My crypto mining journey started in the year 2017 while I was doing my Data Science course. I built a super computer to run my Python algorithms. I had a computer with 1050 Ti and was taking around 3 to 4 hours to complete the computation. A computer with 1050 Ti was a supercomputer for me those days.

I am from Hyderabad, India and there is a place called CTC were there are lots of computer shops. I went to one of the shops and gave my specifications and decided that I will go with an MSi 3070 graphic card.

I came home with the newly built computer and was very excited, I installed all the necessary applications and moved all the data that I had in my other computer. The next day I started practicing and noticed that it hardly took 20 to 30 minutes now compared to 1050 Ti which was taking around 3 to 4 hours.

I was very happy with 3070 and the way it was computing. I was definitely sure that I did make a good decision in choosing the graphic card. I spent roughly around $800 just for the graphic card and it’s slightly expensive for a data scientist.

I started thinking what else I can do with the super computer that I have in my hand. I started searching online what else people do with the graphic card. I came across lots of things that people do with the graphic cards that they have in their computers but I felt more attracted to Crypto mining as it was associated with pure technology.

There is one more thing that I wanted to tell you guys before I start telling the story about crypto mining. I promised myself that I will not game on my new computer as it’s very addictive and will steal away lots of valuable time. I told myself that, whatsoever I am not going to install any games though it would be very tempting.

I started reading articles on the Internet and was also watching videos about mining on YouTube. There were no much videos at that time and no clear information. I followed couple of YouTubers and started mining. In just couple of hours of mining, the entire cabinet was getting overheated. I was worried, would it blast or get burnt. I even removed the tempered glass for the cabinet for some heat dissipation.

I was not even aware that there is something called overclock settings. When I got to know, I started applying overclock settings and see some difference in the heat. As I updated the latest Nvidia drivers and CUDA for my data science projects, I didn’t have an issue with the software.

I started mining and it runs all good for couple of hours and it throws some random error. I never even used to read the error but just re-start the miner back again. If it’s hashing, that what it used to matter for me. I was mining whenever I was at home and when I am going out, I used to leave it and it used to get shut down when there was a power outage.

As it was a personal computer not a typical mining rig the way it’s built these days. I never ever thought of auto rebooting the computer and start mining those days. It was just fun mining here and there and I used to go and tell my friends and cousins about the mining.

It’s been 3 to 4 months mining and I got to see that the ROI was hardly 6 to 8 months then if I run the machine 24/7. I didn’t tell you tell till now what I was mining then, I was mining Ethereum and was holding in some fractions.

I started thinking, can I add more graphic cards and increase the hashrate of my machine. I know that, I would make some money but I was not dare enough to spend for one more graphic card. I talked to couple of family members and friends about the prospect but none were ready to spend around $800 just for a graphic card.

Finally, I have decided to add one more graphic card and one of my cousin dared to add one graphic card and we were exhausted with the PCIe slots on the motherboard. Now the PC was not looking like a PC anymore but not even a proper rig.

Now the heat in the room increased slightly more than the normal. I was running the fan all the time to keep the temperatures normal and started keeping the windows open. I see very slight changes in the temperatures after that but later I decided that I will move the set up to my pent house.

It was all going well, I personally decided to add more graphic card now but there were no more PCIe slots on the motherboard. I have decided that, I will build a rig and more graphic cards.

I have got a motherboard now which has 5 PCIe slots and added 2 more new graphic cards. I have a rig with a total of 5 of 3070s now. The hashrate of around 300 MHs on Ethereum and looks amazing. I started collecting good amount of Crypto and the worth of it was also looked cool.

In the process of adding more graphic cards and moving that to a dedicated rig, I have burnt a motherboard and also couple of power supply ports. I was ready to pay someone to help me with some basic settings on the motherboard and also how much power supply needs to be used.

I have made few changes on the motherboard BIOS settings and the machine was back whenever there is a power cut. If you are a miner and mining on Windows, it’s a huge pain. As Windows has lots of updates all the time and it’s not right for mining.

I have come across Hive OS and didn’t knew how to use it. I was very hesitant to use Hive OS for the mining rig as I was ready to take the loss but not spend the time learning Hive OS.

