What Is Bitcoin Mining?

Bitcoin mining is the process of using specialized computing hardware to perform proof-of-work: repeatedly hashing a candidate block header until the resulting hash falls below the network's current target. A miner (or mining pool) that produces a valid block receives the block subsidy plus the transaction fees included in that block. The Bitcoin protocol adjusts mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks so that, on average, a new block is found roughly every 10 minutes regardless of how much total hashing power is competing on the network (Bitcoin Developer Guide).

The block subsidy has been 3.125 BTC per block since the fourth halving at block height 840,000 in April 2024. Transaction fees are separate from the subsidy and vary block by block depending on network congestion, so total miner revenue per block is not fixed.

What You Need to Mine BTC

Modern Bitcoin mining is performed almost exclusively with purpose-built SHA-256 ASIC hardware; general-purpose CPUs and GPUs cannot compete at current difficulty levels. Before starting, an operator typically needs:

• A SHA-256 ASIC miner rated for Bitcoin mining
• An adequate power supply and electrical circuit capacity for the miner's rated power draw
• Ventilation or cooling appropriate to the heat the unit generates
• A stable, wired internet connection
• An account with a mining pool and a BTC address to receive payouts
• A realistic estimate of the local electricity rate, since power cost is usually the largest recurring operating expense

Solo Mining vs. Pool Mining

An individual miner can attempt to find blocks independently (solo mining) or contribute hashing power to a pool that aggregates many miners' work. In solo mining, the operator keeps the full block reward if their hardware happens to produce a valid block, but for a single ASIC the probability of finding a block within any reasonable timeframe is extremely low given current network difficulty.

In pool mining, miners submit "shares"—proofs of work that meet an easier, pool-assigned target—to demonstrate how much hashing work they contributed. Most valid shares do not meet the much harder Bitcoin network target and therefore never become actual blocks; they exist so the pool can measure each participant's contribution and calculate payouts under its stated payment method (Bitcoin Developer Guide). This generally produces smaller, more frequent payouts than waiting for a solo block, which is why pool mining is the standard approach for individual ASIC operators.

Step-by-Step: Connecting an ASIC to a Mining Pool

While exact menus vary by manufacturer and firmware, the general sequence for connecting an ASIC to a BTC mining pool is as follows:

1. Create a pool account and secure it with a strong password and available account-security features.
2. Obtain the pool's current Stratum connection details (URL and port) for BTC mining.
3. Open the ASIC's local web interface, usually by entering the miner's IP address in a browser.
4. Enter the pool URL, a worker name, and a mining password in the miner's pool configuration fields.
5. Where the firmware supports it, configure an additional documented pool address as a backup connection.
6. Save the configuration and allow the miner to reconnect.
7. Confirm in the pool's dashboard that the worker appears and is submitting valid shares.
8. Set a withdrawal address in the pool account separately from the miner's connection settings, and verify the address carefully before relying on it.

Example: Connecting a BTC ASIC to ViaBTC

As a concrete illustration, ViaBTC's published BTC mining endpoint is:

Primary: stratum+tcp://btc.viabtc.io:3333
Failover port: 443
Worker format: userID.workerID

According to ViaBTC's Help Center, the worker-ID portion may use lowercase letters and numbers and is limited to 64 characters, and the mining password field is optional—some miner firmware requires a non-empty value, in which case a placeholder can be entered. ViaBTC also recommends configuring an additional documented port where the miner supports it, so the device can fall back to another connection if the primary one becomes unavailable (ViaBTC Help Center). After configuration, a newly connected worker typically takes a short period of stable operation before it appears in the dashboard; this reflects normal reporting delay rather than a fixed technical standard.

Choosing a Payout Method: PPS+ vs. PPLNS

Mining pools generally offer more than one payout method, and the choice affects how rewards are calculated rather than whether mining is profitable overall.

Under ViaBTC's PPS+ method, the block-subsidy component of a found block is settled under PPS rules based on the miner's submitted shares, while transaction-fee earnings are distributed under PPLNS rules. ViaBTC's published fee schedule applies a 4% fee to the PPS-settled block-reward component and a separate 2% fee to transaction-fee earnings distributed under PPLNS logic—these are two distinct rates on two different reward components, not a combined flat fee.

Under ViaBTC's PPLNS method, both the block-reward and transaction-fee components are distributed according to the pool's PPLNS rules, based on a miner's share of contributed work across the pool's stated recent-rounds window, with settlement occurring after a found block reaches the required confirmations. The published PPLNS fee is 2% on the combined distribution (ViaBTC Pricing).

Neither method is universally better. PPLNS payouts depend on blocks the pool actually finds and can be more variable, while PPS+ smooths the block-reward portion of payouts but applies its own fee structure. The more relevant question for an operator is which variability and fee trade-off fits their preference, not which method guarantees higher returns—no payout method removes the underlying risks of BTC price movement, network difficulty, or operating costs.

