A couple of weeks ago I decided to build a mining rig. Now before you get on my case about jumping on the bandwagon know that I only kind of jumped on the bandwagon.
I have been following Cryptocurrency for years. My mistake was not getting into it earlier. I started following Bitcoin about seven years ago and really started paying attention to it when companies started offering it as a payment option. I even offered it as a payment option for my photography services several years ago through my website just because I could.
Even though it has never been more challenging to mine Cryptocurrency, I believe there is still value in mining. In this first article, I am going to talk about why I decided to start mining and my mindset in regards to mining.
Why I started Altcoin Mining
I did not start alcoin mining to get rich. There are a lot of stories coming out about people who have become rich because of the Bitcoin burst in value but those stories are no different than hearing stories about people who had shares in Apple back in the early days. It does nothing for any of us getting into it now to follow those stories or attempt to copy their tactics.
Some would argue that it makes more sense to buy altcoin rather than mine it. While this is true for those looking for immediate gains, you are also putting yourself at risk. Unless you have been following Bitcoin and the popular Altcoins for a while now, throwing money into an investment with little to no knowledge is extremely risky.
I decided to mine because there is little to no risk. The parts used to build a mining rig are not losing value, they are actually gaining value. If I had decided that mining was not for me, I could sell the parts and make my investment back. On top of that, I would have the Ethereum (EHT) that I had mined as well. I purchased my parts from Amazon. My purchase qualified for 12-months 0% interest, so at this point, I am out of pocket nothing at all. I can make the minimum payment on the Amazon card until the end of the term and then cash out what I need in ETH to pay for the parts.
Though I would have made a decent return had I invested $2200 in ETH a couple of weeks ago, I could just have easily lost if had the market turned.
I was looking for an investment I could make without running into much risk. Right now, the only risk is the cost of electricity. I will go into electricity costs in a future video.
I not only started mining as an investment but also as an experiment. I have wanted to try cryptocurrency mining since you could mine Bitcoin from a small USB device. I just never dove into it. So here I am and I plan to document my journey as I go.
The best investments are investments you can make with other people’s money. That is what I am doing here with the exception of having to pay for electricity.
People are very interested in Cryptocurrency
Since posting on my Facebook page about my experiment in crypto mining I have received text messages and phone calls from just shy of a dozen people. I have been blogging and making videos for years and never have I received this kind of interest in what I am up to. I have had offers to be paid to build mining rigs and even consult.
It is obvious that people are tired of traditional forms of investing. I have been investing in stocks for a few years since the Robinhood app came out and have had some success. Investing in stocks is time-consuming unless you plan to buy stocks and just let them exist. I would get emotional over a stock losing 10% because that was money I had put into it. If you have been following or have purchased NVDIA stock over the past year you know what kind of emotional rollercoaster I am talking about.
Most people don’t invest outside of their 401k or IRA. They get little return on their investment with the hopes that paying enough years into the account will allow them to retire and live a decent retired life.
There is a lot of confusing information out there
Just about every photographer that has ever made a few dollars taking pictures is telling others how they can be a professional photographer online. The same goes for altcoin mining. I have found so much information online. The problem is that most of the information is either misleading or incomplete, sometimes both. I have been blogging and filming tech-related videos for over a decade and people seem to like my approach, especially if they are new to what I am discussing. Though the video has only been up for a few days, I have had people tell me that my video on building my first mining rig was better explained than anything else they came across online. I believe it is simply my delivery method, not that I am smarter than anyone else who has a tutorial video on mining rig setup.
I have built a few computers in my life and have a good understanding of the technical aspects of pc setup. I test and try everything. I learn as much as I can and I try it for myself.
I believe that there is value in sharing what we learn online. Though my voice will just be another among many already talking about altcoin mining, I think it is worth sharing my experiences as well. We can all learn from each other and become better at what we do by sharing.
I needed a project
The last reason is that I simply needed a new project. I get bored if I am doing the same thing over and over for too long. I should have started this project years ago, even a few months ago, but here I am now. It has been a lot of fun and also challenging. New projects keep me sharp. I will always try new things and this will not be my last project, but it will be a big part of 2018 for me.
How is it going so far?
Every person will measure success in a different way. As I noted before, my goal was to invest in cryptocurrency without putting much money into something I did not know much about. There are online calculators that can help you determine how much of an altcoin you can mine based on the mining rig you build. Those calculators influenced my decision to give mining a try.
My first video to the new AltCast YouTube channel will be about the specifics of my first few weeks in mining ETH, but I will share a compressed version here.
I spent a lot of the first week of mining optimizing my system. As I mentioned before, there is a lot of information out there and not all of it is good. With that said, I tried a lot of suggested methods before I started making my own tweaks. That first week I mined 0.18 ETH which at the time was worth $140 USD, not bad considering I really didn’t know what I was doing. Since then I have optimized my system and am now getting about $180 USD out of it a week after subtracting electricity costs.
What to expect next from Altcast
This website will be the home of my adventures in altcoin mining, but I plan to discuss more than that here. There is a new world of alternative investment methods that are happening now. The traditional investment model is being disrupted and I find that much more interesting than buying property or storing money in high-fee low return bank accounts.
Altcast YouTube Channel
I thought long and hard as to whether or not I should start a YouTube channel for what I am doing here. I considered not having enough content to run a channel. After browsing much of what is online, I think it would be valuable, if not for others, for myself. I am not good at journaling, but I do like to look back on articles and videos I published to see where I have changed and improved. The Altcast YouTube channel will not only document my journey through Alternative Investment Methods but give me a way to pay back into the community of others who are doing the same thing.
Altcast.tech Website
This website will be home to articles and other content. My goal is to share everything I am doing in the realm of alternative investing. For now, the majority of the content will revolve around altcoin mining. That may change over the years, but it will be fun to see where this takes me.
Come along with me
If you are interested in following along with me, please sign up for my email list. You will receive a simple notification when new articles and videos go live. I promise that will only happen at most, once a week.
