Is Ethereum Mining Worth it?

This year Ethereum’s network is expected to change. From Proof-of-Work to a Proof-of-Stake model, some are skeptic whether this will be a good thing for Ether miners. With the PoW miners verify transactions on the blockchain and get rewards in ether for the computing power they spend. With PoS this process will be done by people who already own ether and most importantly how much they own of it. This means that miners will become unnecessary. This is why many believe that mining ethereum will become unprofitable.

1. Mining Ethereum is basically solving a mathematical algorithm. The harder the algorithm is to solve, the harder the mining process will become. This leads to decreasing the amount of ethereum you receive with each unit of energy your rig expands to. If more miners join, the difficulty increases.
2. In order for the mathematical algorithm to be solved, you need a good hashrate. The hashrate is actually the speed your mining rig is able to achieve in order to solve the algorithm. The higher the hashrate the more electricity spent. The average hashrate of ethereum network increased since last year and it’s now at the highest point it has been ever.
3. Every mining rig works with a different level of efficiency. If we talk about the low amount of energy spent, miners spend about 100 W but they can easily jump up to 1000 W. This will cost the average miner more than they can earn.

Despite all this being said, there is still a small chance for Ethereum mining to remain profitable. You should, however, consider other available coins that have better conditions and best fit your goals and purposes.