Best USB miners

In 2023, one powerful ASIC is not enough to really make money (from $20 day). Users buy 3-5 pieces.

In USB miners install 1-2 chips of integrated circuit. Machines with such low performance can not compete with ASIC farms. Therefore, they are bought to learn how to mine digital coins or as a gift (as a souvenir).

A USB miner is inexpensive, but allows you to customize the process and earn a small income. Beginners can also get experience in overclocking ASICs. If the flash drive for mining “burns out”, the losses will not hit the wallet hard, compared to the losses incurred with the loss of the asic. The overclocking algorithm of the devices is the same, since they consist of chips of the same model.

What coins can be mined with a flash drive

The first USB miners were created for bitcoin mining. Later there were flash drives for obtaining and other cryptocurrencies. The scheme supports only one algorithm. It cannot be reprogrammed. At the beginning of 2023, devices with these mining algorithms are available for sale:

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Pros of USB miners

Compact devices are created by the same specialists who produce professional ASICs. Buying such a device can be a preparatory stage before serious investments in mining. USB sticks have such advantages:

• Low price.
• Simple process setup.
• Mobility.

Low price

The average cost of a device is $50 to $100. You may need to pay for shipping (from $5). In some cases, transportation costs reach 100% of the cost of a portable miner. Compared to professional asics, the price for which starts from $1.35 thousand, USB sticks are inexpensive.

Easy installation and configuration

A USB miner resembles a flash drive and works on any PC (laptop or desktop computer). To run mining will require:

1. Download the BFGminer program and drivers for the operating system (Linux, Windows, macOS are supported).
2. Set up a wallet to receive payments.
3. Create an account in the pool and copy the settings.
4. Connect the miner through the port.
5. Enter data into the .bat file. It can be downloaded from the pool’s website. The file should be opened in a text editor, prescribe the port addresses and wallet.

Mining is launched. A flash drive for mining does not require an additional unit. Power from the port is enough. It is recommended to choose devices with support for USB version 3.0. They are more productive.

The technique can be overclocked with the help of pre-installed or third-party software. To increase performance, users assemble a farm of several flash drives. It will be necessary to buy an external power supply. The power of the laptop may not be enough.

Mobility

The usual farm is a rack of equipment. It is difficult to move it to another place. It is also necessary to find a room for crypto mining. For safety reasons, asics can not be installed in the basement and on floors above the first. The room must be equipped with power cables.

Setting up USB mining takes 2-5 minutes. If necessary, the parameters can be set up again on another computer. To simplify the configuration, it is recommended to save a .bat file with the configuration.

Minuses of a flash drive for mining

It is difficult to call it a tool for serious earnings on cryptocurrency mining. The complexity of top networks is constantly growing. To maintain profitability, you will have to increase computing power. The payback period of USB asic miners in 2023, excluding electricity bills, is more than 10 years on the Scrypt algorithm.

Low power

There is only one chip inside the flash drive, often outdated. Even building a farm on USB miners (connecting to a PC via a hub) won’t give as much performance as a single conventional ASIC.

Low profit

Earnings depend on the power of the equipment. It is logical that a portable drive is inferior in profitability to full-fledged asics.

It is impossible to mine alone on a flash drive. You can connect to a pool. But these services distribute rewards in proportion to hash rate. Therefore, you should not count on serious earnings.

It was possible to mine cryptocurrency on a USB Asics miner in 2017-2018. But even then, users wrote on forums about payback in 2-2.5 years. By 2023, the complexity of the bitcoin blockchain had increased 37 times. Other top networks have also grown.

Best USB miners

Even with the low power of crypto mining flash drives, they are popular. Between 2013 and 2018, manufacturers regularly updated versions. Then the development of portable miners paused. In 2023, you can buy devices on OZON, AliExpress, Amazon. They are taken as souvenirs and for testing new firmware.

FutureBit MoonLander

This is one of the most energy-efficient mini-miner of the budget segment for mining lightcoin. The maximum temperature of the device does not exceed 60 degrees Celsius, so you can avoid installing additional cooling.

