Which cryptos to mine in 2022?

Which cryptocurrency should you mine with your graphics cards? In this end-of-year video (in French), we give our view on the coins to mine in 2022 and the method for making your own choice: start from your hardware, find the mineable coins, then assess how solid each project is.

Video published at the end of 2021: the information below dates from that time. See "What about today?" at the end of the article.

Start from your graphics card

The choice depends first on your hardware: not all cards perform equally on every algorithm. An example: on Ethereum, a non-LHR RTX 3070 mines at 60 to 62 MH/s, roughly the same as an RX 6800. On Ravencoin, however, the RX 6800 reaches 33 MH/s against 28 for the RTX 3070. Another point worth knowing: AMD cards generally cannot mine as many algorithms as NVIDIA cards.

To compare, the reference is the WhatToMine website: you select your cards and see, coin by coin, what they can earn.

Find the mineable coins

To discover other coins to mine, we also recommend MiningPoolStats, as well as the sites that list all cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation, to see where each project stands.

Look at the trading volume

In our view, the most useful criterion is trading volume: it is better to mine a coin with at least some market capitalisation and volume. There are several strategies: target relatively safe coins, or bet on smaller projects, with more risk. The gap is striking: about 7,800 BTC traded for Ethereum, around thirty for Ravencoin.

Our picks for 2022

• Ethereum: no surprise, it is the safe bet, the coin that launched smart contracts. We advise continuing to mine it and think its price could climb further with the move to proof of stake.
• Ethereum Classic: there may be an opportunity with that same transition, but it cuts both ways: if the ASICs that mined Ethereum switch to it, its profitability may not be very attractive.
• Flux: a coin that got a lot of attention at the end of 2021, with good profitability and a volume that was starting to become significant (top 200, perhaps top 150). The project is designed for miners: it does everything it can to stop ASICs from mining it, and remains reserved for graphics cards.
• Ravencoin: after Ethereum, the mineable coin with the most volume, in our view. It is a fork of Bitcoin with improvements, and a halving was expected in early 2022; historically, the price can jump a little beforehand. Its drawback: a power-hungry algorithm that makes the cards run hot. You can look for a compromise by not mining at 100% of the possible hashrate, to limit consumption.
• Ergo: very profitable in 2021, with a light algorithm whose power consumption is roughly equivalent to Ethereum's. On the other hand, its volume remained low and its price had not risen much during the year: one to watch. It is a pleasant coin to mine, as it uses little power.

To conclude, we invite everyone to make their own comparisons and their own strategy, depending on their hardware and the level of risk they accept.

What about today?

On 15 September 2022, Ethereum moved to proof of stake (the Merge): Ethereum can no longer be mined with graphics cards, and GPU mining income has collapsed. The selection above is therefore out of date, but the method is still useful: start from your hardware, compare profitability and look at a coin's volume before mining it.

Today, mining mostly relies on dedicated machines: browse our ASIC miners, estimate your earnings with our Bitcoin mining profitability calculator, find our guides on the tutorials page or contact us for advice before you buy.

This article summarises the content of the video and does not constitute investment advice.