Despite the shift towards other staking protocols, there are numerous tokens and coins, which you can still mine. Grin is one of those cryptocurrencies. You can start grin mining today, as a matter of fact, and this guide will cover all you need to know.
Grin mining is a relatively straightforward process and can become a way to generate a passive income, especially if you already have some excellent GPU installed on your computer.
Here is all there is to know about Grin and the step-by-step guide to start mining grin right away.
In this guide:
What is Grin?
Grin is a minimalist and lightweight, privacy-focused cryptocurrency. It offers powerful privacy features and enables peer-to-peer financial transfers. Mining secures the network and ensures that it is decentralized.
There is no single foundation or entity behind Grin. The Grin network is a community-driven platform and fully open-source. Anyone can contribute to the development of the network. Developers can either volunteer or receive funding via donations.
Grin was launched on January 15, 2019, as a joint effort by multiple developers. It all started in October 2016, when a developer known as Ignotus Peverell started working on a protocol first described in a paper called “Mimblewimble” that was anonymously released in August 2016.
Grin is known for its Mimblewimble protocol, which offers privacy and scalability benefits. The Grin blockchain has no addresses and doesn’t store data about the amounts transferred.
On the Grin network, a new block is generated every 60 seconds, and each has a grin mining reward of 60 grins. The network is set to generate 1 grin per second forever. This creates an increase in supply and a decrease in the inflation rate. This reward process enables long-term blockchain security and a fair reward distribution to all participants.
Grin uses the CuckatooC32 mining algorithm, which makes grin mining ASIC-resistant, similar to Monero and Ravencoin.
The main features of Grin are:
- Anonymity
- Privacy
- Fair monetary rewards for mining
- It provides a financial solution for transferring money
Mimblewimble
The main focus of the Mimblewimble protocol is to increase privacy and allow blockchains to scale while reducing blocks’ size. The protocol allows Grin blockchain to have a compact transaction history, thus making it faster when it comes to it being downloaded, synchronized, and verified.
On a Mimblewimble blockchain, the transaction history might look like random data, as there are no identifiable or reused addresses, and the transaction details are known only by respective transaction participants.
A block is one large transaction instead of a combination of many smaller transactions. Blocks get verified, but they are not offering details on each transaction it contains. Mimblewimble addresses the privacy aspect by keeping only essential data. The network’s validators verify each block to make sure the number of coins is accurate and that double-spending hasn’t occurred.
It’s important to note that Mimblewimble has removed the scripting system present on the Bitcoin blockchain. The scripting system is a set of instructions that define how each transaction is structured.
This script removal allows the Mimblewimble blockchain to be more scalable because there is less data stored on it. This translates into a reduced need for computational power for mining.
The Mimblewimble protocol may be used for payment channels and as a sidechain solution.
Grin’s consensus mechanism
Grin uses a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism called Cuckoo Cycle. This mechanism uses memory instead of computing power to validate the network and mine new coins.
The Cuckoo Cycle algorithm allows miners to use most devices for grin mining, unlike Bitcoin, which requires application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) equipment for mining.
The Cuckoo Cycle is a combination of two proof-of-work (PoW) algorithms, CuckARoo, and CuckAToo:
- CuckARoo is designed for GPU mining, and it is ASIC-resistant
- CuckAToo is designed for ASIC mining.
The main difference between the two algorithms is the graph size, which gives the GPU memory required for grin mining.
Every six months, the Grin algorithm is upgraded through a hard fork. The regular upgrades are made to keep grin mining ASIC-resistant.
Grin’s tokenomics
Grin is designed to be a medium of exchange for financial value and has a more stable price trajectory than other cryptocurrencies. It has an unlimited supply, and grin mining offers a standard 60 grin reward for each block mined on the network. The mining reward is not designed to get reduced over time. Grin has a static coin emission, which allows it to reduce inflation over time.
As of November 2021, Grin price is $0.4089, and it’s ranking at #694. The market capitalization is at $35,918,069, and the circulating supply of 87,831,300.00 GRIN.
The all-time high was achieved on January 28, 2019, at $10.00, and the all-time low was reached on November 8, 2020, at $0.2206.
What is GRIN used for?
Grin’s main use is to enable individuals to perform financial transactions in a private and secure manner. Unlike other private cryptos, such as Monero, Grin is deemed more scalable. Another positive aspect of Grin is that it won’t reduce the mining rewards over time.
Grin wallets
There is an official Grin wallet on the project’s website, which is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. However, it is a command-line wallet, and the lack of a user interface might scare off users who do not possess any coding skills.
