Mining profitability

Mining profitability is the gap between a miner's income and its expenses over a given period. Income comes from block rewards and transaction fees, usually received through a pool. Expenses include electricity, hosting if any, maintenance and the depreciation of the machine's purchase price.

This calculation is never fixed. It depends on variables that are constantly moving: the price of the mined coin, the network difficulty, the level of transaction fees and the halvings, which cut the reward in half at regular intervals. A machine that is profitable today may no longer be in a few months, and vice versa. That is why no estimate amounts to a promise of earnings.

To compare machines, look first at their energy efficiency, expressed in J/TH for Bitcoin ASICs: the lower it is, the less each unit of computing costs in electricity. After that, the price you pay per kWh often weighs more than everything else. Two people who buy the same Antminer can get very different results depending on their electricity contract or their access to surplus solar power.

Our profitability calculators help you make these estimates with your own electricity cost before you choose a machine.