Since the transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), ethereum cannot be mined and miners are now dedicating hashrate to different PoW chains. Since ethereum can no longer be mined, the most profitable PoW consensus algorithms are Kadena, Scrypt, and Cuckatoo32. Before The Merge, the consensus algorithm Ethash was the most profitable, as the top miner raked in $79.53 per day in profits. Today’s top mining rig, with Ethereum out of the picture, accrues roughly $69.41 per day mining kadena.
Today’s Top 7 Mineable PoW Algorithms Include Kadena, Scrypt, Cuckatoo32, Blake2B-Sia, X11, Equihash, and SHA256
According to the latest data from asicminervalue.com, the PoW consensus algorithm is no longer the most profitable consensus scheme to mine since the Paris upgrade triggered Ethereum’s Merge. Since September 15, 2022, Kadena has become the most profitable consensus algorithm this year. Bitmain’s application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining rig, the Antminer KA3, gets an estimated $69.41 per day with electricity costs at $0.12 per kilowatt hour (kWh). Miners mine the PoW blockchain Kadena (KDA) and the Antminer KA3 produces an estimated 166 TH/s.
Kadena’s network hashrate is around 0.21 exahash per second (EH/s) or 212.8632 petahash per second (PH/s). The second most profitable consensus algorithm using an ASIC mining rig is Scrypt, the consensus scheme associated with litecoin (LTC) and dogecoin (DOGE). Besides DOGE and LTC, a handful of other digital asset networks like verge (XVG) and digibyte (DGB) leverage Scrypt as well. Today’s top miner, Bitmain’s Antminer L7, can get an estimated $13.09 in daily profits. The top three miners below the Antminer KA3 are all Scrypt miners produced by Bitmain.
Below Kadena and Scrypt, the third most profitable PoW consensus algorithm is Grin’s Cuckatoo32. The top Cuckatoo32 ASIC mining device can get an estimated $7.48 per day in profits. Below Cuckatoo32 includes consensus algorithms such as Blake2B-Sia, X11, Equihash, and SHA256. The consensus mechanism SHA256 is leveraged by crypto networks such as bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoinsv (BSV), and namecoin (NMC).
SHA256 is the seventh most profitable consensus algorithm and a BTC miner leveraging an Antminer S19 XP with 140 TH/s gets around $2.60 per day. With Ethereum removed from the equations, people can still mine Ethash coins like Ethereum Classic (ETC), but the top Ethash mining devices produce little profit in comparison to when people could mine ether.
Dogecoin shifting to proof-of-stake would be good for the environment, but what impact would it have on miners and ASIC manufacturers?
A change from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (PoS) is rumored for Dogecoin.
Do I know if Dogecoin is switching to PoS?
No.
Do I believe it will go to PoS? Probably not.
But I love the “what if” game.
I try to predict where the market and the mining industry are headed as someone who works in the cryptocurrency mining sector and how that might pan out. The mining industry would be drastically affected if Dogecoin changed PoS or another aspect of how new blocks are created.
The options and their results are shown here.
Scrypt Mining Could Be Devastated
I won’t argue for or against Dogecoin switching to PoS. While it’s hard to determine if the recent rumors about the potential for a switch are true or not, they were enough to have Bitmain supposedly pause Litecoin miner manufacturing.
The larger question in my mind is, What occurs to miners if Dogecoin adopts PoS?
First, Scrypt mining would be devastated. Over 60% of the revenue from Scrypt mining is made up of DOGE. Any L3+, LT6, or Mini Doge Pro miner that isn’t using electricity that costs $0.04 per kilowatt hour would need to be unplugged right away if it were taken away.
For a while, the network would probably fluctuate erratically as older equipment miners struggled to decide whether to leave their ASICSs on or off. The apex Scrypt miner, Bitmain’s Antminer L7, would see its profitability reduced by nearly 75%, reducing profits to a whopping $4.83/day at $0.05/kWh.
What about the miners who lack access to industrial electric rates? You could make $0.72 per day using the L7 9050M, which recently sold for about $9,000, at a cost of $0.10 per kWh.
Yikes!
The likelihood of those who recently bought an L7 ever recovering their investment, let alone making any money, would be extremely low in the event of such a significant change.
