The mining pool is a space shared by different miners, enabling them to work collaboratively on cryptocurrency mining. One of the advantages of this method is that it increases the computing power of individual machines tenfold, making it easier to cope with the challenge of finding blocks. But what are the best crypto-currency mining pools?
Things to know to get the most out of this guide:
In this guide, you’ll learn the specifics of mining cryptocurrencies in mining pools: the criteria to consider, the advantages of mining pools and, above all, the best mining pools available today…
Things to know before commenting on this guide:
No specific skills are required.
What are the advantages of mining pools? Let’s discover together the many advantages of mining with a mining pool.
Dealing with the mining challenge
Cryptocurrency mining, and Bitcoin Mining Pool in particular, has become increasingly complex over the years. Today, it is very difficult for a solo miner to extract blocks and thus be profitable. The mining pool helps to overcome this difficulty by combining the computing power of the participating miners’ machines.
The rewards are shared
Depending on the reward system, all miners participating in the mining pool receive benefits commensurate with their mining power. Even the smallest miners can receive rewards.
Limited initial investment
While solo miners are obliged to invest in ultra-powerful machines in order to be profitable, this is not the case with mining pools. All miners, regardless of their computing power, can join a mining pool and extract blocks cooperatively, without necessarily having the latest ASIC.
Binance
- Low fees
- One of the largest crypto exchanges
- Fee discount for using native BNB
Binance
Criteria for choosing the best mining pool
Choosing a good crypto mining pool involves looking at a number of selection criteria:
Mining pool size
The larger the mining pool, the greater the miner’s chances of making a profit. To choose a large-scale mining pool, you need to compare not only the number of member miners, but also the hash power available to the pool.
Fees charged by the mining pool
Almost all mining pools charge a management fee on rewards. These average between 1% and 5% and must be taken into account when calculating profitability. Here again, you should compare the management fees applied by different mining pools, trying not to exceed 2%.
The reward system
The reward system is a fundamental criterion of choice, since it will largely determine your profitability. The reward system should be chosen according to your own mining conditions. If you have a low capacity, pro rata profit sharing will reduce your income.
The different reward systems:
- PPS: Pay per Share. The miner receives a fixed amount for each share, which he accumulates as he goes along.
- PROP: Proportional. The minor receives a reward proportional to the total number of shares held.
- PPLNS: Pay-Per-Last-N-Shares. The reward is distributed according to the number of shares contributed by each minor. Profit therefore depends entirely on the number of blocks mined.
- PPS+: Pay-Per-Share+. Halfway between PPS and PPLNS, PPS+ enables miners to earn additional revenue from transaction fees. The reward is based on the PPS model, while the transaction fees are based on the PPLNS model.
- FPPS: Full-Pay-Per-Share. Both rewards and service charges are calculated on the basis of theoretical profit. Transaction fees are shared, increasing the miner’s revenue.
The best mining pools
F2Pool
The F2Pool mining pool can be used to mine a wide range of coins, including BTC, LTC, ETC, BCH and over 40 other cryptocurrencies. F2Pool offers a PPS or PPS+ reward system, depending on the cryptocurrency chosen. Fees also vary depending on the crypto, from 1% to 5% on average.
Advantages:
- Excellent mobile application
- Advanced features
- Quick and easy to set up
- Ultra-secure platform
- Daily payments
Disadvantages:
- High fees for some cryptocurrencies
Poolin
The Poolin mining pool offers many different coins, including LTC, BCH and BSV. This comprehensive mining pool integrates mining resources to provide miners with stable, high profits. It’s one of the most competitive mining pools on the market. Fees range from 1 to 4% on average, depending on the cryptocurrency mined.
Advantages:
- Ultra-safe
- Easy to use
- Excellent reputation
- Advanced tools
Disadvantages:
- High fees for some cryptocurrencies
ViaBTC
The ViaBTC mining pool stands out for several reasons: its high hash rate, its particularly strong and easily reachable team, its well-established blockchain ecosystem and its ease of innovation. Indeed, ViaBTC has introduced a host of innovative products designed to remedy the existing shortcomings of the mining industry. Indeed, ViaBTC’s services go beyond pool mining, as the site offers related services and products, such as ViaWallet.
Advantages:
- Excellent team
- High hash rate
- Innovation
- Global presence
- Related services
Disadvantages:
- High minimum payment amounts for certain parts
- Fees can be as high as 4%, depending on the part chosen
Capital.com
- Intuitive platform
- Competitive spreads
- Free trading training
Capital.com
78.1% of small investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Genesis Mining
The Genesis Mining mining pool is ideal for beginner miners thanks to its intuitive dashboard. It allows you to mine many different coins, including Bitcoin, Dash and Litecoin. After a quick and free registration, miners have access to all Genesis Mining services, with no hidden fees. It’s also one of the few pools to accept credit card deposits.
