Do you want to mine ADA? Awesome choice indeed! Cardano is an extremely important project in the world of cryptocurrency. In this crypto mining tutorial, I’ll help you learn how to mine Cardano ADA on PC or laptop.
I have previously created a tutorial on mining Ergocoin, and I have explained about proof of work and staking.
And if you're an expert, let me tell you that you’re right that you cannot mine Cardano directly. Why? It’s based on Proof of Stake (POS) and not Proof of Work (POW) operating model.
Read on even if you’re a beginner because I’ll explain about Cardano in straightforward words. And you’ll also learn how to mine ADA. Let’s get started right now.
How to Mine Cardano (ADA) Crypto Coin on PC at Home (2022)
I have mined around 2 ADAs in 48 hours using my PC. Do you want to know how I did it? Watch this video right now on my YouTube channel:
What is Cardano (ADA)
Cardano ADA is named after Ada Lovelace, a 19th century mathematician who is also recognized as the first programmer. She’s the daughter of an English poet, Lord Byron. Although it’s interesting to know that, it's not important for you.
Ada is a digital currency that can be used by anyone as a secure exchange of value. It obviously plays the role of money. Every transaction is permanently recorded on the Cardano blockchain. Every ADA holder has a stake in the Cardano network.
How to earn Cardano? For that, you need your wallet to delegate or pledge to a stake pool. It means that Cardano is based on proof of stake. Here’s how to buy or sell ADA coins:
Visit a top cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance or CoinbaseOpen an account at the crypto exchangeCreate or buy a wallet like YoroiStart buying ADA for some other coin like USDT
That’s how you buy or sell ADA. Cardano foundation recommends Daedalus or Yoroi wallets for their security and privacy. Daedalus is a full-node desktop wallet. Yoroi is a one-click-install wallet for Cardano and it’s light. So I have chosen it for this tutorial.
Why Cardano is Important
Cardano (ADA) is an extremely important cryptocurrency in the modern world. It builds on the technology of Bitcoin and Ethereum with improved sustainability and scalability. With that said, it's relatively friendly to the environment.
And it’s faster and more secure than Bitcoin and Ethereum. Isn’t it enough for you to start mining Cardano ADA on a PC or full-fledged rig? Cardano has recently got mainstream attention. But it’s worth more, I’m sure.
Here are more reasons on why Cardano is a must-mining cryptocurrency:
Cardano ADA is energy-efficient and consumes only 6 gigawatt hours per year. While Bitcoin and Ethereum cost over 130 and 50 terawatt hours energy per year. Cardano’s founder is Ethereurm’s cofounder. And it’s important because we have already witnessed the work of HoskinsonCardano networks can handle a substantial number of transactions. For example, BTC processes only 5 transactions per second, while Cardano processes 257 transactions per second. Currency is important only when it has some value. Cardano has a variety of uses in healthcare, finance, agriculture and other fields. Cardano ADA coins are not unlimited. It has a maximum supply of 45 billion ADA. And just for your information, 32 billion ADA are in circulation right now.
All these bullet points are extremely promising for Cardano ADA. If you want to mine Cardano at home, this tutorial is for you. But first, let me reveal something.
You cannot mine Cardano?
What? You’re mad at me? Well, don’t be. Let me tell you why.
But don’t worry, I’ll still help you learn how to mine Cardano on PC.
Create a Wallet on Yoroi
Yoroi is one of the fastest and most secure crypto wallets in the world. The Cardano foundation officially recommends it along with the Daedalus. However, YOROI is more lightweight than Daedalus. Creating a Yoroi wallet is quick.
This is how you do it:
1. Go to yoroi-wallet.com and click on the ‘Download' button
2. Choose the download version according to your OS. I have used the Chrome version.
3. ‘Add to Chrome' if you want to use the wallet on Google Chrome like me.
4. Confirm on ‘Add extension' you're ready.
5. Click on the Yoroi logo from the extension's bar on Google Chrome.
6. Go for the ‘Simple' wallet now.
7. Skip the next option or allow to enable Cardano payment URLs.
8. Connect your hardware wallet, create a new one, or restore the old one.
9. Choose the ‘Cardano ADA' and ‘create wallet' now.
Choose Cardano
7. Enter your wallet information, set your ‘recovery phrase.'
But don't forget it after setting it up because you may need it for secure transactions.
And boom! You've created a new wallet on Yoroi. Now is the time for you to connect your hardware to a mining pool. Let's do it right away. Go to ‘Receive’ to get your wallet’s address.
Download the Miner
Here’s how you download the miner. I have selected unMinable for this case study.
1. Go to Github and download NBMiner to mine ADA
2. Extract the zipped file
Now you must configure the miner to start mining Cardano ADA.
Configure the Miner
1. Right-click on ‘start_eth.bat’ file
2. Delete data inside the file
3. Replace the information with:
nbminer.exe -a ethash -o stratum+tcp:POOL_URL -u COIN: ADDRESS.WORKER pause
WORKER can be anything like your name or company’s name.
4. Replace ADDRESS with your ADA Wallet Address
5. Replace POOL_URL with UnMinable’s pool for ADA
6. Save it and boom!
Let me remind you once again that with this way, you’ll mine ETH and get paid in ADA. You cannot mine ADA directly. Let’s get your miner to start mining now.
Run the Miner
Go back to the folder downloaded from unMinable. And open the ‘start_eth.bat’ file. If everything goes well, you’ll be running the miner smoothly now.
See If It’s Working
But let’s confirm if the miner is working properly. Here’s how you do it:
1. Copy your YOROI’s ADA wallet address.
2. And paste it in UnMinable’s address section.
3. Search and analyze the mining progress now.
Your job isn’t over yet. It actually starts from here. How? Now you need to monitor your GPU’s temperature continuously.