Today, my dear friends, we are not going to talk about pure mining, but rather about mining speculation. In English, we call it "Spec mining", in case you have already read it somewhere.
If you've never heard of it, well, now is the time.
Instead of mining the most profitable/known coins, have you ever thought about mining a new, yet unknown crypto? This is what we call mining speculation or Spec mining.
If you're on Discord or follow a mining community on social media, you may have seen people mention this: “I am currently Spec mining xxx coin”.
In short, Spec mining is a short term for speculative mining; We agree 😉
Beginners often think that altcoin mining is different from traditional ASIC/GPU mining or cloud mining. Actually, no it's not. To be more exact, Spec mining = Mining speculation of a new crypto at its launch and/or before its price/value is set.
Recently, one of our readers kindly asked us which cryptocurrencies he should mine to be profitable. He told us he was interested in mining new cryptocurrencies. Well, there you have it, we are taking advantage of this article to reveal a little more about mining speculation.
Why Spec Mining?
This is a process of exploring a cryptocurrency that you believe will increase in value in the future. However, at the time you decide to mine it, this crypto does not yet have a defined value.
Speculative mining allows miners to have a very high return on investment on the coin they mine and prevents the mining of the most expensive coins.
In other words, Spec mining is nothing more than finding and mining a recently launched low-difficulty altcoin that few people know about. These types of coins will not be listed on exchange platforms and therefore do not allow real price fixing.
Additionally, these coins may or may not be available on mining farms. Not only that, but since the project is in its early stages, the wallet could be prone to bugs and even the mining software may prove unstable.
Miners can often find profitable coins to mine on WhatToMine For example. They will look for the least known and most recent pieces.
For example, for this crypto Zetacoin, we see directly in the box, at the top right, "active/not listed". This means that this crypto is not yet listed on the exchange platforms.
For fans of Spec mining, it is therefore an ideal crypto. Of course, it still has to prove profitable in the long term.
🤔And, now, you are wondering why these people are absolutely trying to mine these new cryptocurrencies that no one knows about?
Quite simply, they seek to mine cryptocurrencies when it is easiest. The difficulty level is still very low. It is therefore the perfect time for them to mine these cryptocurrencies.
They begin to mine these cryptos that no one knows, nevertheless choosing cryptos with high potential. Then, once the crypto gets listed on a platform, they trade and sell them. They therefore make significant profits simply because they had the flair to mine before everyone else.
That's the best case scenario, eh.
Although speculative mining can generate significant profits (only if done right); it can also be just as….useless. Before you start spec mining, watch your back.
The advantages and disadvantages of Spec mining:
I think you're hot and want to get into it too. After all, it's super smart to mine in a crypto that's going to explode. It's even smarter than mining an already expensive crypto like bitcoin (?).
In short, but before you launch into speculative mining, let's see the advantages and disadvantages.
Because, in fact, mining new coins can be super profitable if you find the nugget. For example, I am thinking of those who mined Ravencoin in its early days…Similarly, those who mined Turtlecoin or GIN…The list is quite long. Even though these cryptos aren't worth much at the time, it was very easy to get thousands of them just through mining.
But beyond these great projects, we must not forget the other cryptos which have made big flops.
In the current situation, the majority of new coins are clones that in most cases end up being pure “shitcoins”. Most people mining these coins are jumping in blindly without any proper research and end up losing money or wasting their time.
As with any investment; whether it is money or hash, you must always aim for profitability.
If proper research is done and you have the right flair, then spec mining can make you rich.
However, if you settle for FOMO just because others are mining this or that crypto, then you will end up wasting your time and energy for nothing, without ever gaining anything.
Okay, are there any criteria for finding the right parts?
First, understand why it is called speculative mining. There is the word speculative. People mine unknown altcoins because they are convinced that these cryptos will explode in the months or years to come.
It's not a proven way to get rich and you know the mining world is crazy.
There are tons of scams and low quality altcoins out there. We do not recommend mining every crypto you see. It's not because they are recent that they are going to be a hit.
There are plenty of other things to take into account.
Likewise, if someone recommends you watch this or that project, don't just watch them.
💡 Instead, do your own research yourself. Analyze what the project is about in depth. Read the white paper. Check out the website. Get to know the team and ask them questions about the project.
Additionally, make sure there are no premelins or ICOs and the coin has interesting features. Finally, only start mining if you believe and feel comfortable with the project in question.
Regardless, even with all this research, the chances of this mining failing are quite high. That said, let's see how to find good altcoin alternatives to mine in their early stages to maximize your future gains.
How to find the right crypto for speculative mining?
The whole point of speculative mining is to find a crypto when it launches and mine it from the start. There is no particular technique to find the nugget, I'm sorry...
But, there are still steps to follow. For example, to find the freshest cryptocurrencies, you have to go to dedicated discussion groups. Very clearly, if you don't know them or if you're not used to going there; At first, it will seem confusing to you.
I'm talking about forums like:
- GitHub
- Discord
- Telegram
- And, more importantly, the most famous: Bitcoin Talk.
It clearly takes a little time for adoption because, quite honestly, these forums are quite old school in terms of design. That said, the content is crazy and most of the founders of new cryptos go to its forums to present their projects.
If you really want to enter the crypto world and find nuggets before anyone else, frankly, you have no choice but to go to these forums.
Now that you have potentially found the altcoin that will make you “rich” or close to it, let’s see what you need.
Before you start speculative mining:
Here are some points to take into account before you start mining:
1. Mining solo : If you are mining a new Altcoin that still has a low difficulty, then most certainly, this crypto will not have a mining "pool" yet. You know, "pools" were set up to maximize the chances of obtaining rewards as the difficulty increases. So, from the moment there is no difficulty, then you can be sure that there will be little or no "pool". So you will have to learn to mine alone. This is called "solo mining".
2. No possibility to convert/exchange your coins: The new altcoin that you have decided to mine will not be able to be converted immediately. If you are looking for coins to mine and sell immediately, speculative mining is not for you. This is a way to make money in the long term only. The newly launched coins will not be listed on any exchange. If you are ready to buy or sell your mined coins, OTC is the only way. If you are not comfortable with transactions of this type, without a platform, then you will have to wait for the coin to be listed on an exchange.
3. There will be no great documentation. In my opinion, this is the biggest problem when getting into speculative mining. There aren't many tools available to guide you. You will be alone or almost. You might have another guy like you who you can chat with on a forum, but that's it. No articles, no videos, no tutorials, nothing. Maybe the project team, of course, but that's it. Even, to calculate your profitability, you will have almost no clue. If you are new, you will have difficulty calculating the rewards from your mining. Likewise, in the long term, you will have difficulty figuring out the value of your crypto.
Conclusion: Is speculative mining worth it?
We looked at spec mining in general. You now know what awaits you. And, I think to be honest with you, it's a great opportunity to take advantage of.
You know how difficult it has become to mine bitcoin, For example. We tend to only look at the extremes. Or the most difficult and expensive cryptos to mine or the brand new cryptos in which we know nothing.
Don't forget that there are many others cryptocurrencies just as profitable to mine!
Otherwise, I just have to wish you good mining!
See also: