Ravencoin, having a native token RVN, entered the cryptocurrency world on 3rd January 2018. RVN operates on an open-sourced network that can conduct almost instant transactions between token holders. Developers have based RVN on a fraction of the Bitcoin source code, and the project uses an Unspent Transaction Output system.
Ravencoin operates on the Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism and the KAWPOW algorithm. Developers envisioned RVN to facilitate the users in efficiently creating and transferring their assets. Therefore, Ravencoin can act as a replacement for other blockchains like Ethereum, which allows users to hold digital assets.
What is Ravencoin mining?
Like Bitcoin, Ravencoin has a limited supply of 21 million coins, but the project did not start with a pre-mine event. So, aspiring miners can easily try their luck and earn big amounts of money through active Ravencoin mining.
The platform charges transaction fees in RVN, but it also serves reward for the network’s validators. After every minute, a new block becomes available for mining, and miners are rewarded with 25000 RVN for successfully mining a block.
Why Mine Ravencoin
The biggest advantage of Ravencoin mining is that its algorithm prohibits ASIC machines from mining the block, giving miners with consumer-grade machines a chance to mine the pool and earn rewards. You can use a CPU or a GPU to solve complex computational problems and break RVN blocks.
ASIC machines make Bitcoin mining more profitable, but it also makes the mining process less accessible to common people who want to use a consumer computer to be a miner. The Ravencoin blockchain consists of computational puzzles that almost any hardware can solve.
Additionally, the blockchain ensures that these puzzles do not change so fast and hinder the miner’s ability. You can easily mine RVN by using your home computer. However, it’s ideal to invest and buy the recommended hardware to mine Ravencoin; you can store RVN in your wallet or sell your rewards for profit.
Profitability of a Ravencoin Rig
Like all investments, you need to determine the profitability of your Ravencoin mining rig before you start. A casual miner would take a few hours to mine one RVN and have daily rewards of around $7. Even when this does not sound like a lot of money, you can consistently mine RVN to bag big rewards.
To determine the profitability of your Ravencoin rig, you will need to keep track of your hash rate and power consumption. A hash rate is your rig’s ability to solve complex blockchain problems and break Ravencoin blocks. Regarding high earnings, the bigger the hash rate, the more daily rewards you will earn.
To make things easier, you can use a Ravencoin mining calculator from CoinWarz. All you have to do is input your mining hash rate, power consumption in watts, electricity costs in USD per kilowatt hour, and pool mining fees (if any).
Using Minestat is one technique to estimate profitability prior to beginning. To calculate your profitability, you must enter information about your existing hardware into the calculator along with your pool definition, exchange rate, and electricity costs.
Requirements to Set Up
Since Ravencoin’s mining algorithm resists ASIC systems, you need to invest in a GPU or CPU to start mining. With competition rising nowadays, CPUs are the last option a miner should go for. CPUs are slow and less efficient, but they’re not a terrible choice if you have a limited budget.
Ideally, you should invest in your mining rig's GPUs because they can solve computational puzzles better than CPUs. Miners typically prefer Nvidia GPUs, particularly the Geforce GTX 1060, GTX 1080, and the RTX 3060Ti. However, you can also get an AMD GPU for your mining rig; RX580 and 5700xt are two popular choices that don’t consume much of your budget.
Once you have selected a GPU for your mining rig, it’s time to decide which software you will use to mine Ravencoin. Here are three options you can consider:
- GMiner: GMiner is a perfect choice for beginners as its easy-to-use program allows starters to mine Ethereum, Bitcoin Gold, and Ravencoin. It also supports numerous mining algorithms like KawPoWMiner and ProgPoW, while the fees vary depending on the type of coin you mine.
- NBMiner: Even when mining farms use NBMiner, you can use it with a single GPU or a small rig. NBMiner is the perfect software for mining Ravencoin as it supports both Nvidia and AMD cards.
- T-Rex Miner: If you opt for an Nvidia card, you can use the T-Rex Miner to break RVN blocks. Regardless of your experience, you can use an Nvidia GPU-only miner to earn good rewards through solo mining.
Step-by-step guide for Mining Ravencoin on a PC
After finalizing your GPU and mining software, it’s time to start mining by following these easy steps:
- Install Raven Core on your system, a system wallet that will store your earnings. You will go to Receive > Request Payment > Copy Address to find your wallet address.
- Download the mining software; let’s use NBMiner as an example.
- Go to MiningPoolStates to find an available RVN pool for your software.
- Configure the software by opening the start_rvn.bat file in a text editor. You will enter the mining pool and wallet address obtained earlier
- Save the file and double-click on the bat file to launch the miner. You can look at a more detailed setup in this guide.
- The miner will run in the background and automatically send RVN to your wallet.
Any Alternatives
If you don’t have the investment, you can opt for a cloud pool mining strategy by renting out hardware from other service providers. It’s understandable that building, operating, and maintaining a mining rig is expensive, so you can keep it easy and just use someone else’s hardware to mine RVN.
However, you must remember that RavenCoin does not support ASIC hardware; ensure that the hardware you rent is consumer-grade. Since the service provider will mine RVN on your behalf and send you monthly earnings payments, the agreement should be based on mutual trust.
Conclusion
Crypto mining is a great option for building a passive income stream. RavenCoin mining is becoming popular as it’s open-sourced, and the blockchain creates a new RVN block every minute. The reward for mining a complete block is 25000 RVN, and you can have it all through solo mining.
