If we take one single look at the crypto world today, we’ll quickly notice that cloud mining is a really hot topic within certain cryptocurrency mining circles. Progressively more and more people want to know various things about cloud mining – how it works, who are the service providers, what are the costs, etc. Naturally, a lot of people gravitate towards free cloud mining, for it seems to be the most attractive option out there.
In this tutorial, we’re gonna talk about all things related to cloud mining. We’ll cover both the basic definitions and the more in-depth stuff. Along the way, I’ll give you some examples of the best cloud mining providers out there, both paid and free.
Since the debate of which one is better – paid or free cloud mining – seems to be an ongoing issue, I’ll also talk about some of the pros and cons that both of those options possess.
What is Cloud Mining?
To develop a full-circle type of conversation and understanding, let’s take it from the top and define cloud mining.
Cloud mining is usually defined simply as a remote cryptocurrency mining service. This service is provided by hosts (people who own and sell the cloud mining service) who have farms (huge collections of mining rigs, usually held in big, designated facilities).
The hosts are usually big corporations that specialize in cloud mining. These corporations buy excessive amounts of mining rig hardware (GPUs, motherboards, processors, etc.) and build hundreds of rigs. Naturally, they are located in respectively sized buildings – huge garages, warehouses and so on. The type of building doesn’t matter – the only conditions are cheap electricity bills and good cooling and air conditioning.
Cloud mining is becoming more and more popular for a couple of reasons.
First of all, it’s very accessible. The average person usually hasn’t got a lot of space or resources required for a successful mining operation. However, with the help of cloud mining, almost everyone can “have” their designated mining rigs that produce revenue over time.
Another popular reason is the cost (or a lack of one). Sure, you could pay someone for their hosting services. However, free cloud mining is also a thing – with this option, you eliminate any possible spendings. Many people don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on their rigs and their maintenance. In such scenarios, free cloud mining becomes a very tempting option.
Paid Cloud Mining vs Free Cloud Mining
Since Bitcoin seems to be the most popular cryptocurrency of choice when it comes to cloud mining, that’s the coin I’ll be using and referring to from this point onwards.
The debate about which one of the two (paid and free cloud mining) is better and more worthwhile is an ongoing topic in the crypto community. While there are arguments that the more you play – the more you earn, free cloud miners emphasize the lack of initial payment as the outweighing factor. Let’s take a closer look at these two types of Bitcoin cloud mining options.
What you should know, though, is that paid options tend to be better than free ones. The same applies to cryptocurrency wallets. It’s better to pay for a secure and reliable hardware wallet.
Paid Cloud Mining: Pros and Cons
Paid cloud mining comes in different plans. You, as the customer, pick a plan that suits you the most (some sites and companies even offer custom plans). Then you simply decide on a timeline, unless one is already given beforehand.
Different types of Bitcoin cloud mining plans offer different hash rates. A hash rate is simply the indicator of how powerful the rig is or, in other words, how much Bitcoin it can mine at any given point in time.
Paid cloud miners agree that the initial cost for a contract can be somewhat (or very) expensive. However, they do stress that it all depends on what type of hash rate you prefer. The bigger the upfront payment, the faster the hash rate you will receive and, in turn, the sooner you’ll start noticing profitable results.
The ability to create custom plans also plays a big part in this. A custom plan means that you can choose how much you want to pay or how fast you want the rig to mine. Some companies even offer the option to pick the time of your cloud mining process – you might want to mine for a month or two just to see what it’s like, or perhaps even jump into a lifelong contract.
Prices
When it comes to the cons of paid cloud mining, the first and obvious one would probably have to be the price. Paid cloud mining tends to get quite expensive. Depending on the amount of money you’ve decided to invest in cloud mining, even the entry plans could seem too expensive to tackle.
Paid cloud mining entry plans usually start from around $200 – $300. Considering the usual price increases for the following levels of plans, this is a decent price to start with. With an entry plan, you get the minimum hash rate speed, while the time of the plan could vary. These entry-level cloud mining plans are mostly designed for people who have never had any previous experience with cloud mining, and simply want to get a feel for it.
Others who are serious and determined that cloud mining is the future of their financial income tend to invest a lot more from the very beginning. This isn’t a problem in itself, but such investors should be aware and do their research!
There are a lot of ill intent-driven companies out there who might let the lower levels of contracts pass. This would happen simply because they would hope that the person would eventually upgrade their contract to a more expensive one. However, they will jump to an opportunity to scam bigger investors.
Free Cloud Mining – Pros and Cons
When it comes to free Bitcoin cloud mining, the biggest debate is whether it’s worth it or not.
Free cloud mining offers people the ability to pitch into the world of cryptocurrency mining without having to need to invest any initial fees. When you search for “Bitcoin cloud mining free” on Google, hundreds of sites pop up offering their expertise and services in the free cloud mining area.
How free cloud mining works is that while hosts don’t require any initial fees, they take certain portions of your monthly revenue, in addition to the electricity costs and maintenance fees. When you’re talking about cloud Bitcoin mining, this becomes an even bigger issue.
Bitcoin is known for being one of the slowest (if not the slowest) crypto coins to mine. This is due to its popularity and market cap. A lot of people want to own at least a tiny amount of Bitcoin. Some of them want it simply for the sentiment, others – to show off in front of friends and colleagues.
Because of this, Bitcoin cloud mining (free) becomes an almost eternal process. The fact that it’s free already means that it’s going to be slow, so when you add Bitcoin (as slow crypto to mine) into the equation, any profits seem almost non-existent.
Scamming Problem
Another issue with free cloud mining is that this area is saturated with scammers and fraudsters. These hosts usually don’t see a need to provide any proof of work (or simply provide fake ones). That is because they market their services to be “*FREE*!”.
These guys will have nice and shiny homepages and “a lot of positive reviews”. However, as soon as you type in some sort of personal information, you can be sure that it’s gone for good.
If you’re looking for Bitcoin cloud mining (free) service providers, always do your research and look into more than one place. Forums and online chat rooms are a great place to start. Here, people usually offer good advice and tips on how to avoid the above-mentioned scammers.