ASIC Manufacturers Would Be Forced to Drop Prices, Further Impacting Their Bottom Line
The vastly reduced profitability would inevitably lead to the price of the L7 dropping quicker than it did during the COVID-19-induced crypto crash. Miners would expect the L7 to cost between $1,825 (12-month ROI) and $2,737.50 (18-month ROI) if miners were only charged based on the length of their expected ROI. This reflects a minimum price reduction of nearly 70%.
How quickly would Bitmain respond? Would they gradually lower prices week after week, as Goldshell has done with many of its miners in recent months? As customers witnessed the price of the miner they had just spent thousands of dollars on being repeatedly reduced, this tactic repeatedly left them with a bad taste in their mouths.
Or would Bitmain announce that they would keep charging fairly for miners as they have been doing lately?
The consequences of a Dogecoin PoS shift would primarily affect ASIC resellers as well. Many L7 miners are suppliers, so stores holding those would need to immediately mark them down significantly. However, based on their recent history of price-gouging customers, like charging $60,000 for a KD6 that is barely worth over $1,000 today, it’s doubtful many tears would be shed for them.
Scrypt miners from numerous home mines would saturate eBay and comparable marketplaces. It would be a race to the bottom as desperate miners tried to salvage whatever value was still in the chunk of metal that can now only be used as a doorstop or display piece if one is desperate.
It would continue to mine litecoin. There wouldn’t really be a choice, so those L7s would continue to operate because they would still be somewhat profitable. If a more effective Scrypt miner isn’t already under development, it’s unlikely that a new Scrypt miner that could compete with the L7 will be released on the market anytime soon. There are some rumors that Bitmain is developing a miner that would be better than the L7.
The switch to PoS has already caused a significant amount of disruption, and we’ve only looked at one part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. There would be a lot more issues and situations to think about.
How would that affect network security?
Would the yield from staking cause DOGE to eventually be labeled a security?
Would people embrace Dogecoin for the change or would they run away from what is currently the second-largest PoW coin by market cap?
My favorite what-if is now. Even though there are several possible outcomes for this option, it is unlikely and possibly even impossible.
What would happen if Dogecoin decided to develop its own mining algorithm instead of merging with LTC?
Innovation and Competition Are Healthy for Every Industry
What if there is a GPU mining renaissance? After the Ethereum Merge event, there’s a ton of really cheap GPUs available on the market. Those would get expensive really quickly. Mining purists would rejoice as they build their own mining rigs while trying to figure out how much DOGE they can stack. Though it wouldn’t last, it would be really cool to see. To be the first to market with an ASIC miner, the big three manufacturers Bitmain, Goldshell, and iBelink would compete fiercely.
Each of them would eventually have at least one ASIC miner available, and naturally, as time goes on, they’ll become stronger and more effective. The jumps and increases in difficulty would be ridiculous, and just like with Bitcoin
, it would eventually no longer be profitable to mine However, it could also lead to competition—something the ASIC manufacturing market desperately needs.
What if a door opens for another manufacturer or manufacturers to enter the market after the brief GPU mining renaissance? Currently, Bitmain, Goldshell and iBelink are the “big three,” and it’s really Bitmain, which has complete market dominance. Although Bitmain would probably prevail, what if someone else could be first to market, maintain that advantage, and establish themselves as a reputable and trustworthy ASIC manufacturer?
What if that business made the decision to hire additional miners and pay them fairly? To be fair, we do have to praise Bitmain once more for the pricing on its recent rollout of industry-changing miners. Reseller markups are still a problem, but that is a different subject. Perhaps this “new” competitor would adhere to the mantra that customer service actually matters. That might occur if consumers could get past their skepticism about the product’s dependability and the business produced a quality product. There are a lot of what-ifs there, no doubt.
A money-grab scenario for Dogecoin exists as an alternative. The project could go directly to Bitmain, Goldshell and iBelink and say, “We’re developing our own mining algorithm, which we’ll only give to you. How much money will you give us?”