As every graphic card is different and their OC settings. If you are a miner, you should be definitely be aware of it. You can’t just go ahead and apply the same OC setting for all the cards though they are of the same model or series or even if they are in a serial order from the manufacturer.

Finally, I have experimented on Hive OS and it’s one the coolest application for miners. Once I got a hang of Hive, I never looked back into Windows for mining. Though, I am a Windows user for my personal work and love it.

If you are planning to build a rig, I suggest you to spend sometime mining on Windows and move to Hive OS as soon as possible as it will help you save a lots of time. You can use our promo code “Grace Miners” on signing up with Hive OS for $10.00 credit.

I slowly started increasing the number of rigs and when they were going out of control, we shifted to one of my cousin’s pent house which was lot bigger in space. We were coming in notice between friends and families and couple of them were coming forward to a build a rig for them.

Initially it was fun building for others but later we started charging a minimal payment to build and maintain the rig. We started charging on per rig build basis a standard amount.

WhatToMine is very deceptive, for couple of days some coin used to show high profitability and other for few days. I used to switch my rigs thinking that will be profitable but by the time we get the payout or we go ahead to cash out, that never used to be profitable.

WhatToMine shows whatever is profitable but it’s our decision to mine whatever we believe to be profitable in the long run. It’s one the best tools for crypto miners available. It was built in 2014 and have gone through lots of modifications since then.

The learning for me was stick to the coin which is profitable for most of the time though it may not show profitable for that particular day. Ethereum is the right example for this scenario. At sometimes, it was not profitable but overall it was the most profitable coin.

The other suggestion for miners is to keep a spare of almost everything like a motherboard, power supply, couple of extra risers and splitter cables especially.

Now, we got some confidence on building the rigs of others and also maintaining them. Hive OS gives the opportunity to take the remote access for keeping a tab on the status of the rig, update drivers and etc.

We wrote some articles on Quora and updated one of our phone number. We started getting calls from the place we belong. Some walked to our location were the rigs are set up to see and then build a rig. Most of them would see the rig running, so that they get confidence and go ahead for a rig build.

Slowly and steadily our clients base started increasing though the profit margin was very less that time. It was fun for us building the rigs and also for couple of our clients as it was a big boy’s toy.

The journey was not smooth for sure but it was filled with lots of fun. Once you are on YouTube, the scammers attack with lots of messages. We had to take an additional time to make all the necessary changes on YouTube and also keep a tab on scammers.

In the year 2018 and couple of months in 2019 as well, there was not much of a profitability. Many of the miners switched of the rigs as we were paying for the electricity from our pockets. I was reading that, the same situation took place in the year 2013 or so but I didn’t start mining then.

As me and my cousins were working for corporate companies, we kept mining and building rigs as a passive source of income and never ever thought of taking this to main stream. We decided that we will go mainstream and also do YouTubing by uploading the videos online.

So, we started shooting couple of videos of rig builds and started uploading on YouTube. Now, we started getting calls and messages all over the India and we got couple of international calls as well.

I personally follow Bits Be Trippin’ which is one of the oldest YouTube channel available online. I also started following Son of a Tech, Sebs FinTech Channel, brandon coin, The Hobbist Miner Red Fox Crypto and Red Panda Mining.

Solar Miner India is one of the Indian YouTuber who has helped lots of local miners. I really appreciate all the Miner YouTubers who create amazing content to help fellow miners.

We know have a decent number of rigs of our own, have a good client base and we love what we do. The journey of mining Ethereum was like a rollercoaster ride. From profit to no profit at all and then peak in the year 2021 and POS (Proof of Stake) on 16th September 2022.

The Ethereum merge came little abruptly though almost every miner knew that it will be going for POS one day or the other day but it was a shocker for most of us.

Mining is just a cycle and we are expecting to see another journey once the profitability is back. Like I said before no profitability was see in 2013/14, later in 2018/19 and in the year 2022 after the Ethereum merge.

It is suggested to switch of the rigs if the profitability is lot lesser then the cost of the electricity. It at least helps to avoid the wear and tear of the components. At the other end, if anyone has a free electricity or at an extremely cheaper price, they can go ahead mining.

I am glad that I am a miner and for the amazing community around it who are always available to support.

Thanks for reading and share your mining experience as well, we would be glad to listen.