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.