Changes in the Cryptocurrency Mining Landscape

The surge in popularity and exposure of cryptocurrencies has seen the mining landscape shift from a user base of hobbyist miners to large scale mining operations vying for market dominance. Cryptocurrency mining has developed into a highly competitive, resource-intensive professional industry. Three areas of interest that have been impacted by the rise in popularity of mining are cost structure changes, cyber security concerns and shift in user needs and requirements. Abelian look to address these changes through their feature-rich, advanced mining platform.

Change in cost structures

The cost structures involved in cryptocurrency mining has changed dramatically over the last few years. While mining is an essential part of the cryptocurrency/blockchain ecosystem, it is becoming too cost prohibitive for the average small/individual miner trying to maintain profitability with an ever-increasing mining difficulty rate.

Mining rigs are becoming more expensive to set up due in part to the increase in price of GPUs as a result of the high demand. Specialised crypto-mining equipment such as FPGAs and ASICs have also been developed and can cost upwards of several thousand dollars per unit.

Mining is becoming more challenging with an increase in the amount of miners, as these miners are competing for the same reward, or fee. Fluctuations in cryptocurrency prices also impact on the profitability of crypto-mining.

With this in mind, Abelian is developing a mining platform focused on performance optimisation and profitability, with automated mining that switches between coins to ensure the most profitable coins are always being mined. The most effective mining algorithm is determined automatically based on user hardware and preferences, with Abelian looking to utilise Artificial Intelligence to automate portfolio management and provide market intelligence based on price prediction. By decentralising the mining platform, Abelian will be able to decrease operational costs substantially, and as a result, be able to offer lower fees and costs involved with using the platform.

Security

Hacks and scams are prevalent in the cryptocurrency space due to little regulation and poor security measures. As blockchain is still a relatively new and complex technology, its use cases and vulnerabilities are still not completely understood, with hackers actively seeking to exploit any lapse in security measures either at an individual level(user accounts) or company level (exchanges, applications/platforms). Mining and exchange platforms are continually being targeted by hackers, with one mining service platform losing over $60 million in bitcoin to hackers at the end of 2017. In 2018 alone there has been over $700 million stolen by hackers from exchanges.

Abelian is focused on security as a top priority as they roll out their mining platform. One major difference between Abelian and other mining platforms is the custody of user funds. Most mining platforms maintain control of user funds (stored in company ‘hot wallets’), making them more susceptible to hacks. Abelian solves this problem by sending mining rewards direct to individual miner wallets. In this way users maintain custody of their own funds. Abelian is also exploring mechanisms for decentralized mining node technology. This has the potential to support mining decentralization on a network level.

User requirements

The constantly evolving mining industry has seen user requirements shifting, with users now demanding more from their mining software and platforms than ever before. Most of the mining applications currently on the market require users to have a decent level of technical knowledge in order to set up their mining rigs. Other major problems include poor user interfaces and frequent connection drop outs. Miners have had to put up with these issues due to the limited amount of mining software available. As a result, newer products with a focus on clean interfaces, and advanced features with little or no configuration, have been able to attract large user bases.

Understanding the shift of mining user needs and the mining industry, Abelian is focused on delivering a decentralised mining platform with quick, intuitive setup & access in conjunction with advanced controls and AI-driven market intelligence. Operational efficiency and profit optimisation occurs through automated activity switching, while users are able to maintain custody of their funds at all times through Abelian’s decentralised mining structure.

By addressing trend changes and shifts in the crypto-mining industry, Abelian is focused on providing a solution for both individual and professional miners.

To find out more about the Abelian mining platform, visit us at Abelian.tech