SUMMARY
Mining Horizen (ZEN) efficiently requires selecting the right hardware, such as ASIC miners
Why Choose ASIC Miners for Fractal Bitcoin Mining?
ASIC miners (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) are specialized hardware designed for specific tasks, with the following key advantages:
Long-Term Investment
ASIC miners are optimized for specific mining algorithms, offering high performance and low power consumption, making them ideal for long-term investment in the mining industry.
Superior Hashrate
ASIC miners have much higher hash rates compared to GPUs and CPUs, enabling faster block calculations. This advantage is especially crucial in a constantly increasing network hashrate environment.
Stability and Reliability
Due to their specialized design, ASIC miners tend to be more stable and reliable, capable of running efficiently over long periods and minimizing downtime and hardware failures.
Key Parameters to Consider When Choosing ASIC Miners
Hashrate
Hashrate is a critical performance metric for miners, measured in Hash/s (hashes per second). As the overall network hashrate continues to rise, mining difficulty increases, and only miners with high hashrates will remain profitable.
- Current PEP Network Hashrate: 3315.42Msol/s
- Mining Difficulty: 65.81 M
High-hashrate miners are essential to cope with the current mining environment.
Power Consumption
Power consumption directly affects mining costs. When choosing an ASIC miner, consider:
- Whether you have enough electrical resources to support high-power miners.
- Whether electricity prices are low enough, as electricity cost is a significant part of mining expenses.
For example, regions where electricity costs less than $0.05 per kWh are more suitable for ASIC miners, as higher electricity prices could erode profitability and extend the payback period.
Cooling Performance
Due to continuous high-intensity operation, good cooling performance is vital. Many ASIC miners use air-cooling systems, but ambient temperature can still impact performance:
- In hot climates, miners may overheat and stop working, causing losses in mining revenue.
- If operating in high-temperature environments, additional cooling systems (like air conditioning) may be needed to maintain stable performance.
Why Choose a Mining Pool?
More Stable Earnings
Mining pools aggregate the hash power of many miners to work together on solving blocks. Rewards are then distributed proportionally based on each miner’s contribution, reducing the income fluctuations associated with block reward randomness.
Lower Mining Difficulty
Solo mining can be highly difficult, but mining pools divide the workload, lowering the barrier to entry for individual miners.
Convenient Management
Mining pools usually provide comprehensive monitoring and management tools, allowing miners to easily track their earnings and equipment status.
Differences Between Pool Mining and Solo Mining
Pool Mining
- Advantages: Lower difficulty, more stable earnings; ideal for miners with lower hash power.
- Disadvantages: Pool fees and rewards are split according to pool rules.
Solo Mining
- Advantages: No pool fees; miners keep 100% of the block rewards.
- Disadvantages: High hash power requirements, unstable earnings, and long periods without rewards.
How to Mine Fractal Bitcoin?
1) Choose Mining Hardware
Select mining hardware compatible with Horizen’s Equihash algorithm. ASIC miners optimized for Horizen, such as the Bitmain Antminer Z15, are highly efficient for mining ZEN.
2) Download Mining Software
Use dedicated mining software that supports Horizen, such as:
- EWBF’s CUDA Miner
- Optiminer
3) Join a Mining Pool
4) Set Up a Wallet
Create a Horizen wallet to securely store your mining rewards. Both hardware wallets like Ledger and software wallets like Sphere by Horizen are good choices for ZEN.
5) Start Mining
Configure your mining equipment and software, connect to a mining pool, and begin mining. Solve Equihash-based cryptographic puzzles to receive ZEN rewards.
Recommended Miners & Purchasing Guide
1.Why Choose the Antminer Z15 Pro
The Antminer Z15 Pro miner ：860kh/s , with power consumption of 2780W , respectively. Both versions have an efficiency of 3.31j/kSOL making Z15 Pro the most efficient Equihash miner available for high-performance mining.
| Manufacturer | Bitmain |
|---|---|
| Model | Antminer Z15 Pro |
| Also known as | Zcash Miner Z15 Pro 860KSol |
| Release | Jun 2023 |
| Size | 245 x 132 x 290mm |
| Weight | 5900g |
| Noise level | 75db |
| Fan(s) | 2 |
| Power | 2780W |
| Interface | RJ45 Ethernet 10/100M |
| Temperature | 5 – 40 °C |
| Humidity | 10 – 90 % |
2.Profitability
- Price: The 860kh/s version is priced around $2350
- Daily Earnings: Assuming an electricity cost of $0.04 per kWh, the daily earnings for the 860kh/s version would be approximately $5.02 (actual earnings may vary and should be checked on the Asic Miners Daily profit and price list).
3.Payback Period
The payback period for the Z15 Pro miner is estimated to be around 475 days, depending on electricity costs, coin prices, and mining difficulty. By utilizing merged mining, the Z15 Pro miner allows miners to earn rewards from multiple cryptocurrencies simultaneously, reducing reliance on a single asset. This approach mitigates risks while maximizing profitability and operational efficiency. To mine Horizen (ZEN) most efficiently, using an ASIC miner like the Antminer Z15 Pro is a strong choice due to its high hash rate, energy efficiency, and reliability. Joining a mining pool offers stable earnings, whereas solo mining may be ideal for miners with the required resources and patience. When considering your mining setup, it is essential to balance electricity costs, hardware efficiency, and cooling requirements to maximize profitability.
