Why Bitcoin Mining is Worthless - But Still Worth Your Time

Bitcoin, the increasingly popular virtual currency, has just surpassed an ounce of gold in value, so I feel I need to say something about it. Bitcoin has been everywhere in the news recently, and it does not seem to be going away. We are going to hear about Bitcoins a lot, at least for the next couple months, whether we like them or not. But rather than focus on Bitcoins or blockchains, like every other article is right now, I want to talk about the value of mining for Bitcoins, despite the expense it will likely cause.

Bitcoins culture has become full of astonishing “get rich” stories that make even the non-tech community intriguied in the “cryptocurrency”. Most of these stories talk about mining for Bitcoins and generating thousands (if not millions) of dollars by simply running a program on an idle computer. The truth of the matter is, however, that this is not possible anymore. The way that Bitcoins are distributed limits them to 25 Bitcoins per 10 minutes, and each time 25 are released, the next 25 are more difficult to get. Because of this, supercomputers are being used to stock up on Bitcoins, and the average user is being drowned out. At this point, if you are not using specific mining hardware, it is very unlikely for you to profit from mining.

I tried mining last weekend because I was excited by the hype and I had a spare computer lying around that wasn't too bad. After mining for over 72 hours, I had yet to earn .001 BTC. By today's equivolancy that is less than 1USD. Obviously, this type of income could not even pay for the electric used in the process. Although it is possible to get lucky and win big, it is extremely difficult with the current competition. But that does not necessarily mean that you should not mine Bitcoins.

While the most obvious benefit to mining Bitcoins is the money reward, the real benefit is what mining does for the community. Miners are performing complex calculations and many of these calculations are what is regulating the Bitcoin economy. By mining for Bitcoins, users are effectively keeping the currency alive. Without miners, there would be no way to trade Bitcoins or even keep track of how many you have because the system is dependent on the network of miners. For this reason, the world will need Bitcoin miners, even after Bitcoin production is stopped in 2140. The real benefit of mining is that you are supporting a currency that embraces the values of anonymity, open source, and the lack of government intervention.

 While I do not plan on mining forever, I will continue to mine Bitcoins for now simply for the fun of it. Plus, I do not pay my electric bill, so YOLO. I hope that Bitcoins take off as a respectable currency, and this is my way of helping the community and supporting the cause. And every 10 minutes I have the chance to strike a block and earn $25,000+ worth of Bitcoins. That seems like reason enough for me.