If we zoom out and look at the progress we've made in terms of computing power, chips and circuits, we are sure to be left in awe. From a CPU taking up a large hall in the '60s to 10 times that computing capacity now existing on simple calculators, we've come a long way.

This also holds true for the smartphones in our pockets. These devices are getting more sophisticated with each passing minute, and their utility has expanded beyond the realm of telecommunication. Today, smartphones are used for banking, browsing the internet, playing games, and, more recently, crypto mining.

In this article, we discuss crypto mining on smartphones, what it is, how it works, its profitability and more. Let's get started!

What is crypto mining?

When a cryptocurrency works on a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, you need computing power to add new blocks to the blockchain. Miners use their computing power to solve mathematical equations. The miner that solves these equations first is allowed to add a new block and is rewarded with newly minted crypto for all their efforts.

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When it comes to crypto mining, computing power is a resource calculated by hash rate, i.e., the number of mathematical equations solved per second. Naturally, more powerful systems have an advantage over the others. Bitcoin could initially be mined with just a normal PC, but that changed when more and more miners joined the race, and the network difficulty went up. Today, mining works on an industrial scale where you have buildings full of Application Specific Integrated Chips (ASICs) just for the sole purpose of mining.

What is mobile mining?

Can you use your mobile to mine Bitcoin or other cryptos? Yes. But can it be profitable enough as a source of living? Not really. This is because, as more miners entered the fray, mining difficulty increased exponentially, and mining rewards are also reduced periodically, every four years in the case of Bitcoin.

Smartphones today possess computing capacity beyond anything their size. They use 5nm chips that are as power efficient as any other chips and can be used to mine cryptocurrency. However, there are two main drawbacks regarding smartphones and crypto mining. The first is their computing power. A smartphone's hash rate can range from 4 H/s to 50 H/s. In comparison, a Bitcoin ASIC mining rig can have a hash rate of 950 TH/s (trillion hashes per second).

Therefore, it is evident that mining BTC using only cell phones is a difficult task, especially when you are up against giant mining firms with thousands of ASICs. All these rigs are trying to mine the same block you are trying to mine using your smartphone. The other drawback is that smartphones are used more than any other gadget in our everyday lives. If something uses its computing power non-stop, the battery discharge would be quick and inconvenient. Moreover, the smartphone would have to run at full capacity almost throughout the day, drastically reducing its shelf life.

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How to mine crypto with a smartphone?

Despite the drawbacks, if you wish to get started with smartphone crypto mining, you have two ways you can go about it. First is solo mining, where you're on your own, battling it out with other miners with the computing power of your smartphone. For mobile solo crypto mining, you need to download one of the following apps to get started.

MinerGate Mobile Miner

It is a reasonably simple-to-use app that can help you mine not just Bitcoin but also some other listed altcoins. It comes with its wallet setup where you can store your mined crypto to transfer elsewhere later.

Bitcoin Miner

Bitcoin Miner is another crowd favourite when it comes to mobile crypto mining. It is named Bitcoin Miner but also allows for other altcoins, with new coins added frequently.

Youtuber TechWizTime tried to estimate the profitability of mining cryptocurrency on Android phones. For his experiment, he attempted to mine Monero (XMR) using a combination of three OnePlus 5Ts, 1 Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus, 1 Bluboo S8 Plus, 1 Lenovo Tab4 Plus, and 1 Umidigi S2 cell phone.

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These seven devices gave him a combined mining hash rate of 110 H/s and allowed him to earn $0.78 a week. When you factor in the cost of the devices and the power supply to keep them running 24x7, it is highly unlikely that this would be a profitable investment. Moreover, the phones would not be useable after prolonged mining, nor would they have any resale value, as their parts would have been grossly overworked.

Therefore, the second, slightly more viable option is pool mining. Here, you are pooling your computational resources with others, increasing the odds of rewards and getting a percentage of those rewards based on the amount of computational power you've added to the pool. For mining pools enabled through a smartphone, you can download the F2Pool mobile app or ViaBTC pooling app to get started.

Conclusion

The profitability of Bitcoin mining or altcoin mining on mobile phones depends on many factors like the network difficulty for the coin, the computational capacity of your smartphone, the price of the coin in the markets and more. You should assess the profitability of mining by considering all these factors before committing your mobile device to crypto mining.

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