Mining Bitcoin (BTC) is one of the historically most popular methods to profit in the crypto world. In order to become a miner, you will need powerful mining hardware with sufficient hashing power, like Bitmain’s Antminer S19 Pro, in order to help mine new BTC blocks on the blockchain network.
One drawback to mining cryptocurrency on your own, especially if you’re mining popular currencies like Litecoin and Ethereum, is that it is hard for your mining rig to solve the equation and create a block on its own, which means that you would be less likely to earn coins as a reward or gas fee.
That’s why a great solution for solo miners is to join a mining pool and collaborate with various other miners to execute difficult computations across the network in order to increase the chances of finding a block. The higher the collective hashing power of multiple miners is in a pool, the higher the chances are to earn block rewards. Bigger pools offer smaller payments more frequently, while smaller pools offer higher rewards.
In this article, we’ll examine Antpool, the most popular Bitcoin mining pool that’s run by Antminer machines, and show you how you can join it.
What Is Antpool?
Antpool is a cryptocurrency mining pool managing a community of miners that have agreed to combine their computing power to increase their chances of mining a new block. The Antpool algorithm allocates tasks to every miner in the mining group, tracks their efforts, records them, and pays rewards according to the hashing power provided by each miner. Bitmain Technology, a popular cryptocurrency mining hardware device manufacturer located in China, owns Antpool, which began operations in March of 2014, about 4 years after Slushpool, the very first crypto mining pool ever. Antpool offers users the choice to select between stratum or p2pool mining options. Stratum is a pooled mining protocol that improves efficiency, security, and overcoming hardware requirements. p2pool is a decentralized Bitcoin mining pool that operates by connecting miner nodes in a peer-to-peer network in a way that eliminates the chances of double spending or a 51% attack.
Antpool is one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools by hash rate, as Bitcoin remains the most commonly mined coin in the majority of mining pools. Antpool, on the other hand, has pools for mining different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Dash (DASH), and Zcash (ZEC). The Antpool platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate. Additionally, there’s a variety of tutorials online that’ll teach you how to use Antpool’s mining pool. You can also find the pool’s regularly updated hash rate and profit information for the various cryptocurrencies supported by the mining pool.
How to Join Antpool
It’s quite simple to become a member of Antpool, as it is free to join, and the process is straightforward. To begin, you’ll need to have one of Antminer’s mining hardware devices. Then, you’ll need to download and install Antminer’s custom software. The size of your contribution to the pool’s hash rate will likely be determined by the type of hardware you use – the more powerful the mining rig, the higher the hash rate. Downloading the appropriate software is vital as it allows you to route the hash power of your hardware to the pool of your choice, which is Antpool in this case.
How to Connect Your Mining Rig to Antpool
To get started:
- In order to get the most rewards on Antpool, you should get one of Antminers ASIC machines with high hashing power such as the S19, S7, or any other Antminer model.
- Go to antpool.com and sign up for an account. You may also create sub-accounts for separate mining activities. Follow the registration process carefully, and click on the link sent to your email to verify your identity.
- Set up the mining hardware, connect it to the internet through a cable, and turn it on. Make sure to provide your mining rig with the recommended voltage it requires to operate smoothly. The suggested voltage is around 210 to 230 volts.
- Next, the IP address of the miner must be entered, you don’t have to manually set the IP address since most miners now have DHCP enabled. In case you’re unable to set your IP address, you may use the “IP Reporter” software offered by Bitmain support to get your IP address on the LAN.
- If you own multiple mining devices, you can combine their hash rates on one Antpool account. Make sure to use the Antpool app to configure a static IP. The app works on both Android and iOS devices and notifies you if there are any modifications or updates to your mining operation.
- Next, open your internet browser on your computer that uses the same network as your miner, and type in your miner’s IP address in the address bar and then login with root as both the username and password, to gain access to the miner’s backstage interface.
- Lastly, connect to Antpool and set up your mining address. Each crypto type has a unique mining address, except for BTC and BCH, which share the same mining address.
We’ve completed the account registration, miner configuration, and connected to Antpool. You’re now ready to start mining!
Can I Mine Bitcoin on Antpool?
Yes, you can mine Bitcoin (BTC) as well as a few other supported cryptocurrencies on Antpool, including Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETC), DASH, Ethereum Classic (ETC), ZCASH, Monero (XMC), Siacoin (SC), and Bytom (BTM).
Payouts and Earnings on This Mining Pool
When you join a mining pool, there are a few different methods to calculate your reward for providing hashing power. The term “share” is used in all of the payout mechanisms. Basically, the more hash power you provide to a mining pool, the more shares you earn. Some of the payout schemes that mining pools use are:
- Pay-Per-Share (PPS): The PPS method offers miners an immediate, guaranteed compensation for their contribution to the pool’s likelihood of finding a block. Miners are paid out of the pool’s existing balance, and they can withdraw their compensation immediately. This method ensures that miners’ payments are as consistent as possible while also passing much of the risk to the pool’s operator.
- Fully-Pay-Per-Share (FPPS): FPPS is similar to PPS, except it also pays out transaction fees in addition to the expected block reward. Within a particular time frame, generally 24 hours, FPPS calculates a standard transaction fee and distributes it among miners. By paying out transaction fees, FPPS increases the miners’ revenue.
- Pay-Per-Last-N-Shares (PPLNS): The PPLNS approach calculates the miner’s payment based on N last shares rather than all shares for the previous round. When a block is found, each miner’s reward is determined based on the miner’s contribution to the previous N pool shares. As a result, if the round is sufficiently short, all miners profit more, and vice versa.
- Solo Mining Pool: Solo pools work in the same way as regular pools, with the exception that block rewards are not split evenly among all miners. In a solo pool, the miner who finds the block receives the whole payout.
Antpool supports several payment methods including, PPS，PPLNS, and SOLO. You may pick your preferred payout method based on your mining rig, preferences, and risk tolerance by going to the “Settings” tab. Antpool pays off every day and coins will be automatically sent to your crypto wallet whenever your earnings meet the minimum payout requirement.
What Is the Minimum Payout Requirement for Bitcoin?
Bitcoin (BTC) has a default minimum payment limit of 0.05, whereas Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has a minimum fund requirement of 0.001. In case you did not add a wallet address, your profits will be kept in your Antpool account balance.
A Few Final Words…
Antpool has established itself as one of the leading Bitcoin mining platforms, making it simple for anybody to try their hand at Bitcoin mining. It is easier to mine as a group than it is to mine alone. Antpool is an excellent choice if you’re searching for a reputable and stable crypto mining pool that offers frequent rewards and a user-friendly design.