We recommend using the Grin++ wallet, which is developed and supported by the Grin community.
How to mine GRIN
Before mining grin, you need to make sure you have the entire grin mining system set in place. This includes having a grin wallet, appropriate mining software, and a grin mining pool. To determine if mining grin is a profitable business, you can use a mining calculator.
How much GPU memory do you need for mining grin?
You need a 6 GB video memory for the CuckARoo algorithm and 11 GB for the CuckAToo algorithm. If your computer has a total of up to 10.5 GB memory, you will need to use the cuckaroo_cuda_29 (C29) mining algorithm. A system with a high-end GPU of more than 11 GB memory could use any mining algorithm (C29, C31, and C32).
It’s important to know that most crypto-related software can trigger antivirus software on your computer.
We recommend downloading the software only from the official sources and keeping all the files and software in a special folder. Then, create an exclusion for that folder within your Windows security or antivirus software, if you have one installed on your device.
Let’s get through all the necessary steps and learn how to mine grin.
Step 1: Get a GRIN wallet
Download the Grin++ wallet and install it on your device.
You will need to create a new wallet. During the process of creating a new wallet, you will be asked to write down your seed phrase. This is what the wallet should look like.
You will need your wallet address later on to set up your mining software.
Note that this is a full-node wallet, and it needs to be synchronized with the Grin blockchain.
Step 2: Select a GRIN mining pool
Choose any available mining pool. You can find most grin mining pools on miningpoolstats.stream/grin.
After you choose a pool, click on the name, and it will take you to their website. You will need the pool’s address later to configure the mining software.
Step 3: Create an exclusion
Mining software is often seen as malware by antivirus software. That’s why creating an exclusion on your system is a necessary step.
For Windows, to create an exception for the grin mining software, go to Windows Security > Virus & Threat Protection > Virus & Threat Protection Settings > Manage Setting > Exclusions.
Click on Add or Remove exclusions > Add an exclusion and add the exclusion for the entire folder where you will download and install the mining software. You will be prompted to accept the security warning from Windows.
Step 4: Get the mining software
There are three mining softwares you can choose from, depending on the type of equipment you will be using for mining grin:
- Gminer — has a 2% developer fee, and it’s recommended for Nvidia GPU (Gminer is also used to mine Ravencoin)
- lolMiner — recommended for AMD GPU
- GrinGoldMiner — has a 2% developer fee, Nvidia 6 GB cards and AMD 8 GB cards supported.
We will be using the lolMiner software.
Download the latest lolMiner version.
It’s important to download the software in the same folder you added in the Microsoft Security, under Exclusions.
Step 5: Configure the mining software
Go to the folder where you downloaded the package and extract it. Go to lolMiner > 1.28a > miner_grin_32.bat.
Right-click to edit the miner_grin_32.bat file. Open it with Notepad.
You will need to edit the mining pool and the wallet address and add your own.
Replace the existing wallet address with the address you got from your wallet at step 1. Also, copy the address of the grin mining pool you chose at step 2.
Save the file and exit.
Step 6: Run the GRIN miner
You are now ready to start mining grin.
Go to lolMiner > 1.28a > miner_grin_32.bat and double-click to execute the bat file.
You will receive grin rewards from mining as soon as the mining pool starts distributing the rewards. Some mining pools offer the option to check on their website the overall start and payouts for a specific wallet address.
You will soon start seeing grin in your wallet.
Grin mining is simple and can be done by anyone
Now that you know how to mine grin and support this blockchain, you can use this to generate a passive income from using your GPU cards.
It’s always important to observe the process and note if there is any change in the electricity price, as it might affect your profit from grin mining. The currency GRIN price will also affect your overall profits from grin mining.
Frequently asked questions
What is grin mining?
Grin mining is the process used by the proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain to validate and generate new blocks on the network. Mining grin can be done using a GPU.
Is mining grin profitable?
The Grin blockchain is constantly developing and that is affecting the hash rate of the network, which influences the profitability of mining grin. To determine if mining grin is profitable, you can use a grin mining calculator, where you can input the hash rate of your device and other costs you might have, such as electricity and mining pool fee.
What do you need to mine GRIN?
To start mining grin, you will need GPU cards and a mining software. The grin mining software works with both Nvidia and AMD GPU. It’s recommended to use Gminer for Nvidia GPU and lolMiner for AMD GPU.
Can I mine grin with a GPU?
Yes, Grin can be mined efficiently using a GPU. It uses the Mimblewimble blockchain protocol, which enables it to scale while boosting users’ privacy. This protocol and the consensus mechanism used by Grin is specifically designed to make grin mining ASIC resistant.
