Checker · Cloud mining

Is cloud mining legit?

By the CloudMineCrypto teamUpdated 6 min read

The short answer

Cloud mining can be legit, but many offers aren’t. Real services sell or share hashrate and give you estimates that move with the network. Scams promise a fixed daily return, ask for money before you can withdraw, and pay early users with new deposits. Tick what your offer says below and you’ll have an answer in about two minutes.

Key takeaways

  • A guaranteed or fixed daily return is enough on its own to walk away.
  • Hashrate sold far below what it mines, or a payout above it, means no mining is paying you.
  • Real services name a company you can look up and let you test a small withdrawal.
  • Paying a “tax” or “fee” to unlock a balance is the classic last stage of a scam.

Two-minute offer check

Tick what the offer says or does. Add its numbers if you have them. The verdict updates as you go.

What it promises
How it pays
Who’s behind it
The numbers (optional)
Price per TH/s per day: $3.333Live hashprice: $0.054
Far below marketMarketFar above

Costs more than it mines at today’s rate (62× hashprice)

They promise $17.50 a day. 5.0 TH/s mines about $0.27 a day at today’s hashprice, so the promise is 65× what it could mine.

Walk away

4 of these signs are each enough on their own. Don’t send money.

4 dealbreakers · 1 warning sign

  • The promised payout is more than the hashrate minesfrom your numbers

    The difference has to come from somewhere else, usually newer customers’ deposits.

  • A guaranteed daily or monthly return

    Mining output changes every day with difficulty and the coin price. Nobody can guarantee it, and US regulators list guaranteed high returns as a sign of fraud.

  • A fixed ROI, like “3% a day” or “double in 60 days”

    A fixed percentage of what you paid has nothing to do with how much a hashrate mines. It’s an investment promise dressed up as mining.

  • Payouts or levels depend on recruiting other people

    Commissions that flow up several levels of recruits are how a pyramid pays early members.

  • Countdown timers, “last slots” or a bonus if you pay today

    Pressure to decide now is on the CFTC’s list of fraud signs. Real contracts can wait a day.

A checklist, not a guarantee, and not financial advice. Hashprice is live from the Bitcoin network, updated hourly, before pool fees. The examples are made up and describe no real company.

Is cloud mining legit?

The idea is. Mining hashrate is a real thing you can rent, host or use through an app. The trouble is that customers never see the machines, which makes “mining” a perfect cover story for an investment scam. So the label tells you nothing. The offer tells you everything.

Definition · Legit cloud mining

An offer where your rewards come from real hashrate’s share of mined blocks, are shown as estimates that change with the network, and come from a company you can identify and withdraw from.

Here’s how the two sides tend to sound:

What real sounds like

What a scam sounds like

Returns

“Estimated output at today’s difficulty. It changes daily.”

“Guaranteed 3% a day.”

Where rewards come from

A hashrate’s share of blocks, with the formula shown

A percentage of what you deposited

The company

A registered name you can look up

A logo and a chat window

Getting your money out

Fee taken from the amount sent, minimum shown up front

“Pay a 20% tax to unlock your balance.”

Inviting others

Optional, one level at most

Required for higher levels, paid several levels up

Trying it

Free or small first, no pressure

“Only 3 slots left at this rate.”

For the full picture (the kinds of cloud mining, a contract x-ray and how the economics work over a whole term) read cloud mining, honestly. This page is the quick check.

How do you check a cloud mining offer in 2 minutes?

Open the offer next to the checker at the top and go in this order. Each step can end the check on its own.

  1. 0:00min

    Read the promise

    A fixed daily return, a guaranteed ROI or “no risk” ends the check here.

  2. 0:30min

    Find the company

    A registered name and country you can look up in a public business register.

  3. 1:00min

    Run the numbers

    Price ÷ (TH/s × days), against today’s hashprice. Far below it, or a payout above it, means no.

  4. 1:30min

    Read the exit

    How do you withdraw, what’s the minimum, and is any payment needed first? It shouldn’t be.

  5. 2:00min

    Decide small

    Still fine? Start with the smallest amount, or free, and withdraw once before anything more.

Why can’t cloud mining pay a fixed daily return?

Because what a hashrate mines isn’t fixed. It’s your share of the network, times the blocks found, times the reward per block. Miners call the result per TH/s per day hashprice:

$0.054

Hashprice, per TH/s a day

live · updated hourly

$5.38

What 100 TH/s mines a day

before pool fees

$1.61

What 1 TH/s mines a month

at today’s rate

Daily

How often it changes

difficulty, price, fees

$ per day = TH/s Ă— hashprice ($ per TH/s per day)
Before pool fees. Every term on the right moves.

A promise stated as a percentage of your deposit ignores all of that. It also compounds in a way nothing real can. Drag the slider to see what a “modest” daily rate adds up to:

2.0% a day
$100 doubles every
35 days
After a year, paid out
$830
After a year, reinvested
$138K
$1,000$10K$100Kday 0day 90day 180day 270day 365

reinvested every daywithdrawn every dayLog scale: each line is 10Ă— the one below

Mining can’t grow like this. A hashrate mines the same share of the network whether you reinvest or not, and that share shrinks as the network grows. A site that shows a balance on this curve is showing a number, not mining.

