Best bitcoin browser miner

Though prices have cooled off a bit, Bitcoin remains the top cryptocurrency by market cap. Choosing the best bitcoin mining software can make mining easier to manage and boost long-term profitability.

The Best Bitcoin Mining Software:

• Cudo Miner
• Honeyminer
• Awesome Miner
• Hive OS
• SimpleMiningOS

What Does Bitcoin Mining Software Do?

Bitcoin mining is the process by which a new bitcoin is brought into existence. There can never be more than 21 million Bitcoins in existence, by design. Over 3.3 million of Bitcoins are yet to be mined, a prize worth over $15 billion at today’s prices. Mining is a popular alternative to buying bitcoin.

Bitcoin miners aren’t physically digging anything up. Instead, mining is comprised of solving puzzles required to add new blocks of transactions to the blockchain. Bitcoin mining software does this by solving a complex mathematical problem and including the answer in the block. When a block is solved, a reward is earned.

The very first Bitcoin block offered 50 bitcoins (BTC) as a block reward. Built into Bitcoin’s code is a rule that cuts the reward in half every 210,000 blocks. Blocks #1 through #210,000 paid 50 BTC. Blocks #210,001 through #420,000 paid 25 BTC, and so on.

Currently, the block reward is 12.5 BTC, worth over $63,000 today, and is expected to halve again in 2020 to 6.25 BTC.

The process of bitcoin mining uses a measurement called hash power. This refers to how fast the hardware and software can produce guesses to solve the encryption puzzle. In general, a higher hash rate leads to faster block rewards.

Due to the increasing complexity involved with solving a block, hardware plays a huge role in productivity. This has led to the use of specialized ASIC hardware by many miners in combination with mining software.

Hash rate differences can be found between software providers, as well as differences in efficiency. This depends on how much of the reward goes to the software company or how much of your hash power is donated to the software provider.

In some cases, you can purchase the software outright or license the software per machine, allowing you to keep all your earnings.

You’ll find that bitcoin mining software comes in different forms, from web-based mining that uses javascript, to standalone software programs that mine in the background, to entire operating systems designed around cryptocurrency mining.

In some cases, like browser miners or some software packages, the mining software is really mining Monero (or a cryptocurrency with a similar CPU-optimized algorithm) and then converting to Bitcoin for payments. As you might expect, this conversion process can lead to some overhead that can affect profitability.

For Bitcoin, in particular, and if your hardware is optimized for mining Bitcoin, you’ll probably want to move to dedicated Bitcoin mining software solutions.

Key Features of the Best Software

Miners range from beginning, casual miners who just want to put their machines to work during downtime, to those building systems specifically to mine or even optimize for a particular type of currency. Even with such a broad group of needs, there is still some overlap in key features, some of which may be a bigger priority for some users.

Hash Rate

You can think of the hash rate as efficiency. Your hash rate can be used to predict your daily or monthly mining earnings. What you’ll find, however, is that there are sometimes measurable differences in hash rates from one mining software platform to the next. This discrepancy can create drag, slowing your mining earnings.

Currency Switch Mining

Some Bitcoin mining software provides the ability to switch to a more profitable currency for mining while still paying out in Bitcoin, or another currency of your choice. The software chooses the best cryptocurrency to mine based on the hardware you are using as well as the market price and current mining difficulty for the currencies it supports.

This can be a great feature for beginners or casual miners who don’t have a dedicated mining rig with the latest hardware or specialized ASIC chips.

For example, CPU mining isn’t practical for Bitcoin, but even a low-end computer can mine Monero or a similar CPU-optimized currency, which can then be converted to Bitcoin.

Open Source

The cryptocurrency market has had its share of scandals, fraud, and sketchy characters. For this reason, along with others, open source software may be a priority for some users. The code is openly available to review. Cudo Miner, for example, uses open source miners unless you specifically enable closed source miners.

User Optimizations

Sometimes a small tweak to the default settings can yield large dividends in increased hash rate, boosting monthly earnings. If you want more control, you’ll want mining software that gives you more tuning options.

Costs and Fees

Much like the way a lower hash rate can create a drag on production, fees should be considered as well. Some mining software is licensed as a 1-time purchase. Other solutions are offered with a monthly fee or even a percentage of earnings.

For example, you might pay a fee as a percentage of your Bitcoin production and then another fee for transferring your Bitcoin to a separate wallet. These fees can add up, so if you choose mining software with higher fees, be sure there’s enough value provided to justify the increased cost.

You’ll find that even open-source projects often redirect some of your hash power to the developer’s mining pool, typically 2% to 5%. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but be sure there’s value in the exchange.

Easy Setup and GUI with Reporting

It’s nice to be up and running quickly so you can start to track your progress. Command line software provides productivity data as well, but you’re on your own to build graphs and aggregate the data. Many miners will prefer software with easy setup and intuitive reporting, assuming there isn’t too much of a penalty paid in terms of hash rate or fees in exchange for ease of use.

Security

Following a high-profile hack of NiceHash in 2017, in which over $60 million worth of Bitcoin went missing, security may be a bigger concern than ever before. Software that mines directly to your wallet (solo mining) minimizes exposure to hackers.

Mining software that also serves as a web platform and temporary wallet increases this risk but provides other benefits like ease of use or mining other currencies that are automatically converted to Bitcoin.

Our Picks for the Best Bitcoin Mining Software

Whether you’re a casual miner, hobbyist, or run a mining farm, there’s a mining software solution designed for you.

Cudo Miner