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Is it better to mine solo? Is pooled mining what is recommended now? I've heard you get about the same back either way, but I am confused and would like some help.
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Is it better to mine solo? Is pooled mining what is recommended now? I've heard you get about the same back either way, but I am confused and would like some help.
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Pooled mining:
Solo mining:
TLDR; solo mining requires a lot of hashpower and is not for the faint of heart. Even then the benefit is questionable depending on which pool(s) you compare with.
Disclaimer: I run the BitMinter mining pool.
Thank you ! I think i got it now for the most part. I have one question though. If i join a pool will i be getting a higher payout using an ASIC then someone using a GPU in the pool or is it split out to everyone evenly ? – NewBitcoiner – 2013-06-06T17:09:35.197
1All pools pay more the more work you do, so fast miners get more. Compared with other miners in the pool you will get a fair share unless the pool is vulnerable to pool hopping. – Dr.Haribo – 2013-06-07T08:52:39.877
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Disadvantages of pooled mining:
Smaller expected earnings - pools usually charge a fee and sometimes use a reward system (like Pay Per Share) that can give you a lower payout.
Having to rely on third party system to earn your money - websites go down, and when they do, your miners can be idling.
Trust - you have to trust the pool owner not to swindle money from you, either by creating fake miners in the pool that do no work but still receive rewards or otherwise. Similarly, the pool owner can have an agenda of their own that they wish to further (for example, Eligius pool owner used their miners to attack an alt-chain, as well as putting prayers in the coinbase transactions).
Giving power to the pool owner - some important decisions regarding Bitcoin future are made by people voting with their blocks. Some time ago the Bitcoin community had to chose between two BIPs that fulfilled the same role. The voting was done by the coinbase transactions containing a vote for either one of the BIPs. By giving their computing powers to the pools, the miners essentially gave their votes to pool owners to vote as they chose.
Advantages of pooled mining:
More predictable payouts - pools usually pay you on a more regular schedule - be it once you reach a certain threshold, daily or the like. Solo mining only pays you when you find a block, which can take a few days, years, or never.
Extra features - Pools usually let you quickly check the status of your miners from anywhere, notify you of payouts and the like, which would take you a lot of extra setup time on your own.
Less space - If you are solo mining, you need to keep your own copy of the blockchain. Pools handle all that by themselves.
It is easier - There is a low less setup required to do pooled mining, especially when we are talking about merged mining and so forth.
If i dont join a pool its possible to never find a block even with an ASIC at the current difficulty ? Isnt it also possible that an entire pool of people never find a block ? So far i rather mine solo from what your saying but the never finding a coin part scares me lol. – NewBitcoiner – 2013-06-05T17:29:13.620
2This depends on your asic hashes/second. Use it to calculate your probability. Regarding the second question - knowing that mining pool already have big total mining power, this is highly unlikely that they will not be able to solve any block – Salvador Dali – 2013-06-05T20:26:35.327
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While i agree with ThePiachu, here some additional thoughts.
Pool software
Security
Pool owner
This is already mentioned, but highly important. Questions one should ask are:
What is the motivation of the pool owner to run the pool, how does he makes profit?
Payout & reward system.
Additional note: even as solominer you will be object for intrusion attempts (at least very likely), as bitcoin in its nature is transparent and will make your node appear to the public. (Diversify your bonds ;))
1You don't need pool software to mine solo, you just need to run a bitcoind instance and point your rigs to it. – Meni Rosenfeld – 2013-06-05T15:28:09.513
Pools seem a bit risky from what i am seeing. Though i do see some benefits. – NewBitcoiner – 2013-06-05T17:35:51.193
If you just mine on a bitcoind instance then you won't have merged mining and you make much less coins than in a pool - then what's the point. – Dr.Haribo – 2013-06-05T20:09:01.613
I must research some more it seems. – NewBitcoiner – 2013-06-06T16:54:20.963
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This is basically a duplicate of Wouldn't the expected return of a mining pool be no more than solo mining? http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/10760/wouldnt-the-expected-return-of-a-mining-pool-be-no-more-than-solo-mining/10773
– Dane – 2013-06-04T22:05:51.7271@Dane I think this question could be useful when talking about a broader perspective on pooled mining, see my answer. – ThePiachu – 2013-06-05T00:47:35.290