Advantages:
- Credit card deposits accepted
- Intuitive interface
- Fast, efficient support
- No hidden fees
- Available 24/7
Disadvantages:
- No option to sell or trade all earned cryptocurrencies
- Questionable profitability
Hiveon
Ideal for HiveOS users, the Hiveon mining pool features higher rewards than most other mining pools. This is due in particular to the fact that Hiveon pays miners for invalid shares, up to 50% of valid shares. For example, if 96% of the hash rates supplied are valid and 4% are out-of-date, the miner is paid 98% of the reward. Hiveon offers a PPS+ reward system.
Advantages:
- No mining costs
- Good profitability
- Partially remunerated out-of-date hash rates
- Easy to learn
Disadvantages:
- Few corners available for mining: ETC only
Binance pool
Ideal for miners wishing to reinvest their mining income, Binance pool is the mining pool offered by the famous cryptocurrency exchange platform. The pool uses an algorithm that allows you to switch between different mining algorithms, enabling you to mine different cryptocurrencies such as BTC, BSV and BCH. Binance pool can also be used to mine Ripple, Solana, Cardano, Binance USD and more. This automatic algorithm allows you to generate even greater profits.
Advantages:
- Wide selection of parts
- Transparent pricing with no hidden charges
- Daily payments
Disadvantages:
- Complex handling
- Unintuitive interface
- 2.5% fee
Coinbase
- Regulated exchange
- An easy-to-use platform
- Free crypto training offered
Coinbase
Minedollars
Minedollars is without doubt one of the best mining pools for beginner miners. Indeed, it’s one of the few that doesn’t require investment in mining equipment, since the company itself invests in ASICS and GPUs, which are then accessible via the cloud. Miners can therefore buy a contract and manage their earnings from a computer or smartphone, thanks to the dedicated app.
Advantages:
- No need to buy expensive mining equipment
- Manage your activities on your smartphone
- Ability to buy multiple contracts
Disadvantages:
- High withdrawal fees
- Minimum BTC contract of $3000
BTC.com
Ideal for mining Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, the BTC.com mining pool has long been the leader in the field. It has the advantage of running on Android and iOS, so you can monitor your statistics and activity remotely. At the same time, contrary to what its name suggests, it is a multi-currency support that can also be used to mine LTC and CKB.
Advantages:
- Numerous supports
- Quality of service
- Several currencies available
- Largest BTC mining pool
Disadvantages:
- Complex and time-consuming installation
- Unresponsive customer service
Ethermine
Ethermine is a mining group platform that allows users to mine some cryptos as ETC, Ravencoin and Ergo. If you were a ETH miner, today you have several possible routes to take after the merger. One is to switch to Ethereum Classic (ETC) mining, which will remain a PoW network. Alternatively, you can start mining another of the many PoW cryptocurrencies available, such as Ravencoin (RVN) and Ergo (ERG).
Ethermine is highly efficient, and it is one of the few mining pools to allow miners to remain totally anonymous, thanks to a strict confidentiality policy. The platform is also appreciated for its low mining fees and instant payouts. Ethermine supports PPLNS rewards and allows users to customize their minimum payment threshold. The company also offers apps on iOS and Android for tracking and statistics.
Advantages:
- Large number of minors
- Only 1% fee
- 40 blocks generated per hour
- Single wallet for payments
- Ultra-simple win transfers
Disadvantages:
- Pool only available in English
NanoPool
Renowned the world over, the NanoPool mining pool has the advantage of nodes and servers based in every corner of the globe. It’s also one of the most secure mining pools available today. In parallel, NanoPool offers a comprehensive tutorial, perfect for learning how to mine on the platform. iOS and Android apps have been set up to facilitate remote monitoring, and NanoPool customer service has the advantage of being available 24/7 in case of problems or questions.
Advantages:
- Integrated profitability calculator
- 24/7 support
- Full tutorial
- Android and iOS apps
- Easy access to assets thanks to cloud storage
Disadvantages:
- High transaction fees
- Limited choice of coins (Ethereum Classic, ZCash, Raven, Conflux, and Monero)
Antpool
The second largest bitcoin mining pool, with a market share of almost 15%, Antpool has the advantage of also offering other cryptocurrencies, including BCH, ETC and LTC. This multi-currency mining pool stands out for its attractive revenues, in the region of $0.3405 per Terra hash. The Antpool mining pool offers a PPS+, PPLNS, FPPS and PPS reward system, depending on the cryptocurrency mined. It is one of the few to be compatible with OS platforms.
Advantages:
- Second largest bitcoin mining pool
- Intuitive interface
- APP, Mail, SMS and WeChat notification
- Ultra-stable service
- Large selection of cryptocurrencies
Disadvantages:
- Low profitability due to number of miners
- 2.5% transaction fee
