Bitcoin Q & A - Ask Me Anything

[RuecanOnRails]

ok say i have two systems running 3 7970's in the system, how much would that produce?

 

With GPU mining you would want to mine scrypt based coins such as litecoin.

http://litecoin.info/Mining_Hardware_Comparison

 

You can find hash rates achievable on various types of hardware.

 

For the 7970, they can do about 730 k/hash each. = 2190 k/hash

https://www.litecoinpool.org/calc?hashrate=2190&difficulty=1102.3148011

 

Thrown into a calculator right now, you're looking at about $4.70 per day. earning 2 litecoins per day with 24/7 mining. Value and coin amount changes all the time due to price volatility and difficulty changes in the algorithm.

[IvIast3r]

With GPU mining you would want to mine scrypt based coins such as litecoin.

http://litecoin.info/Mining_Hardware_Comparison

 

You can find hash rates achievable on various types of hardware.

 

For the 7970, they can do about 730 k/hash each. = 2190 k/hash

https://www.litecoinpool.org/calc?hashrate=2190&difficulty=1102.3148011

 

Thrown into a calculator right now, you're looking at about $4.70 per day. earning 2 litecoins per day with 24/7 mining. Value and coin amount changes all the time due to price volatility and difficulty changes in the algorithm.

thank you

[hutchison15]

Do you know anything about creating your own pool? I've been mining here and there in different pools, but I kind of want to start my own with some friends. (It'd be sweet to have a LTT pool to mine from, I totally would!)

[RuecanOnRails]

Do you know anything about creating your own pool? I've been mining here and there in different pools, but I kind of want to start my own with some friends. (It'd be sweet to have a LTT pool to mine from, I totally would!)

 

You can set up your own pool using Push Pool https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=8707.0

Here's a set up guide for it http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/4303/how-to-setup-pushpool

You will need to create or find your own frontend for it as many pool operators like to make their own to differentiate themselves in look, usability, and payouts.

 

I've never hosted my own pool and won't be able to help should any issues come up.

 

How high of a hashrate do you and you're friends have? Unless you're able to gather a very large amount you may not solve a block for a very long time.

It's a lot easier to stick with a pool that has a high hashrate for steady payouts.

 

If you're wanting to mine Litecoin, there's a pool I'm using right now which is giving away 600 LTC to a random miner for using their pool throughout September. Sort of a promotion to bring new miners.

[vandanved]

Is mining bitcoins or litecoins Illegal in India?

 

If no, then how can i mine them.

Need a few step guide on what to do, to mine them

[RuecanOnRails]

Is mining bitcoins or litecoins Illegal in India?

 

If no, then how can i mine them.

Need a few step guide on what to do, to mine them

 

Nothing about Bitcoins, or Litecoins is illegal. Here's a couple links which should get you started.

http://www.coindesk.com/information/is-bitcoin-legal/

http://www.coindesk.com/information/

http://www.weusecoins.com/en/

 

For mining litecoins you will need AMD gpus. If you do not already have them , or a setup able to support multiple cards you will likely be better off buying coins directly.

If you want to try and calculate how many coins you can potentially mine use this chart to find gpu's you have then add up the hash and put it into the calculator.

http://litecoin.info/Mining_Hardware_Comparison

https://www.litecoinpool.org/calc

 

At the time of posting litecoin.info appears to being ddos'd.

[TheRuke]

Will it profitable for me to buy a 5Gh/s Butterfly Labs Miner in November? (earliest time I will have the money)

[Judahnator]

Will it profitable for me to buy a 5Gh/s Butterfly Labs Miner in November? (earliest time I will have the money)

 

I doubt it. With ASIC's being so popular now, you will likely only make your money back. It would be a cool toy to play with though

[Mac]

Do you think the 336hash £20 miners are worth getting?

 

With a calculator at the current difficulty it shows to make $0.15 a day.

 

That's like 7.5 months until the investment is back.

 

Be a fun toy but I don't think it's worth doing.

 

Also, would it be worth doing it with another coin?

[Judahnator]

Do you think the 336hash £20 miners are worth getting?

 

With a calculator at the current difficulty it shows to make $0.15 a day.

 

That's like 7.5 months until the investment is back.

 

Be a fun toy but I don't think it's worth doing.

 

Also, would it be worth doing it with another coin?

 

No, not worth it. By the time 7 months pass, the difficulty will have been raised again to something much higher. Your best bet is trading them, although unless you invest a lot in trading them your not going to make much money.

 

As with another coin, you could try to mine LTC. If you have a powerfull GPU you may make something. You never know, LTC's price may skyrocket.

 

So with mining, id say leave it up to the ASIC's and the big pools. Unless you have a lot of money to throw at something like a BFL "Monarch" id stay away from it.

[ImElkay]

Why would people want to by bitcoins from you?

[megadarkwood]

Why would people want to by bitcoins from you?

Well it depends, if you are selling them at a lower price then they will get "better bang for their buck"

[JewishBacon]

cant seem to find where i sign up.... i got guiminer and got bitcoin wallet and can start hashing, but i never made an account?

[Judahnator]

cant seem to find where i sign up.... i got guiminer and got bitcoin wallet and can start hashing, but i never made an account?

 

You likely wont make much mining. Even if you have powerful Radeon GPU's, you will likely spend more on electricity then you will earn back.

 

But to answer your question, you will need to join a pool. mining.bitcoin.cz is one i have used. Its fairly easy to get setup.

[RuecanOnRails]

Why would people want to by bitcoins from you?

