There are quite a few terms to know and understand when it comes to cryptocurrency mining, and it is true that there are some terms that seem very similar to one another. In fact, they will often seem like they are interchangeable, and you will find people who have been in the field for years who do use the terms interchangeably, even though there certainly are some differences that should be understood. Below, we will look at miner hosting and miner colocation to determine what each of these terms truly means.

What Is Miner Hosting?

Miner hosting often refers to companies that are going to offer one or more different types of hosting at their facility. This might include shared hosting on the same server, access to a dedicated server for mining, or cloud hosting for mining. Any of these options could work for those who want to get into mining digital currencies and who do not want to invest in ASIC machines of their own. The work is essentially done through the servers offered up by those companies.

There are many companies that offer these types of hosting services for many different needs, but it is very important to remember that not all hosting companies will work with Bitcoin miners and other cryptocurrency miners. The reason for this is simple. Those types of services tend to take up a substantial amount of resources, and not all companies are equipped to handle them. Therefore, when you are searching for a miner host, you will need to make sure that they will work with miners such as yourself. If you don’t, they could cancel your account without even telling you.

What Is Miner Colocation?

Another option, and one that is very popular today, is miner colocation. In fact, some of the miner hosts can also offer colocation services, and this is often where the confusion begins. With colocation, you are going to buy ASIC miners, which you will then have be kept at the colocation center. They are the ones who are supplying the power, and often, they will even be able to set up and take care of the machine to make sure it is in good working order.

The companies lease their rack space, their power, and their bandwidth for the miners. This tends to be a good option for those who want to have their own mining devices, but who do not want to house them on their own property. A colocation center is going to provide redundancy, safety and security, and a cooler operating environment for the machines. It tends to be more cost effective, as well, since you can choose a colocation host that is located in an area that has lower power costs.

When you are choosing a miner host or a miner colocation provider, you will always want to make sure that you check their capabilities, what they allow and can work with, and their reputation. You need a company that can provide you with great uptime and great overall service.

Now that you have a better overall understanding of these two terms, and their differences, you should have a better idea of which you think might be the right choice for you. There are pros and cons to each, and of course, there is always the option of hosting the mining machines at your own property if you prefer and you have the space and ability to keep the machines cool. Take some time to explore your options further and them make a choice that will fit well with your digital currency mining endeavors.

Despite the fact that cryptocurrencies are still relatively new, there have been many terms and words developed over the course of the last several years that have helped to develop jargon for this field. With all of those words, terms, and technologies, it can be difficult for those who are new to Bitcoin to keep up.

However, if you are serious about investing in Bitcoin or mining cryptocurrencies, it is a good idea to learn as much as possible, particularly about some of the new technologies that are being developed and implemented. Segwit and Lightning Network are two of these technologies, and they are geared toward improving the transactions on the Bitcoin network.

Technology to Help With Transactions

Currently, due to the fact that the block size will determine the maximum transaction capacity on the network, the transactions tend to be slow. There are limits to how fast the transactions can occur, so when the number of payments exceeds the capacity, they are added to a later block. This means that it can take half an hour to an hour or more in order for a transaction to go through fully, and to be trusted and accepted on the other end.

The slow transaction times are one of the only real drawbacks of Bitcoin when compared with other types of currency. For example, if you were to pay with cash or with a credit card, the transaction is going to go through instantly or nearly instantly in the vast majority of cases. That just is not true with Bitcoin in its current state. Transactions can be processed more quickly on the network, but in order for that to happen, the person making the transaction would need to pay a higher transaction fee. This fee is going to increase as more and more people are making payments through the network.

Let’s look at two technologies that are geared toward helping to solve this problem.

Segwit

Segwit stands for Segregated Witness. The central idea behind their technology is to increase the Bitcoin network’s capacity by changing the location of the transaction signature from the start of the transaction to the end of the transaction. Those behind Segwit also believe they should weigh the transactions differently when compared to other data against the size limit.

While the main goal of the technology is to improve the way that transactions work when it comes to Bitcoin, you will find that there is another benefit to it as well. This system provides some security improvements to the Bitcoin blockchain, that are very welcome.

Lightning Network

This technology wants to take a different approach to improving the transactions on the Bitcoin network. They want to utilize smart contracts as a means to create payment channels. They will then sync with the blockchain after a certain amount of time, so multiple payments can be processed, and then all of those can be added to one blockchain transaction.

While this has some great benefits, namely that it would be even faster than Segwit, and that it can reduce the congestion on the Bitcoin network, there are some issues, as well. The way the technology works causes concerns over security. So, even though it might be faster than Segwit, it is not as secure.

Both of these technologies are relatively new, and there are only a few providers offering them as part of their service. In fact, with Lightning Network, only TorGuard is accepting transactions. Some of the providers accepting Segwit include wallets like Edge and Electrum and exchanges such as Kraken and Shapeshift.

For those who are interested in learning more about cryptocurrency and all of the options that are available in this field, it can become confusing. There is a very good chance that the first time you heard about cryptocurrency, it was because of Bitcoin. However, this is certainly not the only type of currency available. Many people think that they are the same, but there are some notable differences. Let’s get a better look at what each of these are.

Litecoin

Litecoin(LTC) is a type of cryptocurrency that is used for peer-to-peer payments like Bitcoin. While it is very popular, it is often considered to be the silver to the Bitcoin gold. This means that it tends to be cheaper to start buying this cryptocurrency, and there are plenty of machines that can help you to start mining it. It has had ups and downs over the years, just as the other cryptocurrencies have had. For several years, it was trading in the range of between $3 and $5 per coin.