Monitoring Your Miner

Once connected, an operator should distinguish between several related but non-interchangeable measurements:

• Local hashrate: the hashing rate reported directly by the ASIC's own firmware.
• Pool-side hashrate estimate: the pool's estimate of a worker's hashrate, calculated from submitted shares over the pool's stated averaging window; it will rarely match the local reading exactly and should not be treated as a direct physical measurement.
• Rejected shares: an umbrella category that can include stale, invalid, duplicate, or other rejected-share reasons; a rising rejection rate often points to network latency or configuration issues.
• Uptime and connectivity: whether the worker remains connected and continues submitting shares without interruption.
• Power draw and efficiency (J/TH): calculated only from a measured power reading and the hashrate of the same machine over a matching period; it should not be inferred from pool-reported hashrate alone, since pool estimates and local readings are not the same measurement.

Is Bitcoin Mining Profitable?

Mining revenue depends on several variables that change independently: network difficulty, BTC price, transaction fees included in found blocks, the pool's fee and payout method, the miner's uptime, and the hardware's actual hashing performance. Operating costs include electricity, hosting fees where hardware is hosted by a third party, cooling, maintenance, hardware acquisition or financing, and any pool or withdrawal fees.

A simplified way to estimate electricity cost for a single machine is:

Daily electricity cost = power draw (kW) × 24 hours × electricity price per kWh

For example, a miner drawing 3.0 kW at an electricity price of $0.08 per kWh would cost approximately $5.76 per day in electricity alone—this figure excludes hosting, maintenance, pool fees, and hardware costs, and is illustrative only; actual rates and machine power draw vary.

A miner's approximate share of network block rewards over a given period can be roughly estimated as the miner's hashrate divided by the network's total hashrate for the same period. As of late October 2026, mempool.space reported Bitcoin's estimated network hashrate at approximately 1.07 ZH/s over a one-week window, with network difficulty at roughly 148.36T (mempool.space). These figures change frequently and should be checked against current data rather than treated as fixed reference points; they illustrate why an individual ASIC's expected share of network-wide rewards is small, reinforcing why pool mining—rather than solo mining—is the standard choice for most operators.

None of these calculations guarantee a given outcome. Bitcoin.org notes that mining is a competitive activity and that profitability depends on hardware costs, electricity prices, and market conditions that can change over time (Bitcoin.org FAQ).

Key Risks to Consider

Before starting, operators should weigh several factors:

• Hardware and electrical infrastructure costs can be substantial relative to expected returns.
• Network difficulty can increase, reducing a given miner's expected share of rewards over time.
• BTC-denominated rewards and fiat-denominated revenue are different measures; converting one to the other introduces price risk.
• Pool fees, payout method, and settlement rules directly affect realized earnings and should be reviewed before committing hardware to a given pool.
• Heat output, noise, firmware security, and basic electrical safety require planning, particularly for home or small-scale setups.
• Mining profitability is not guaranteed and can change with electricity prices, BTC price, and network conditions.

FAQ

Can I mine Bitcoin with a regular computer?

No. Bitcoin mining at current network difficulty requires specialized SHA-256 ASIC hardware; CPUs and GPUs are not competitive and will not produce meaningful rewards.

What is the difference between PPS+ and PPLNS?

PPS+ settles the block-reward component of earnings under PPS rules based on submitted shares and distributes transaction-fee earnings under PPLNS rules, with separate fees applied to each component. PPLNS distributes both the block-reward and transaction-fee components together based on a miner's contribution across the pool's recent-rounds window, with a single published fee.

Why did my worker not appear immediately after configuration?

A short delay between connecting a worker and seeing it reported in a pool's dashboard is a normal part of how pools aggregate and display share data; it reflects reporting timing rather than a connection failure, though persistent absence may indicate a configuration issue.

Is a pool's reported hashrate the same as my miner's hashrate?

No. The ASIC's local hashrate is reported directly by its firmware, while a pool's hashrate estimate is calculated from submitted shares over the pool's stated time window. The two are related but measured differently and will rarely match exactly.

Does a higher pool fee always mean lower earnings?

Not necessarily. Fee percentages apply to specific reward components under each payout method, and the relevant comparison is the method's full reward calculation and fee structure—not the fee percentage in isolation.

References

• Bitcoin.org, "Frequently Asked Questions," https://bitcoin.org/en/faq
• Bitcoin Developer Guide, "Mining," https://developer.bitcoin.org/devguide/mining.html
• ViaBTC Help Center, "BTC Mining," https://support.viabtc.com/hc/en-us/articles/7207401012879-BTC-Mining
• ViaBTC, "Pricing," https://www.viabtc.com/en/pricing?lang=en_US
• mempool.space, "Mining Dashboard," https://mempool.space/mining