# The Easiest Way to Start Mining Crypto

By [ΔNDRΞ](https://paragraph.com/@ndr) · 2021-10-29

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Have you been wanting to mine crypto but don’t want to spend thousands on specialized hardware?

Although there are a lot of factors that go into whether mining crypto is profitable or not, taking that first step is often difficult. And it’s that first step that encourages you to go further down the rabbit hole. You can worry about the best hardware and the energy costs once you become more knowledgeable.

After exploring some of the “best” Ethereum mining options, I found that they all ran into issues related to hardware or configuration. Not to mention the installation process involves much more than double-clicking on an executable.

Command-line parameters anyone?

All that difficulty allowed me to immediately see the ease of the next application -- [BetterHash](https://www.betterhash.net/?ref=122040).

Read on for a quick rundown of the installation (on a Windows machine) and how to get up and running. I think you’ll agree that it’s easy peasy.

On the application was installed via the executable, the first step is to allow all the benchmarks to run. This process might take a while but it helps identify the best method for all available mining hardware (this info is also used for a cool feature called “profit switching”).

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/38bce275c7e71da7bd694608c7d2c677c733bb5f897dd880e55c685eb14c6d03.png)

The dropdowns will list all compatible miners and the app will select the “best” one by default.

Once the benchmarks are done, you’re pretty much ready to start mining! Click start and let the app handle the rest. In a few minutes you’ll see your projected earnings based on the app’s calculations.

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/0b413d40ab227de6d76e98d0709f7913ef71ffa03f9423cfb5c7ca4592f5985a.png)

In conclusion, $34/month may or may not be worth it based on your situation. For example, it may not be worth it to buy an expensive computer in order to mine. But if you already have a relatively decent computer, might as well see what it can do! I also see mining as a way to essentially dollar-cost-average into Bitcoin via your electric bill.

Let me know if this post was helpful and how it works out for you if you give it a try!

Also, follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/0xandreharrison) to keep up with all that’s going on in the crypto space!

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*Originally published on [ΔNDRΞ](https://paragraph.com/@ndr/the-easiest-way-to-start-mining-crypto)*