When it was announced that Litecoin would be using the Segwit upgrade for their blockchain, the price of the coin skyrocketed to reach $366. It is currently around $100 a coin. People like to use this cryptocurrency because the transaction times are faster than with Bitcoin, and because the transaction fees are lower.

Ethereum

Ethereum(ETH) is currently the second largest digital currency in the world, and the name of the currency in this blockchain is ether. This is an open source blockchain that allows smart contracts to be created. These contracts are digital, made via computer protocols that will allow for, verify, and enforce contractual agreements between parties.

Many large companies, as well as financial institutions, have started to explore this Ethereum based technology. They feel that it has the potential to provide secure storage and transfer of data via the blockchain technology. The latest price for a single ether was $496.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin, which has now been around for about a decade, is a peer-to-peer system allowing users to interact with one another directly and without the need for an intermediary, similar to the other cryptocurrencies on the market. Bitcoin remains the largest and most popular of the digital currencies. Currently, a single Bitcoin is worth $6,550. People continue to invest in this currency, and they continue to mine this currency, believing it to be a great investment option and the way of the future.

Bitcoin Cash

You may have also heard of Bitcoin Cash, and some might believe that it is just another term for Bitcoin. That’s not the case. This is, in essence, a spinoff from Bitcoin. In the middle of 2017, developers wanted to increase the Bitcoin block size limit and prepared a code change, otherwise known as a hard fork. This split the blockchain and the cryptocurrency in two, and Bitcoin Cash was the result. It currently trades on Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, and Shapeshift.

Now that you have a better understanding of the different types of digital currencies and options on the market, you should start to have a better idea of which one is going to be right for you whether you want to mine it or make an investment in it. While there are other options out there that could work, as well, these tend to be the most popular choices, and the ones that look like they are here to stay. Continue researching the options, and if you are going to mine, be sure you have the right type of hardware and equipment to get the job done.

GPU VS CPU Mining

GPU vs CPU

What is a CPU?

A CPU is a central processing unit or brain of a computer in computes all functions required by a Laptop, PC, Phone gaming console…etc.

What is a GPU?

A GPU is a graphics processor unit or graphics card for a PC or laptop computer.  Phones do not have GPUs for mining.

Mining

What is Mining Bitcoins? Bitcoin mining is how each new block on the chain of Bitcoin is verified to be true or accurate.  it is the foundation of trust that blockchain technology has brought to the cryptocurrency world.

What is CPU Mining?

• CPU Mining – CPU Mining is when a miner mines Bitcoin or performs Altcoin mining with a PC, Rasberry PIE, laptop or other computer with a central processing unit or CPU.

Other Mining Hardware Rigs

• GPU Mining
  • What is GPU Mining?
    • GPU mining rigs are altcoin mining hardware that often includes a frame, power source and one or several GPUs such as the Nvidia 1080i
• ASIC Mining
  1. What is ASIC Mining?
     1. ASIC mining is Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and possibly Ethereum’s hardware or “rigs”.  These are heavy duty no nonsense machines built to mine bitcoins fast 24 hours a day.  The create a substantial amount of noise and heat.
  2. What is an ASIC miner?

To learn more about the details of ASIC mining hardware, manufactures and miners… you can check out our ASIC mining Guide.

Learn How to Purchase CannaCoin

CannaCoin, or CCN, is a form of cryptocurrency, much like bitcoin, that was developed in 2014. CannaCoin was created to be used by dispensaries, producers, and consumers in the cannabis industry. Initially created with 0% pre-mine and no ICO, CannaCoin reflects the value of cannabis, weed dispensary growth and stands as a standard indicator of legalization in the USA.

If you’re interested in investing in CannaCoin, it’s easy to do. Here are the steps you should take to purchase CannaCoin:

1.Invest in Bitcoin

You need to trade Bitcoin to learn how to buy CannaCoin. Systems like Coinbase offer an easy way to transfer your fiat currency to Bitcoin. On Coinbase you will sign up and perform an ID verification. Once this is done, you can purchase bitcoin with a number of international currencies, including the U.S. Dollar, the British Pound, and the Euro. You can transfer these coins with a credit card or debit card.

There are other options available to buy bitcoin OTC and from miners as well. LocalBitcoins, for instance, offers a peer-to-peer marketplace for cryptocurrency on a global scale.

2. Create an account on an exchange that trades CannaCoin

Currently, the only online exchange that deals in cryptocurrency, as of January of 2018, is Cryptopia.

Creating an account on this marketplace will allow you to exchange your Bitcoin for CannaCoin.

3. Acquire you Bitcoin Address

Once you create an account on Cryptopia you will be able to retrieve your Bitcoin wallet. The instructions to do so are simple and can be found on Cryptopia’s website.

The process will yield two different unique addresses – one is the receiver address and the other is the deposit address. These addresses will consist of a long, randomly generated line of characters. Copy both addresses (I like to write them down on a piece of paper as well, just to be safe).

4. Transfer Bitcoin to the new wallet’s address

Using Coinbase, or any other Bitcoin platform, transfer the Bitcoin to your new cryptocurrency wallet address that you received in the previous step. Be sure to use the receiver address for this transfer.

5. Exchange the Bitcoin for CannaCoin

After the Bitcoin shows up in your exchange account you can use it to purchase CannaCoin. Depending on the amount you are exchanging the specifics may vary, but usually, you will use a CCN/BTC trading pair to trade the currencies. Orders generally trade quickly but may take a few minutes.

 

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