How Long Does It Take To Mine 1 ethereum?

As an Ethereum miner or enthusiast, you may have wondered, how long does it take to mine 1 Ethereum? Successful mining on the Ethereum network is valued at 3 Ether, in addition to all transaction fees and code-processing fees. However, on average, it takes only 12 seconds to mine Ethereum, whereas it takes about 10 minutes to mine a block of Bitcoin transactions.

Mining is a process of verifying a block of transactions or creating new blocks of cryptocurrency. Miners spend their time and computing power to solve mathematical puzzles that ultimately verify Ethereum transactions. The Ethereum network operates on a Proof-of-Work mechanism that the miners are rewarded for every new token they mine.

Miners must solve hash functions and start with a list of desired hashes based on the difficulty. The primary motive of any miner is to make money; they receive rewards for each block and any transaction fees paid by the users.

Let’s have a look at ethereum mining in the past vs. the present and move on to talk about the speed of mining and more.

Mining 1 Ethereum in 2020 vs the Past

Ethereum mining has been one of the most profitable in the altcoin market for a while. People may mine Ether to acquire it without having to invest in it directly. In 2020, you can use a GPU or ASIC mining hardware to mine Ethereum. Back when Ethereum was launched in 2015, the mining hash rate difficulty was low, but this increased over time.

As the mining requires a higher hash rate, you need to purchase a better GPU or ASICs mining rig, which may cost you over $2000. In the past, you wouldn’t have required such a commanding rig compared to the hardware needed now.

Ethereum Mining Speed: How Fast can you Mine 1 Ethereum?

The speed with which you can mine Ethereum depends on the hash rate of the mining rig and the continuously changing difficulty level. The latest Nvidia RTX 3090 has a hash rate of 120, whereas an ASIC hardware Innosilicon A10 Pro has a hash rate of 500. 

With the current GPU trends and mining difficulty, it may take up to half a year or more to mine 1 Ethereum. But you can improve this significantly with an ASIC mining rig. However, you may need to invest more.

How Much Would it Cost to Mine 1 Ethereum?

To mine 1 Ethereum, you require a rig with a hash rate of 15,500 megahash a second or mh/s. This is the speed of your mining rig. To build a mining rig with such a high hash rate, you require more than 50 GPUs, which would cost you more than $100,000. The power consumption of this mining rig would also cost the same amount. Ethereum was mainly built to be ASIC resistant, but major ASIC manufacturers figured a way around it. ASIC mining rigs are also twice as efficient and more expensive than GPUs.

So, all in all, you would need at least $100,000 to mine one Ethereum a day in 2020.

Should you get Into Ethereum Mining?

For Ethereum Mining, you need to consider the difficulty, cost of the mining rig, and power consumption. However, you do receive a reward for each block, but you need to consider how long it will take to break even? With 1 Ethereum taking half a year to mine, a significant amount of years will pass by before you start earning any profit – so be prepared.

With the hashing difficulty increasing over time, your mining rig has to operate a long time to solve the mathematical puzzles, increasing the time to mine. As your rig operates for a longer time, the more power it will consume. If the difficulty rises to a whole different level, your mining rig may be obsolete.

For every block of Ethereum you mine, you receive 2 ETH as a reward. You may earn around $200 per month for mining, yet it will take a long time to make a profit.

You can also take a look at mining profitability calculators. By using a calculator  you can input your hardware specifications and electricity cost, which will help determine whether mining will profit you or not. Any electricity cost below $0.12 kW/h is profitable, and prices below $0.06 make it truly viable.

However, these figures do not represent most countries. Many developed countries have electricity prices over $0.20. In such countries, home mining Ethereum may take even 150 years to earn profits.

Another concern for Ethereum miners is the Ethereum 2.0 launch. This launch will transition to proof-of-stake consensus, where miners can earn returns for their stake in coins. However, PoW mining will be effective until 2023. Ethereum 2.0 may launch at the end of 2021 or early 2022.

If the Proof-of-stake model is implemented, the miners’ equipment will become obsolete, and they will have to switch to staking coins or start mining another altcoin. Miners may even have to sell their equipment and use it to accumulate ETH tokens and start staking. But Ethereum 2.0 may still take more time due to numerous bugs and management problems.

Final Thoughts

Ethereum is one of the best altcoins to be launched ever since Bitcoin. Its similarities and differences with BTC have made it popular and effective. It is listed as the second popular cryptocurrency in the world.

If you are looking to make a profit off Ethereum, you can purchase or trade ETH on our platform. You can buy Ethereum and sell for a profit later or earn marginal gains via crypto trading.

Our leading cryptocurrency platform lets you invest your AUD in cryptocurrencies safely. You can also sell cryptocurrencies and liquidate them. We charge a minimal transaction fee of 0.2% for every purchase or sale.

We also offer an in-built wallet to store your coins, so you may not have to turn to a hardware wallet for safekeeping. Sign up today!