What price would Goldshell be willing to pay to resurrect a business that has suffered numerous setbacks as a result of the most recent Bitmain altcoin miner releases? Or would iBelink fight tooth and nail to secure the manufacturing rights to the miner? IBelink recently unveiled the BM-K3 Kadena miner, which boasts 70 terahashes, a significant increase of almost 75% over the next closest model. However, the company can’t celebrate just yet because Bitmain will soon surpass that with the KA3, which will deliver 166 THs. How much would Bitmain pay to keep its market dominance if Dogecoin manufacturers made an offer?
No Change Could Be a Good Thing
What if DOGE chooses to simply continue with Scrypt mining?
The status quo is not that exciting, but it seems to be the most likely outcome. Sure, some changes might get approved by a vote, but Scrypt-based merge mining of Dogecoin and LTC is most likely to continue.
Bitmain is likely to continue pushing out L7 inventory before launching a more efficient Scrypt miner later this year AND In essence, two Mini Doge Pros in one box, Goldshell will release a Mini Doge Pro 2 for home miners. Numerous older models will probably be forced to permanently stop operating due to the impending LTC halving and the introduction of more productive miners.
The value of cryptocurrencies will increase and decrease. It’s likely that there will be another crypto scandal that no one anticipates but that, in retrospect, will be blatantly obvious. The sun will rise and set. Naturally, the majority of suppliers, particularly resellers, will continue to mark up miners and take advantage of loyal customers in any way they can.
Dogecoin’s future is impossible to predict, but the cryptocurrency sector is one of the few where anything can happen at any time.
Regardless of whether Dogecoin switches to PoS, the crypto mining landscape has always changed rapidly, and Scrypt mining is no different.
Apple resisted the touch screen on the MacBook just as much as it resisted the stylus on the iPhone. However, the company is now looking to extend its approach and do what it should have done years ago. Almost all flagship Windows laptops now have a touchscreen, offering users another way to interact with the system, and according to the latest news, Apple will launch a touchscreen MacBook Pro in 2025.
In a new report, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims that Apple is working on a new MacBook Pro model with a touch screen. The analyst also said that the machine is likely to be available to users in 2025. As mentioned earlier, Apple has been reluctant to integrate touch functionality with macOS, with Steve Jobs declaring the user experience “ergonomically awful”.
When it comes to user experience, the touch screen on the Mac will be critical in every way. Regular users will need it to seamlessly navigate the web, open apps with just one tap, zoom in on photos, and more. In addition to this, creators will be able to use the technology for editing. As Apple is gradually working to unify the software experience across multiple platforms, it makes sense for the company to integrate a similar input method for seamless operation.
Currently, Apple allows developers to port their applications on the Mac. With the new custom chip, iPhone apps can now run on Macs as well. So the touch screen on the MacBook Pro could be a significant upgrade given the future of Apple’s software. Gurman also said that the touch screen functionality could be extended to other Macs in addition to the MacBook Pro.
Last week, Gurman claimed that the OLED MacBook Pro could be the first model to feature a touch screen. The company is “actively working on a touchscreen project” and we could see the first such machine in 2025. Note that at this point, these are just speculations and the final decision is up to Apple.
A week ago MasterCard announced the launch of its Web3-based Artist Accelerator program. The hope is to help emerging musicians build their brands through Web3 technology, including casting NFTs, building communities, and performing in a metaverse.
MasterCard has defined three cores for this program.
Own the future of music – experience the freedom that comes with digital ownership.
Enter Web3 – advance your skills by learning from music professionals as well as Web3 innovators.
Create and Share – Create and connect artists and community members.
Before that MasterCard had some attempts in the crypto space, having provided crypto payment support to some partners, a service division to provide crypto consulting services, etc. Last year MasterCard also invested considerable resources in partnering with Coinbase to open up fiat purchases of NFT, but the Coinbase NFT failed so thoroughly in the market that MasterCard failed to get much out of this partnership. This time, the plan is to move away from the payments business and focus on the non-business directions of community and culture.
MasterCard focused its support on music, rather than the pan-creative sector. Music has always played an important part in MasterCard’s marketing efforts, having launched its own sound brand identity and partnered with bands and music organizations such as Linkin Park. This plan is an echo of the original music strategy. And past work has given Mastercard a lot of resources and accumulation in this field as well. This gathering can organize resources more effectively and focus on things.
