My Cryptocurrency mining journey...

I got into the mining Ethereum in July 2017, just a little while after what would be called as the "goldrush" for cryptocurrency mining in the world. A period which was as much filled with desolation for the gamers as much as it was exciting for the miners. I was neither a miner nor a gamer but just someone who was interested in finding out how thick the ice was by walking on it.

The uncertainity of it all!

Mining for me was nothing short of swimming in a shark infested ocean. Exciting but unwise. I had to invest a big amount up ahead to acquire the hardware. An amount which would later prove to be 25% of my investment in Crypto. I was torn between investing in Bitcoin or on the mining rig. I was an engineer. We are known for putting the man on the moon but not for making sound financial decisions and I wasn't going to betray my kind. With the promise of a distant land and excitement of not knowing what lies ahead, I started my journey. 

My Costly Rig!

I am a software programmer but I had knowledge about computer hardware. I had assembled my PC myself. But I was afraid to buy the whole hardware and run the risk of it not working. As they say in 'Dark Knight Rises', sometimes it is important to jump without the rope and let the fear find you again.  So I decided to buy things one by one. The first GPU I bought was cheap enough and after trying out in my machine, I was glad to see it working. Then I ordered a power supply and a couple of other GPUs. It was then that I realized that a lot of people across the globe had the same idea. After a wait of 10 days my orders would get cancelled. The price of GPUs were overshooting. At one point I wanted to abandon my plans but as I had already bought a few items I decided to take it through. I had to start overpaying for my GPUs and in the end the total cost of my 7 GPU rig was around $4500. Being in India, the price of hardware was already double but with rising demands of GPUs I knew I had a big hole to dig myself out of.

The Mining

I started mining Ethereum +Siacoin. The profits from my first month were not great but I was feeling high on my achievement of building the rig. Also I was running with 4 GPUs as a couple of GPUs were just on the way. Between delays in shipping and unethical sellers who would cancel my order, it took me a month to setup the miner. But my excitement wouldn't last that long and I was in for a surprise.

The Difficulty rise

The funny thing is, I was in fact  aware of the difficulty increase in Ethereum(and all other Coins) which makes mining unprofitable when a lot of miners join the network, just not how exponential it was. My fully functional 7 GPU rig was giving me as much profits as my 4 GPU rig. It was disappointing and I was in shock and denial- The first stage of grief. Not the start you would hope for.

Home invasion!

The fellow beings in my house had become aware of this loud intruder at my home, sucking in space and electricity whole day. They had registered their irritation with me. Power cuts would be a problem too especially when it was on backup generator. The difficulty kept on increasing too. I was well into the second stage - 'Pain and Guilt'.

Bitcoin Explosion

Just as to prove the point further, Bitcoin just exploded away and I could feel the taste of disappointment in my mouth. I could have gained a lot if I had just decided to buy Bitcoin. It was at this point that I feared that every glance I would put on my miner would bring the pain of a disappointed father, upon seeing his son who had failed him. But somehow surprisngly, it didnt! Sure I was angry for some time but just like the heart missing a few steps, my grief had skipped a few stages and moved on to the last one of 'Acceptance and Hope'. 

The good

Surprisingly, every time I loooked at my rig, I felt the brilliance of what I had created and the satisfaction of it evened out my pains. I could have just traded and benefited from the revolution but with the mining, I felt as if I was part of it. I was approached by buyers who would have taken it off me at about the same price as I bought it but I decided against it. My rig gave me the feeling that the blockchain was just in the next room. I wasnt going to give it away. I tried mining with different coins and pools. Somehow it got me technically involved as well, not just financially. 

Faced many problems while mining ZCash. As my rig had both NVidia and AMD cards, I had to use both Claymore(AMD) and EWBF miner(Nvidia) together. There would be issues with miners closing abruptly. And also I would switch between different coins like ZCash to Ethereum etc. So I created an application called OneMiner which would give a 1 click interface for mining in windows. 

It is not the best thing to have ever been created but I am proud of my contribution.

With time, the whole mining process has got better. I have come a long way from those initial days in July and still have miles to go. It made me concentrate on Crypto so much that I became a better trader overall. 

Conclusion

I guess what I am saying is, mining could be really profitable if done right. It wasn't for me because of the mistakes I made. 

PS: My biggest learning is that when everyone is digging for gold, dont be the guy that digs for gold. Be the guy that sells the shovel. There were miners making profits but the real people who made the most money were not the people mining but the ones who would sell the mining hardware.