The Pros and Cons of passive Crypto Mining: Your own Equipment vs. Cloud Mining vs. A mining pool.

My  interest in mining started about a year ago.  So much has changed in  the last year that sometimes it feels hard to keep up. I thought it  would be a good time for those new to the crypto mining scene to have  someone explain a few  different  options for those just getting into mining as well as some resources to  check out. I will be going over three different ways I mine crypto currencies. These are passive mining operations meaning I am just mining and holding the cypto currency or using it to repurchase hashing power or equipment.

**disclaimer**

I mine with Nicehash(I sell the hashing power of my homebuilt mining rig), Genisis Mining (cloud mining) and Bitclub Network  ( purchased mining equipment ). My intention is not to endorse one  option over the other but to provide my insight for those that are new to mining. I have included links so that those unfamiliar with these  different types of mining could educate themselves. Please do your due  diligence, ask questions and research.  Never invest more than you can afford to lose.

NiceHash.
By  far one of the more novice-friendly ways to mine with your own  equipment. How it works, you sell them the hashing power of your  computer CPU/video card, ASIC machine and they pay you in Bitcoin. The more hashing power your computer, rig or equipment has the faster you can mine.

Pros

• Anyone with a computer or mining rig can easily set up their equipment with a quick download of the Nicehash software.  
• Depending  on where you live in the world, (Colder climates with cheap power are  the best) it can be cheap to run your equipment. 
• They have daily payouts of your earning paid in Bitcoin.
  
• NiceHash software with automatically switch to mining the most profitable cryptocurrency as the price fluctuates.
• Privacy, if you want to mine to your own BTC address you can without identifying yourself.
  

Cons

• Initial  cost startup can be costly if you don't already own good equipment.  ASIC equipment and GPU mining cards have skyrocketed in the last few  years due to high demand.
  
• You pay for  the upkeep of the equipment. i.e the electricity to power your  equipment, internet and keeping the equipment at a safe operating  temperature. This can be costly depending on where you live and can  greatly determine your ROI( return on investment). I live in the  southwest of America and it gets HOT here. It cost me about .12 cents  per Kwh for my electricity.
• If  something happens to your power, internet or your equipment you will  have to wait until that issue is fixed before you can mine again.
• A certain knowledge level of computer equipment is needed, but nothing a youtube or reddit search can't fix.
  
• Mining equipment is loud, depending on what you are using it can be as loud as a vacuum cleaner.
• It has to run 24 hours a day, downtime cost you money every second it is not running.
• Space,  depending on the size and amount of equipment you might need a whole  room or larger to accommodate the equipment. I have watched videos of  people mining in their apartments with power cords running all over the  house and floor to ceiling equipment. If this doesn't bother you or you  don't have small children then this may not be a Con for you 
• You  are paid in Bitcoin and it can be very costly to receive or send as of  the time of this publication. This can affect how much bitcoin you actually receive and how often you are paid.
• ROI(return on investment) is not guaranteed, is highly speculative. 

Genesis Mining
One  of the more reputable cloud mining companies.  Basically, you rent  their equipment's hashing power from them for a pre-determined amount of  time. The prices range from hundreds of dollars to 10's of thousands of  dollars for the contract term.
Pro

• Free Membership
• No waiting, once you purchase the hashing power it starts mining that day.
• You  chose what crypto you mine and in what crypto you are paid with. i.e.  you mine Litecoin and get paid in Bitcoin. Highly customizable.
• Payouts are paid daily 
• They  offer affiliate incentives that will earn you more hashing power.(when  other people signup with your referral they get a discount and you get a  percentage of the contract they purchased in hashing power)
• The option to add more hashing power to your contract at any time.*Note* only while they have the same contract open.
  

Con

• Some  of their contracts have a limited amount of space so they tend to sell  out quickly. Once it is sold out they close that type of contract to  purchase until they have more equipment. Plan ahead.
  
• Diminished  returns. Every day of your contract there is a little less  cryptocurrency awarded to you. The reason for this is because the  difficulty and the overhead of mining go up as more and more people  mine. Your Hashrate stays the same but what you mine may become less and  less the longer the contract continues. One way miners combat this is  to buy more hashing power with some of their profits. Another way is to  market their affiliate link and get free hashing power when others pay  for contracts.
• ROI(return on investment) is not guaranteed is highly speculative.  
• Not very private. You are required to give certain identifying information in order to set up an account.
  

Bitclub Networking A  crowd-sourced mining pool where you purchase the mining shares i.e.  mining equipment. This equipment is housed and maintained at locations  in Iceland, Canada, and the US using cheap and renewable energy sources,  like geothermal, solar power etc.

Pro

• Lifetime contracts, once your equipment is set up you mine for life. It is even transferable to family or friends if so wished.
  
• Members get paid daily based on the number of shares/equipment you own.
  
• Bitclub Network can be tracked on mining pool databases such as  BlockChain and BlockTrail. This verifies they actually have mining equipment and legitimately mine.
• Repurchasing  is automatically setup if you want to increase the amount of equipment  you have, or not at all if you would rather reinvest your profits  elsewhere.
  
• Repurchasing more shares can compound your original investment
• If anytime you want your purchased mining equipment can request for it and it will be shipped directly to you.
  
• The  ability to mine Bitcoin or several altcoins such as ZEC, XMR, ETC or  ETH. You can keep those coins or convert* them to BTC or BCH at no cost.(* starting in February 2018)
• Cost per share start at 500.00 each
• You  need a sponsor to become a member to join but that is easily remedied  and it is  good because then you can ask your sponsor any question you  might have
• Privacy, Bitclub Networking respect your privacy and does not require more than a username and email to set up an account.
  

Con

• Once  you purchase the mining equipment there is a delay of 30 days to start  mining. While this can be frustrating for those of us that want to start  mining right away this allows for time to set up the equipment at one  of their facilities and avoid diluting the mining pool.
• Membership to start mining cost a one time fee
  
• ROI(return on investment) is not guaranteed and is highly speculative.
• Method of payment is in BTC or BCH only.
• Bitclub  Networking has pulled out of "crypto unfriendly" markets such as the  USA and a handful of countries in order to protect their member's  privacy.  The USA likes to collect those taxes. *(there are workarounds  for this)
  

Other

There is a MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) aspects to Bitclub  Networking, but it not required to be a member or to earn profits from  mining. By being a sponsor you get a commission on purchases. You still get mining earnings even if you never sponsor anyone else.

For more information check out these links

Nicehash
Genisis mining
Bitclub Networking


Thanks for reading, if you found this post to have value please donate to my beer fund :)


BCH: 14pu9Qs27xBwqebyAEsLuy9TnSAZHK32nr
ETC: 0x46dca6c2978712176e2177072f293f48a2f42bb1
LTC: LN8ti9y469G5HbfCNuoAWyfou1JWzMUjx4