What to do with 4GB cards in 2020
Tags: Mining Pool, Cryptocurrency, Ethereum, Monedas, Mining

Everyone who is mining Ethereum and Ethereum Classic on 4GB cards is very much aware that the DAG file is growing, and very soon, it won’t be possible to use the current equipment. When we say soon — we literally mean three months. This means that right now, you need to collect your thoughts and make a decision. Which way will you take before you pass the point of no return? This is how we see your three main options:

1) sell now all outdated equipment and buy new;

2) mine till the end, while it is still possible and buy new cards later;

3) mine till the end and switch from ETH to another coin when the cards stop working.

Which way to choose — everyone decides for himself, and we will do the math and calculate how much money you will make in all three cases.

Sell ​​now and buy a new fleet

So, you decide to get rid of rapidly going out of date equipment and acquire a new fleet. You’d better hurry up with this plan because soon, we’ll play a fortune-teller, the secondary market will be filled with 4GB cards. Let’s make a rough estimate. According to information from the Internet, we can conclude that 50 new cards will cost about $10,500 — $11,500. If you sell old cards for $4,000 — $5,000, then the volume of investments in the project called “I’m continuing to mine Ether profitably” will be about $6,500. And the payback period will be about 6–8 months.

The amount is quite high, and, of course, we want to know when we will be able to return this money. Remember how a couple of weeks ago, with a block reward of 7–8 Ether per day, you could have gained 0.2 ether, which means more than $2,000 in a month? Three more months like that and you’re all set, but today you need to divide everything by two. But you also need to multiply by 2 the payback period. Eventually, you can expect to return your investments in about 6–8 months.

Mine till the end and change cards for new ones later

Perhaps this is the riskiest option of all, since there is a high probability that the cost of cards will increase when it will no longer be possible to mine Ether on 4GB, and everyone will rush to switch to 6–8 GB cards. Therefore, if you wish to “mine while you can”, it is worth taking a break in a crisis moment and postpone buying new cards for 2–3 months. Wait for the hype to settle down. However, it is possible that there will be a new pump, or the USD rate will rise, or some other unknown forces will force the prices of cards to rise.

At the same time, it is unlikely that you can resell your old cards for more than $30–50, so for 50 outdated cards you will get about $2,000-$2,500. You’ll need at least $10,000 to invest in the new fleet, and considering the increased prices, it may even exceed $13,000. Besides, the return on investment might get postponed due to the pause. Clearly, not the best-case scenario.

Mine till the end and switch to another coin

And finally, the third possible solution. It also suggests using 4GB cards as long as there is a resource and using the most profitable pool. And then just switch to another coin. But it doesn’t make sense to leave for any random coin that you happen to like or the one with a high rate. You should choose the coin with the best prospects. Does it sound like a joke to you? You’re probably right. In our industry, only fools or scammers make reliable predictions, but it’s worth a try. Indeed, if you are lucky your earnings won’t sink but remain at the same level, or even (who knows) will grow. Among other things, this option is the only possible solution for those miners who have no funds to upgrade their park.

So, let’s review the coins, which, in our opinion, can become a good substitute to Ether.

Metaverse

Metaverse is a Chinese platform for creating decentralized applications, similar to Ethereum, which has a few interesting features. The idea of ​​the developers was to push out ETH from the Chinese market, compete with NEO blockchain and cryptocurrency, and establish their own national cryptocurrency standards. The main value of Metaverse is the ability to digitize (that is, transfer to the blockchain) everything: art objects, fiat money, various rights to receive income. The project description states that all platform assets are tied to gold. It is also important that active work is underway on Github.

The downside of the coin is that it is not always profitable for mining. However, it is listed on a fairly large number of exchanges, including BitFinex and HitBTC. And at times, its profitability is inspiring. For example, the profitability of Metaverse on September 16 by whattomine was $0.74 per day per 100 m / hashes. Which means that you can get $22.12 per month. And $615.28 on our farm with 50 cards.