Another focus is that this program selects only five new musicians to support. This means that each newcomer will be matched with a quality mentor in the music field and will receive hands-on support from Web3 experts. Good music is not just about quantity, so it’s probably better to focus on support than to get a bunch of them.
For musicians and enthusiasts who don’t make the cut, MasterCard will issue a set of NFTs called the Master Music Pass, which unlocks exclusive Web3 music tutorials, essential tool support, specific online and offline experiences, and most importantly, a mutual support program. And most importantly, a mutually supportive and growing community across musicians and enthusiasts.
Like many major labels, MasterCard has chosen Polygon as a partner, and Polygon is currently working in depth with Warner Music and the LGND music platform to penetrate the music market. Polygon is currently working with Warner Music and LGND to penetrate the music market and does not rule out the possibility of extended partnerships in the future.
Summary
MasterCard’s Web3 strategy incorporates education, building, collaboration, and community, and is itself learning through this process. The planned Music Pass NFT is used to bring together communities of fans and musicians, and has become a key place for brands and communities to interact. Emerging musicians, who will be supported by the focus, will then be able to tap into the mass music market and bring new ways for fans to experience and interact with music.
The gas pedal should launch in the second quarter of 2023.
“MasterCard is focused on music because it is a “universal passion” that unites supporters. That’s why we’ve been an ardent supporter of the music industry and artists for decades, and especially support projects by emerging artists. Gas pedal is an authentic and meaningful way for our brand to showcase these artists, and a way for us to further embrace the web3 space and engage with people in a new way.
The platform is designed not only for artists, but also for enthusiasts. Enthusiasts will receive a limited edition NFT of the MasterCard Music Pass, which gives holders access to insider materials, resources and collaborations, and experiences both online and offline. It was important to us to make sure the community enthusiasts could join the platform and learn alongside the artists. This type of collaboration and community is and will be exactly what music is all about”
Adobe’s Lightroom software now uses new artificial intelligence technology to select objects, people, clothing and facial features in an attempt to make photo editing faster and more powerful. The new technology is available for Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and smartphone versions of the photo editing software, the company said Tuesday at its Max conference. The new tool for selecting objects and people extends earlier artificial intelligence tools for selecting subjects and skies. The new technology shows how quickly artificial intelligence technology can evolve to speed up tasks that were once completely out of the computer’s hands.
Artificial intelligence is trained to discover patterns after examining vast amounts of real-world data and behaving more like the human brain, free from the constraints of strict programming. From detecting fraud to generating art, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing everything. Analyzing photos was one of the earliest successes of AI technology. Carefully labeled training data to highlight pupils, lips, eyebrows, hair, clothing, or other features can teach AI models to isolate elements of a photo that you might want to brighten, whiten, or otherwise beautify.
Lightroom now has AI-driven tools to select a person’s face, eyes, lips, teeth, and other parts for more precise editing. Here, selected areas are shown in red before editing. The new Lightroom also includes other selection tricks. It can separate out specific individuals. With doodling gestures on photo subjects, you can guide the AI to better select tricky subjects. There’s also an updated Fix Tool option that automatically selects an element and replaces it with an image from elsewhere in the scene.
In addition, at the company’s Max conference for creative professionals, Adobe announced relevant improvements to its venerable Photoshop image editing software. Among other things, the automatic masking tool has been retrained to select more elements in a photo, including plants, roads, mountains and water. A special artificial intelligence tool has been trained to distinguish hair from other elements in the scene, a particularly difficult and time-consuming selection process if done manually. Photoshop also has a one-click delete and fill feature that uses artificial intelligence to select an item and then replace it with an image selected from elsewhere in the photo. This process used to take several steps.
Ethereum mining was the path that brought me to Bitcoin, but a lot happened while I was walking that stretch.
The two cryptographic currencies of greatest relevance in the world of data mining are Bitcoin and Ethereum. The former, the leader in mining with ASIC devices and the latter, the most profitable for mining with graphics cards (GPUs). However, Ethereum will relinquish that title very soon due to its change of consensus mechanism.
The arrival of the Merge to Ethereum, to me in particular, fills me with nostalgia; since my first contact with the world of cryptocurrencies was through the mining of this network. Although, as a matter of convictions, as well as situations, over time I got much closer to Bitcoin.
“Every cloud has a silver lining”: my arrival in Ethereum mining.