Early payouts on schemes like this are real: they come from newer deposits. That’s why screenshots of withdrawals prove little. The cloud mining guide shows how the curve ends.

Are there real cloud mining sites?

Yes, in three forms. We don’t name or rank any. Instead, here’s the proof each kind should be able to give you:

KindProof you can ask for
Hashrate rental marketplaceYou point the hashrate at a pool you choose, and watch it arrive on the pool’s own dashboard.
Hosted mining contractA registered company, the hosting site’s location, and payouts from a pool account you can see.
Mining rewards appA company in a public register, an official store listing, public terms and a small withdrawal to your own wallet.

Rentals are the easiest to verify and usually cost a bit more than they mine. Our hashpower market page tracks rental prices against hashprice every day, which also tells you what “near the market” looks like in the checker.

Are crypto mining apps legit?

A phone can’t mine Bitcoin in any meaningful way, and Apple’s App Review Guidelines say apps “may not mine for cryptocurrencies unless the processing is performed off device (e.g. cloud-based mining)”. So a real mining app is a cloud mining app. Here’s what a legit one shows you:

  • 1Official storeListed on Google Play or the App Store, with a developer name that matches a real company.
  • 2Mining off the deviceApple only allows mining apps whose processing happens off the phone. An honest app says so.
  • 3Estimates, not promisesRewards move with the network, and the app says they aren’t guaranteed.
  • 4A formula you can readHashrate, network hashrate and block reward. Not a percentage of your deposit.
  • 5Free to startYou can try it without paying, and paid options stay optional.
  • 6Your own walletWithdrawals go to an address you control, with the minimum and fee shown before you confirm.

What do regulators say about cloud mining scams?

US regulators describe the same pattern, in plain words. Mining is named directly:

In some cases, the fraudsters claim to invest customers’ funds in proprietary crypto trading systems or in “mining” farms.
CFTC and SEC investor alert
Sometimes the fraudsters direct investors to pay additional costs (such as purported taxes) to withdraw fake “profits” earned from the investment.
CFTC and SEC investor alert
Only scammers will guarantee profits or big returns.
US Federal Trade Commission
Only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency.
US Federal Trade Commission

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center describes schemes that start with a stranger online, show growing gains on a website, then ask for fees or taxes before any withdrawal.

What if you’ve already paid?

  1. Save everything: the site address, wallet addresses you paid, chats and receipts.
  2. Report it to your bank or exchange and your national police or consumer authority. In the US, file at ic3.gov.
  3. Ignore “recovery” offers that ask for a fee. They’re often the same people again.

Then read how to keep what you own safe in Bitcoin wallets for beginners.

Frequently asked questions

Is cloud mining legit?

The idea is. Real hashrate can be rented, hosted or used through a rewards app. But many offers sold as cloud mining are scams that promise fixed returns and pay early users with later users’ deposits. Check the offer, not the label.

Are there any real cloud mining sites?

Yes. Hashrate rental marketplaces, hosted contracts from known mining companies and mining rewards apps from registered companies all exist. What they share: estimates instead of promises, a company you can look up, and a withdrawal you can test small.

How can I tell if a cloud mining site is fake?

Guaranteed or fixed daily returns, a payment required before you can withdraw, rewards for recruiting in several levels, and a stranger sending you the link are each enough to walk away. The checker at the top of this page runs through the full list.

Why can’t cloud mining guarantee a daily return?

What a hashrate mines depends on network difficulty, the block reward and fees, which change constantly. A fixed payout can only be kept up with money from somewhere else.

Are crypto mining apps legit?

Some are. A real one is in the official app stores under a real company, does the mining off your phone, shows estimates rather than promises, lets you start free and withdraw to your own wallet. Apps that say your phone itself mines Bitcoin are not being straight with you.

What is the best cloud mining site?

We don’t publish a ranking, because we make a mining rewards app ourselves. Use the checks on this page to judge any site on its own terms.

I already paid a cloud mining scam. What should I do?

Stop paying, including any “tax” or “unlock fee”. Report it to your bank or exchange and to the police; in the US, file at ic3.gov. Be careful with anyone who offers to recover your money for a fee.

Sources and further reading

  1. Investor alert: watch out for fraudulent digital asset and “crypto” trading websites · US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and SEC
  2. What to know about cryptocurrency and scams · US Federal Trade Commission
  3. The FBI warns of a spike in cryptocurrency investment schemes · FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
  4. App Review Guidelines, 3.1.5 (b) Cryptocurrencies: mining · Apple
  5. Mining guide: solo and pool mining · Bitcoin developer documentation

Live figures on this page come from the CloudMineCrypto API or from the public blockchain data services named next to them, refresh on a schedule, and are labelled where they appear. This guide is educational and not financial advice. CloudMineCrypto is not an investment product; rewards in the app are estimates and aren’t guaranteed.

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