Quarkchain

QuarkChain (QKC) is interesting (and not that interesting at the same time) as it tries to solve all the fundamental problems for the entire blockchain industry — scalability, security, and decentralization. And we all know how well these types of projects are usually performing. This coin is listed on many exchanges including major ones like Binance, Gate.io and KuCoin. In addition, the project is actively maintained on Github. Among the disadvantages, experts name the possibility of suddenly dying (as happened with Bitcoiin [B2G]). However, this can happen with any altcoin, let’s be honest. And despite the fact that, according to whattomine, its profitability on September 16 was — $0.32 per day for 100 m / hashes (for a month it is $9.48), the coin occasionally has much better days.

Callisto

When the coin was created, the founders of the project pursued the noble goal of researching and developing a self-governing and self-funded blockchain ecosystem. The Callisto network is developed by Ethereum Commonwealth, one of three development teams at ETC. The activity of the team and the project is also clearly visible on Github, which gives some hope for the future. Callisto is often included in the list of top 5 profitable coins for mining on 4GB video cards from AMD. The coin is traded on a few exchanges (BitForex, STEX), but its trading volume is quite impressive. On September 16, according to whattomine, its profitability was $0.13 per 100 m / hashes (for a month it is $3.85), and on a farm of 50 cards, $385.40, respectively.

Ravencoin

Ravencoin is a digital peer-to-peer network built to facilitate asset transfers. Ravencoin aims to implement a blockchain optimized specifically for transferring assets such as tokens from one owner to another. The coin is mined publicly and transparently using Proof-of-Work (POW), the KAWPOW algorithm that was created specifically for Ravencoin. Its other advantages include the ability to carry out instant transactions, as well as high security. Ravencoin is listed on exchanges such as Binance, Paribu. It is one of the most profitable coins nowadays: on September 16, according to whattomine, its profitability was $4.91 per 100 m / hashes ($147.17 per month), and on a farm of 50 cards $2,281.39, respectively.

Beam

BEAM is a scalable and anonymous cryptocurrency, which, according to its creators, should help with creating a blockchain with increased privacy and become an alternative to Bitcoin in the future. BEAM is based on the Mimblewimble algorithm for privacy and scalability. The system works like this: the amount of the transaction, the sender and the recipient are hidden by means of anonymous transactions, and there are no “addresses” — everyone simply uses private keys from the coins belonging to him. The coin is listed on exchanges such as Binance and Gate.io. On September 16, according to whattomine, its profitability was $3.06 per 100 m / hashes ($91.87 per month), and on a farm of 50 cards, $1,466.84, respectively.

ZANO

It is a hybrid coin (PoW / PoS) designed for e-commerce applications with a block reward of 1 ZANO. The project is known for being a pioneer for the new ProgPoWZ algorithm (built on top of regular ProgPoW). This project hasn’t generated much interest from users yet, but it was recently added to Profit-Mine because of the ease of tracking mining profitability. ZANO is listed on a few exchanges including STEX, TradeOgre. On September 16, according to whattomine, its profitability was $4.74 per 100 m / hashes ($142.22 per month), and on a farm of 50 cards, $1,706.08, respectively.

Haven protocol

The Haven Protocol (XHV) is a fork of the Monero coin that boasts to be untraceable. It offers storage of value of fiat money by a coin issuing and burning system through smart contracts. Users will be able to send their funds to offshore storage contracts while keeping some funds on the blockchain. One of the main advantages of the coin is its increased security and secrecy, and all thanks to the cryptographic mechanism known as Ring signatures, which was originally detailed by CryptoNote and adopted by Monero. Today XHV is listed on a few exchanges including CITEX, TradeOgre. On September 16, according to whattomine, its profitability was — $0.69 per 100 m / hashes (for a month — $20.74), but on other days the picture is much more attractive.

So what, guys, which way will you choose for yourself? If you decide to go with one of the coins we have proposed (or another one of your choice), but continue mining Ether, for now, then it will make sense to do it as profitable as possible. And where is the best place to do this, if not on the pool, which offers +10% to everything you mined until the end of September? ;) Hurry up and join the CoinFly pool that will start making your mining more profitable right away;)