It is already impossible to imagine the modern world without cryptocurrency – in some countries it is officially accepted at the state level, large companies acquire entire coal plants for the extraction of bitcoins, and it is almost impossible to buy a video card because of mining farms. And not everyone is ready to pay 150 thousand rubles for a powerful video card or ASIC, just to try to mine cryptocurrency, making money on it. However, there is no need for this – you can try the world of mining without additional equipment or a powerful PC, just take your smartphone out of your pocket and install one of the many applications. But, of course, there are several nuances.
Theoretical benefits of mining on a smartphone
Although most often users for mining cryptocurrency use powerful video cards, entire farms or special devices, in fact, smartphones have certain advantages in performing this task that their “older brothers” do not have.
- Low entry threshold – a modern smartphone, even of a flagship level, is much cheaper than a productive video card, not to mention the cost of assembling a system ready for cryptocurrency mining.
- At night, the smartphone is not used in any way – you can set aside 10-12 hours for nightly mining of cryptocurrency without making changes to everyday life, plus the smartphone during operation, unlike a PC, does not make noise and does not interfere with sleep.
- Mining software on a smartphone does not require deep knowledge – just download the application, launch it and put the device aside.
- Everyone has a smartphone – from primary school students to elderly people. Accordingly, anyone can try to mine cryptocurrency if they have access to the network.
Practical disadvantages of mining on a smartphone
On the other hand, which is quite expected, mining cryptocurrency on a smartphone has its own obvious or not very drawbacks, which the user must be aware of before sending the device for a ten-hour “working day”. It is not for nothing that the topic of mining on mobile gadgets is not as popular as on a PC, for example.
1. Smartphones have lower performance than video cards
Although major smartphone manufacturers every year talk about the growing performance of systems on a chip, even the flagships still cannot compete with video cards. For example, a relatively fresh flagship three years ago on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor demonstrates a performance of 20 H / s, which is approximately equal to 1.21 rubles (at the rate of 1 bitcoin for $ 61301) for 24 hours of continuous operation – this is the level of modern “average”. More powerful modern top models at a price of 80-100 thousand rubles demonstrate 50-70 H / s, bringing their owners 2.8-3.2 rubles per day. For comparison, the NVIDIA RTX 3080 video card, which costs 140 thousand rubles, brings its owner 490 rubles per day.
2. The resource of the device will be used up much faster
In order to efficiently mine cryptocurrency, a smartphone must work at the limit of its capabilities for many hours. Naturally, during the increased load, the gadget will heat up – there are tests on the network, for example, how the fresh flagship Xiaomi in the stress test heated up to 51 ° C, which is very harmful for the internal components of the smartphone. Naturally, the device will go into throttling at elevated temperatures, losing performance. Or, if the user finds a way to disable throttling by forcing the smartphone to mine cryptocurrency without respite, the resource of the smartphone itself will end much earlier than the device pays for itself (in the next paragraph there will be a detailed calculation).
3. Applications-viruses and mining in someone else’s pocket
It is almost impossible to find software for mining cryptocurrency on Google Play, since such programs are usually banned by the platform. Accordingly, you will have to download the application from the developer’s website or third-party resources, which significantly increases the chance of downloading a virus instead of a miner. Such software only visually demonstrates the process of mining cryptocurrency, in fact, stealing user data. In addition, there are many examples of applications on the network that actually mine cryptocurrency, but not to the wallet of the smartphone owner, but to the account of the software developer – when the user wants to withdraw money, his account will simply be reset to zero.
4. Extremely low profitability turning into losses
From the first drawback of mining on a smartphone, it follows that it will not work to make some impressive money. In addition, when accounting for profit, two additional parameters should be taken into account – repair costs (in the event of a battery failure) and electricity. Yes, the last point should be taken into account, since despite popular belief, charging a smartphone costs money, this is especially noticeable against the background of profits from cryptocurrency mining.
The profitability of mining cryptocurrency on a smartphone
Calculating the profitability of mining on a smartphone is actually very simple. For example, let’s take any flagship smartphone from last year, which costs 50-60 thousand rubles and produces 70 H / s. With this configuration, the gadget will bring 3.2 rubles for 24 hours of operation. From this amount, it is worth subtracting the cost of electricity – one full charge of the smartphone costs about 10 kopecks, but given the constant load, the smartphone will have to be charged approximately once every five hours, that is, 5 times in 24 hours. This means that 0.5 rubles should be subtracted from 3.2 rubles for electricity costs. It turns out 2.7 rubles per day, 81 rubles per month or 972 rubles per year.
But this amount is not finite either. Firstly, you are unlikely to be mining on your smartphone 24 hours a day, most likely half as much – at night, while the gadget is not in use. Secondly, in mining applications, only performance is indicated, which we translate into rubles. But in fact, when withdrawing money from cryptocurrency, for example, from bitcoin, exchangers also take a certain percentage in rubles – it ranges from 10 to 40% depending on the type of currency and the user’s country. And, thirdly, an Android smartphone loses 30% of its value a year after purchase, and 50% after two years. This is also included in depreciation costs, as well as the theoretical need to replace the battery after a year.
Based on this information, even if you do not take into account the withdrawal commission and depreciation, in order to recoup a smartphone, you will have to mine 24 hours a day for 50 years.
You can try, but it won’t work
Naturally, taking into account the above calculations, there is absolutely no point in mining cryptocurrency on a smartphone – even under ideal conditions, it does not seem like such a common idea to get a profit in 50 years. Moreover, for the same money, you can buy a video card, which will bring many times more money and will pay for itself in a year or two. But, on the other hand, if you really want to touch the world of cryptocurrency without buying an expensive video card or a whole computer, then mining on a smartphone is quite capable of quenching the thirst for the new and unknown. You just have to take into account that you will not be able to make money on this.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