It was 2017, the economic and social situation in Venezuela was in complete chaos. My economy on a personal level was not doing well either. Despite being a professional with experience and a job that paid “relatively” well, the reality is that we barely had enough to eat 3 times a day at home. Even so, I feel grateful and fortunate to have had what I had; because, as little as it was, it was something enviable for many who had less.
One day in April, a close friend told me about mining and said he was doing very well with it. This friend, whom we will call Victor to protect his identity, told me that data mining (as he called it) was not legal, but not illegal either. There was simply no legal framework in the country at that time.
Despite not being an illegal activity, one had to be very discreet about mining. This is because there were rumors of many cases of extortion of miners by gangs and even authorities, as CriptoNoticias reported on several occasions.
Victor described mining to me as follows: “it is about putting your PC at the service of a network to process their data and they pay you with cryptocurrencies for that service”. It struck me that it was an extra income that would come passively; so I could continue with my routine and my job without any problem.
“My savings, my money…”: the time to take risks
After sweetening my ear with the beauty of mining, it was time to face one of the most difficult questions for those who are short of money: how much does that cost?
We quickly looked up prices on Amazon to get an idea and I got the quote that included all the standard PC components plus two AMD RX470 graphics cards. Fortunately we bought them just before their price skyrocketed with the 2017 bubble. The hardest part was that mining rig took everything I had saved and a bit more, since it was necessary to borrow to complete the total cost.
As soon as we had everything in our hands, we assembled the rig Victor, his brother and me. I have always been a fan of technology, so for me it was a fascinating process. After overcoming the failures that are never lacking after assembling a PC, we put my little rig to mine Ethereum. I was thrilled! So much so, that now, as I reminisce about that moment, that excitement comes back to me. That mix of joy, expectation, hope, so many things….
From then on I became a bookworm for everything that had to do with mining, blockchain and cryptocurrencies. I became so madly passionate about this topic, that I got to the point where Victor would ask me for advice to reconfigure his Claymore, a software widely used by Ethereum miners.
The 2017 bubble, hand in hand with the drop in Ethereum mining difficulty in October of that year, helped me recover my investment while covering my needs and those of my family.
The premature decline of mining
Despite how much I loved mining and my dream of making it my business, many reasons started to work against me. The most serious was the quality of electrical service in the country. There were ups and downs in the power supply several times a day, which interrupted the mining process and I had to turn everything back on.
The list of cons also included the Internet service (which was quite precarious and I had no alternative), the fear that someone would discover that I was mining and would want to harm me or my family, problems with Windows updates and very little time available to search and test possible solutions.
If that wasn’t enough, the Venezuelan government started trying to regulate cryptocurrency mining in December 2017. My rig was already inactive, but that announcement also did not encourage me to make an effort to keep trying to make it work. Time went by and it became impossible for me to go back to mining.
From etherean to bitcoiner: keep the good, discard the bad
Ethereum mining was a kind of broker that brought me to CryptoNews. My newspaper experience led me to get to know Bitcoin, its origin and its values much better. Inevitably, I fell in love with that ideal. Decentralization, freedom, the fight against a self-destructive system in which humanity is immersed, all that was already in me, embraced Bitcoin.
Over time, I also realized that Ethereum was very different from Bitcoin. Beyond the obvious, such as differences at the technological level, I think its business structure and Vitalik Buterin’s strong influence on the course the network takes is what clashes most with the ideals of decentralization.
I don’t doubt that, if Satoshi Nakamoto were to reveal his identity today, he could exert the same influence (or more) on Bitcoin as Buterin did on Ethereum. Surely that was one of the reasons why the creator of the mother of cryptocurrencies has remained anonymous.
While my heart is more bitcoiner than Etherean at this point, I owe it to Ethereum to be here today. The development and visibility this network has given to the cryptocurrency ecosystem has impacted its adoption and growth.
In closing, I must say that I am glad to have been part of the Ethereum mining node network for as long as I was. Vitalik was not wrong when he stated that mining and PoW were the best way to get started with this network. On the other hand, while I am not in favor of the move from this network to PoS, I sincerely wish the switch to be a success. I deeply believe that it would be the best thing for the whole community of Bitcoin technology users.