The drive contains 2 Alcheminer Alchemist Scrypt ASIC chips. The hash rate is 1.2 MN/s at a supply voltage of 5W. The hardware can run on macOS, Linux, Windows, and is compatible with USB port 3.0.

It is worth noting that the flash drive is not designed to make money, its ROI is low. Users can mine little-known forks on the Scrypt algorithm or experiment with overclocking. To increase power, you need to increase the chip frequency and PCB voltage in the pre-installed software. This will require active cooling of the device. In 2023, the cost of the device is 6-10 thousand rubles.

Bitmain Antminer U2

The leader of the ASIC market released a portable device in 2014. The drive has the following properties:

• Contains 1 BM1380 chip and a heat sink plate.
• Does not have a fan, so it operates silently.

As of 2023, the company has discontinued the model. You can buy Bitmain Antminer U2 on the secondary market. The flash miner mines only bitcoin. Other coins on the SHA-256 algorithm does not support.

The hash rate of the equipment is 8-15 GH/s. In 2023, such power will not be enough to generate income, even without taking into account electricity costs. Therefore, the device is useless for mining. Collectors buy it as a souvenir. The price on the secondary market is 2-10 thousand rubles. When ordering from the United States to Russia will need to pay extra shipping (from $200).

NanoFury 2

The mini-miner is available since 2014 and contains 2 original BOOKU4L84S chips. Like all NanoFury products, it does not require drivers for installation. The hash rate ranges from 3.7-5 GH/s.

Users can overclock the hardware through pre-installed software by adjusting the oscillator frequency. There is no need to do any re-flashing. The device is silent and uses a black heatsink on the back cover to dissipate heat.

GekkoScience 2Pac

The miner contains 2 Bitmain BM1384 chips (installed in Antminer S5 ASIC) and a heatsink for heat dissipation. The American company GekkoScience produces the model c 2018. It is one of the most productive and compact mini-miner.

The hash rate of GekkoScience 2Pac is 8 GH/s. The power consumption can be adjusted – 0.55-0.8W. The flash drive mines cryptocurrencies on the SHA-256 algorithm (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Namecoin).

Tips for Choosing a USB Miner

In 2023, the power of mini miners (8-15 GH/s) is not enough to mine bitcoin. You can buy a USB Miner for other coins. However, you should not count on a large income. When choosing a machine, you need to be guided by such parameters:

• Ease of use. To run a portable ASIC on Linux, you need to have command line skills. It is better to take models that do not require additional configuration and installation of drivers.
• Hashrate and power consumption. The more power, the higher the income. Low power consumption allows you to save on electricity bills.
• Supported coins. Usually the device works with one algorithm. But sometimes you can switch the work between 2-3 (for example, Scrypt and SHA-256). Individual models extract only bitcoin (Bitmain Antminer U2). Buying such devices does not make sense.
• Case color and design. This is important if the USB Miner is bought as a souvenir.

Features of installation and customization

With USB Miner it is easy to start mining. It is enough to connect the flash drive and run the program to control the process. The difficulty may lie in finding drivers. Most of the devices are released in 2014-2018. They can no longer be ordered from manufacturers. Therefore, it is better to buy devices for which it is not necessary to install drivers.

Crypto mining needs to be controlled. Usually the mini-asic works without failures. But the PC due to overload can shut down. Just in case you need to configure the OS – put a program for remote access and autoloading.

Where to buy flash drives for mining

In 2023 USB Miner sells:

• Manufacturers through official resources.
• Online marketplaces (eBay, Amazon, AliExpress).
• Users on the secondary market (through message boards or forums).

The average price of the apparatus is 2-3 thousand rubles. On the secondary market, you can buy models that have long been removed from sale. They are mostly taken by collectors. Therefore, such USB miners are more expensive (7-10 thousand rubles). The price may depend on the design and color of the case.

Conclusions

Many users do not dare to start mining. They are scared off by the complexity of customization, noise and vibrations when working ASIC. In addition, asics consume a lot of electricity. You will have to re-equip the room or rent a cell in the data center.

USB Asic miner is a good opportunity to start mining coins without large financial costs. Users are attracted by the easy setup and mobility of the equipment. Cryptoenthusiasts are looking for rare models for collections. Such a device can be a good gift.

Frequently Asked Questions