Bitcoin mining in Pakistan: Profitable or not?
Can you just keep your system on and earn money? Yes you can with Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a Digital currency created in 2009, according to wikipedia. One Bitcoin is equal to about 7 Dollars at the time of writing this blog. And only a latest computer is required to generate this digital currency, in other words, revenue...Is this really true? Is this a new way to earn money while at home in pakistan? Can money be earned just by keeping your computer on while in Pakistan?
Is it true?
Yes, the process is called mining. You install a program downloaded from bitcoin website or 3rd party sources, make a free account and just keep that software running and it will generate bitcoins, which have a value of $7 Dollars per bitcoin. But is it that simple?
The concept of mining:
You keep your computer on all the time and a calculation will be done on your compute and when it gets solved you are paid bitcoins. The calculation is in the form of blocks, solving one block will yield 50 bitcoins. But the time it takes to solve one block depends on speed of your system.
What you need to generate bitcoins?
Just a fast latest computer hardware with enough speed in terms of Mhash/sec. Either CPU or GPU can be used.
Mining Bitcoins in Pakistan:
The idea is very attractive, just keep our systems on and you will earn money while at home or at your office or anywhere even on your cellphones etc.
What is the problem with keeping computers on all the time?
Computers use electricity and produce heat. In country like Pakistan where there is energy crisis, will it be suitable. Also running a computer all the time at high usage level can break it.
Examples to understand Bitcoin mining:
Example 1:
Lets say you have core i3 CPU. From this website: Mining hardware speeds, it can produce about 9 Mhash/sec. If you keep it running without stopping for 1 month with bitcoin software running, than it will generate ฿1.13 bitcoins which are equivalent to $7.86 US Dollars.
Example 2:
Similarly if you use GPU instead of CPU and have Nvidia 9800GT than its like this. Nvidia 9800GT can generate 30 Mhash/sec and if this system runs for one month with bitcoin software working than the bitcoins generated are ฿3.76 or $26.19 US Dollars.
The Catch?
When you run a computer for one month than it uses electricity. Lets see what is the electricity consumtion for above two examples:
Example 1: Core i3 CPU:
Power required: 80 Watts
Coins: 50 bitcoins (solving one block would mean you earn 50 bitcoins immediately)
50 bitcoins = $350 US Dollars = Rupees 30100/=
Time required to earn 50 bitcoins at its speed (solve one block): 1348 days, 11 hours, 47 minutes
Electricity consumed: 2589 kWh
Rate per kWh in Pakistan: Rupees 13/= estimated
Cost of electricity for using 2589 kWh electricity = Rupees 33657/=
Net balance: 30100 - 33657 = -3557
So instead of earning you are actually losing and also this does not include air conditioning costs or even hardware breaks which may occur because of high usage of system alongwith other things.
Example 2: Nvidia 9800GT:
Power required: 105 Watts
Coins: 50 bitcoins (solving one block would mean you earn 50 bitcoins immediately)
50 bitcoins = $350 US Dollars = Rupees 30100/=
Time required to earn 50 bitcoins (solve one block): 404 days, 13 hours
Electricity consumed: 1019 kWh
Rate per kWh in Pakistan: Rupees 13/= estimated
Cost of electricity for 405 days or for using 1019 kWh electricity = Rupees 13247/=
Net balance: 30100 - 13247 = 16853
So you earn roughly 16000 per 405 days that is about 1 year and it does not include air conditioning expenses or hardware breaks that might occur with such high usage alongwith other things
Lets see another example:
The most higher speeds are from a GPU like ATI 5970: 550 Mhash/sec and it is even recommended GPU by bitcoin, anyway:
Lets see:
Power required: 300 Watts
Coins: 50 bitcoins (solving one block would mean you earn 50 bitcoins immediately)
50 bitcoins = $350 US Dollars = Rupees 30100/=
Time required to earn 50 bitcoins (solve one block): 22 days, 1 hour, 35 minutes
Electricity consumed: 159 kWh
Rate per kWh in Pakistan: Rupees 13/= estimated
Cost of electricity for 23 days or for using 159 kWh electricity = Rupees 2067/=
Net balance: 30100 - 2067 = 28033
Again this example assumes that hardware did not break and does not include air conditioning charges as well it only calculates the power consumption for GPU and does not take into account the whole computer, but still spending 60000/= (which is the cost of this card) will earn 28000/= in 23 days, but there is no telling when that GPU may give up etc.
Difficulty level
The above values may change because as time passess the difficulty level of the block increases which means more power and time required. Current values are with 244139 difficulty level.
Conclusion:
Having a very fast computer with latest CPU will only lead to huge losses, but having a very fast GPU is beneficial and can even lead to profits. Use at you own risk.
