciding which way to go for mining Monero. At the moment, there really is no surefire answer as to which method is better. Whether to go solo or pool mining largely depends on what an individual can afford and how much time and effort they’re willing to commit to the activity.
