Is it worth buying asics for mining in 2024?

ASICs are integrated circuits that are designed to perform a specific task. They have higher hash rate and energy efficiency, but their price is much higher than that of video cards. Before investing, you need to study the profitability of the devices, the prospects of coins to understand whether it is worth buying asics in 2024. Investments in the farm on professional miners start from 140 thousand rubles and can exceed 5 million, so you need to consider all the risks.

The main features of mining on asics

When digital coins just appeared, users mined them on central processing units and video cards. A home computer was enough to solve cryptographic tasks even in the case of Bitcoin. Along with the rise in popularity, the hash rate of the blockchain rose. As a result, “targeting” (a mechanism built into the network) increased the complexity of computing to such an extent that most devices became underpowered.

This was also the reason for the emergence of mining pools. By pooling performance, users could get at least some of the rewards. Solo mining remained available only to institutional miners.

When the power of video cards became insufficient, ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) appeared. They can only perform calculations, but they do it much more efficiently than other devices thanks to multiple microprocessors.

From a technical point of view, cryptocurrency mining on ASICs and video cards is identical. The devices solve many parallel calculations that are minimally different from each other. The peculiarity of miners is that they are devoid of “stuffing” that is not used in cryptocurrency mining. This makes them more efficient than video cards.

In the narrow specialization lies the main disadvantage of the apparatuses – inflexibility. They can not be used for other tasks. They are suitable only for mining coins of specific algorithms.

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It is impossible to reprogram the device. It is important to consider all the risks in advance, thinking whether it is worth buying asics. If the market situation changes not in favor of the selected coins, the ASIC will turn into useless hardware. For example, Ethereum in 2023 moved to the Proof-of-Stake model, which does not need cryptocurrencies.

Which cryptocurrencies can be mined

ASIC manufacturers produce devices for different coins. However, you need to remember that the scheme can only work with those algorithms that are specified in the characteristics.

To estimate the approximate income, it is worth using a calculator (for example, WhatToMine). It shows the rating of the most profitable devices. At the time of writing (March 2023), the best are Antminer K7 for the Eaglesong algorithm and Antminer L7 for Scrypt.

It is noteworthy that devices for SHA-256, which Bitcoin runs on, are strongly inferior in terms of profitability. This is due to the interest of industrial miners in the coin, because of which mining it even in pools is not the most profitable option. The income after deducting energy costs does not exceed $9.38 per day, because of which Antminer S19 XP Hydro will pay off for more than 850 days.

Pros and cons

ASICs have few advantages, but each of them plays an important role in cryptocurrency mining. Among them:

• Easy startup. The machines work on farms without a screen and give out a 100th hash rate without additional settings. In addition, the Internet has ready-made custom firmware for overclocking and optimizing mining.
• Energy efficiency. The integrated circuit consumes less electricity than video cards with the same hash rate. Antminer K7 has 63.5 Th/s and requires 3080 W, while GeForce RTX 4090 has 5.2 Gh/s and 330 W.
• High ROI. While a top-of-the-line GPU mines for as low as $0.64, an ASIC mines for $15.76.
• Compactness. A powerful farm occupies relatively little space, because the manufacturers have removed everything unnecessary.

The minuses are mainly associated with the lack of integrated circuits in the country. In reviews about asics for mining, users write about three problems:

• High cost. The price tag on the devices starts from $1.83 thousand and reaches $8.3-10 thousand (and this is in the conditions of cryptozyme).
• Limited selection. In 2023, it is problematic to buy in foreign stores, and Russian stores do not always have enough powerful devices to collect farms.
• Inflexibility. Miners work with a maximum of two algorithms.

In addition, ASIC emits a lot of heat and creates a lot of noise, so it is worth keeping it not at home, but in non-residential premises. A balcony or garage with ventilation will do.

Profitability and payback of mining on an ASIC

To calculate the profitability of devices, you need an example. A user has a farm on the new Antminer D9, which costs $36 thousand. Let’s assume that 5 asics produce a hash rate of 8.85 Th/s on the X11 algorithm and earn $67.45 per day after deducting energy bills ($0.1 per kW). It turns out that the payback period is about 533 days if the price of DASH does not change. As of March 24, 2023, the coin is selling for $60.86.

It is possible to shorten the length of time to reach net profit. If you move the equipment to Siberian regions where energy sells for $0.01 per kW, the farm will earn $98.3 per day and pay off in 366 days.

Comparing the efficiency of asics and graphics cards

ASICs are designed in such a way that they always outperform GPUs in terms of hash rate. It’s worth comparing the top 3 best devices from each category given the electricity price of $0.018/kW.

Parameter	Model	Hashrate	Power consumption (W)	Maximum profit per day ($)
ASIC	Antminer K7	63.50 Th/s	3080	22,50
	Antminer L7 9500Mh	9.50 Gh/s	3425	22,42
	Antminer S19 XP Hydro	255.00 Th/s	5304	20,82
GPU	RTX 4090	5.20 Gh/s	330	0,65
	RTX 3090 Ti	2.90 Gh/s	350	-0,04
	Radeon RX 7900 XTX	1.80 Gh/s	350	-0,10

Is it worth buying asics for cryptocurrency mining

In 2021, peak token prices were reached, which caused a high demand for devices for mining coins. The cost of the devices exceeded $15 thousand. However, in 2022, the cryptozyme began, which dealt a severe blow to the industry. As a result, the cost of devices fell by 30-80%, depending on the model.

Now the technique can be bought relatively inexpensively – in the range of $1.5-10 thousand. 2023 is a good year to start a business, since the prices for farms have decreased. You need to take into account the possible risks associated with the regulation of mining in Russia.

Frequently Asked Questions

🔔 How to make asics quieter?

For this purpose, miners put noise boxes. They absorb sound waves, but interfere with air circulation.

🔥 How long does an ASIC work?

If the temperature regime is observed and without excessive overclocking, the miners function without problems up to 3-5 years.

✨ How to save on cooling?

To optimize costs, the devices are placed in non-residential premises without heating. Then you do not have to spend money on fans.

💳 Should I take out a loan for an ASIC?

It’s risky because there’s no telling when the bull cycle will start. Even big companies – Core Scientific, Marathon Digital, Riot Blockchain – have suffered because of debt.

📌 Is it okay to take used machines?

Yes. However, you need to know how to determine the remaining resource. It is necessary to study the condition of chips, wires, fans, as well as to conduct a test run to find out the real hash rate.

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