 

There's more to Bitcoin than converting fiat (government issued currency) to Bitcoin, then back again in hopes of a profit. Bitcoin is a global currency and economy in itself. Similar to when you travel you exchange your money into the local currency in order to pay for things. When you hold Bitcoin you have the ability to travel or send money anywhere in the world instantly and use it's purchasing power with any one accepting them. You can use Bitcoins for purchasing items online, or in at a physical location, treat Bitcoin like digital cash.

Here's a short "documentary" on Bitcoin which gives an idea of how it works and a basis for researching aspects that interest you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_hBhymFfm8 Don't forget to stop by the subreddit to read various interesting stories and links to articles http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/

 

 

cant seem to find where i sign up.... i got guiminer and got bitcoin wallet and can start hashing, but i never made an account?

 

There is no single entity to "sign up" You will need to join one of the many pool as the odds of finding a block on your own are astronomical depending on how much hardware you have.

What kind of hardware are you planning to mine on? In general Bitcoin can only be mined efficiently using ASICS, but currently the arms race for faster and cheaper ASICS will likely be a race you don't want to join.

 

If you're looking to mine on your everyday computer/gaming computer with a GPU, I'd recommend looking towards Litecoin, or another ALT coin running the Scrypt algorithm versus SHA-256 as used by Bitcoin. You will earn en exceptionally large amount more mining an ALT then exchanging it into Bitcoin. An example, using a GPU to mine Litecoin is currently 1215% better than mining Bitcoin with the same set up.

 

There are many variations of ALT coins you can find a comparative list with today's market value here http://coinchoose.com/index.php I'd recommend ignoring coins that show an absurd profitability. Currently it states Goldcoin has a 61000% higher profitability than Bitcoin, it is showing this because the chain has forked and is being attacked. A lot of ALT coins have a low network hash rate making them susceptible to an attack. Profitability on ALTS can jump around fast and often, it's better to choose one with a strong network such as Litecoin or Feathercoin.

[lufihengr]

How can I cash in my bitcoins?

And I have a wallet program, if I send coins to that wallet, where will they be stored?

[Judahnator]

How can I cash in my bitcoins?

And I have a wallet program, if I send coins to that wallet, where will they be stored?

 

I have cashed in a few $ worth through CoinBase. They are easy to use. You can also store your stuff there if you would like, but i would stay away from online wallets.

 

And for your other question, your "Coins" are part of the blockchain. No single computer has them. Your wallet only stores your private hash to identify what of the available currency is yours. Some helpful links have been posted in the sticky's.

[lufihengr]

I have cashed in a few $ worth through CoinBase. They are easy to use. You can also store your stuff there if you would like, but i would stay away from online wallets.

 

And for your other question, your "Coins" are part of the blockchain. No single computer has them. Your wallet only stores your private hash to identify what of the available currency is yours. Some helpful links have been posted in the sticky's.

Thanks! I mined some btc a while back when they were worth nothing, and now they are worth a lot, so I want to cash them in

 

And btw, how is the hash private? Do I need to confirm it somewhere or what?

 

E: I can't seem to figure out how to sell my coins on there...

[Judahnator]

Thanks! I mined some btc a while back when they were worth nothing, and now they are worth a lot, so I want to cash them in

And btw, how is the hash private? Do I need to confirm it somewhere or what?

E: I can't seem to figure out how to sell my coins on there...

Sorry, I got my terms mixed up. That's what I get for staying up to late.

it is a private key, not hash. You have both a private and public key. The public is your address for sending and receiving, the private is used to sign all your transactions (I think, May want to double check).

And no, you can't confirm the private key. And if you were to share it anyone could steal your money. But the public key is safe to share, and I think you can check your balance at blockchain.info

About selling them, you may want to contact their customer support for help. Otherwise, there are official exchanges like mtGox and btc-e

[lufihengr]

I'

 

Sorry, I got my terms mixed up. That's what I get for staying up to late.
it is a private key, not hash. You have both a private and public key. The public is your address for sending and receiving, the private is used to sign all your transactions (I think, May want to double check).

And no, you can't confirm the private key. And if you were to share it anyone could steal your money. But the public key is safe to share, and I think you can check your balance at blockchain.info

About selling them, you may want to contact their customer support for help. Otherwise, there are official exchanges like mtGox and btc-e

I'll probably use mtGox then. Just have to wait for my coins to show up in my wallet... :rolleyes:

[ijchan223]

just starting up what is a good pool to join?

[Judahnator]

just starting up what is a good pool to join?

Slush pool is good. mining.bitcoin.cz

[Mbarton]

OK, I downloaded GUI Miner and got an account at Slushes pool, just to try mining out and see what i can do

 

Now officially making 33.8 Mhash/s!

 

OK, I downloaded GUI Miner and got an account at Slushes pool, just to try mining out and see what i can do

 

Now officially making 33.8 Mhash/s!

Thats not a bad amount but i think you mean Khash/s not Mhash/s

[nickpc]

What is the differences between ltc and btc? What are they used for?should buy in to them ?

[Travis]

What is the differences between ltc and btc? What are they used for?should buy in to them ?

Litecoin uses a scrypt mining method. It uses a lot of memory. The transaction times for Litecoins are supposed to be faster as well.

 

What this means is that Litecoins can be mined on normal everyday hardware, where Bitcoins are all going over to ASIC's. If you can not mine Bitcoins at a rate over 3GH/s I don't consider it worth your time. Litecoins have become a little more difficult to mine but they are still profitable and their value had doubled with the recent Bitcoin price jump.