Can you mine Bitcoin on a PC?
Yes in theory, no in practice. Mining is a lottery where each hash is a ticket, and your chance of a block is your share of all the hashes on the network. The network does about 983 quintillion hashes a second (live). A computer does millions, or a few billion with a strong graphics card.
Definition · CPU mining
Running a coinâs proof of work on a computerâs main processor. Itâs how Bitcoin started in 2009. For Bitcoin it stopped making sense once faster hardware arrived; a few newer coins are designed to keep it viable.
The test above runs in your browser, which is slower than native mining software. Thatâs why it also shows a generous 20 GH/s for a whole gaming PC. Even that figure puts one block about 934,486 years away.
Why can't a PC compete with an ASIC?
A CPU is built to do anything. An ASIC is built to do one thing: run SHA-256 over and over. Every transistor that isnât needed for that is gone, so itâs both far faster and far more efficient per watt.
How the PC got priced out
2009
CPUs
The first Bitcoin software mined on the computer's processor. Anyone with a PC could find blocks.
Soon after
Graphics cards
GPUs run thousands of small cores at once and left CPUs far behind.
Then
FPGAs
Reprogrammable chips: similar speed to GPUs on much less power.
2013
ASICs
Chips built to do nothing but Bitcoin's SHA-256. Everything before them became obsolete.
2016
Bitcoin Core drops its miner
âCPU mining has been useless for a long timeâ, the release notes said.
| Gaming PC | Antminer S21 XP | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Everything | Only Bitcoinâs SHA-256 |
| SHA-256 speed | 20 GH/s (generous) | 270 TH/s (rated) |
| Power | About 250 W (example) | 3,645 W (rated) |
| Energy per terahash | 12,500 J | 13.5 J |
Per unit of energy the ASIC does about 926 times more work, and thatâs against the generous PC. Miners compete on the power bill, so the PC never wins. The story of the GPU era is in our mining rig guide, and current machines are compared in mining hardware.
What would mining Bitcoin on a PC cost you?
The honest way to judge it is a month of power against a month of expected bitcoin. Move the sliders to match your PC and your tariff:
A month of PC mining, priced
Expected bitcoin in 30 days
0.000000276 BTC
An average over many lifetimes. A real month almost surely finds nothing.
Spent on power for every $1 of expected bitcoin
$1,170
With the generous 20 GH/s figure. A real PC does worse.
Network hashrate, block reward and BTC price are live, updated hourly. Solo mining, before pool fees. Estimates, not a forecast.
The bitcoin bar barely shows up, whatever you pick. A pool would turn that tiny average into tiny, steady payouts, minus fees, but it canât change the ratio. For how the real numbers work, see what it costs to mine a bitcoin and is Bitcoin mining profitable.
How to mine Bitcoin on a PC, step by step
If you want to try it to learn how mining works, it takes about half an hour. Treat it as an experiment, not a source of bitcoin.
- 1
Get a Bitcoin address
Any wallet you control gives you one. See Bitcoin wallets for beginners.
- 2
Pick a pool
A pool pays small shares; a solo pool is a lottery ticket. Compare them in mining pools and solo mining.
- 3
Get open-source miner software
cpuminer, for example, still supports SHA-256. Download only from the projectâs own page and check what you run.
- 4
Point it at the pool
Enter the poolâs Stratum address and your Bitcoin address as the username, then start it and watch the accepted shares.
Bitcoin Core, the main Bitcoin software, canât do this for you any more. It removed its built-in miner in version 0.13.0 in 2016, noting that CPU mining had been useless for a long time.
What can you mine on a PC instead?
A PC is still good at some proof of work, just not Bitcoinâs. Moneroâs RandomX algorithm was designed around ordinary processors, and some coins are still mined with graphics cards. Litecoin and Dogecoin went the ASIC way like Bitcoin (more on those).
CPU
Mine a CPU coin
Monero's RandomX was designed so ordinary processors stay competitive. It won't be Bitcoin.
Monero mining guide â
GPU
Use the graphics card
A few coins are still GPU-friendly. Count the power bill and heat first.
GPU mining guide â
App
Mine Bitcoin free in an app
CloudMineCrypto doesnât mine on your device. Claim free plans and watch your estimated BTC tick up while they run.
Start mining free â
Learn
See how mining works
Mine a toy block in your browser and watch proof of work happen.
Proof of work â
None of these is free money either: every option spends electricity, and coin prices move. Our guides check each one against the power bill.
Is mining bad for your computer?
Mining keeps a processor or graphics card at full load for as long as it runs. That has costs beyond the bill:
đ„ Heat
It all turns into heat
Every watt your PC draws ends up warming the room. Handy in winter, rough in summer.
đ Wear
Fans and thermal paste work hard
Hot, constant load wears fans and dries paste. Laptops throttle and age fastest.
đŠ Malware
Fake miners are common
Some âminersâ mine for someone else, on your hardware. Thatâs called cryptojacking.
â App
A mining app skips all of it
CloudMineCrypto does no hashing on your device, so your PC stays cool and quiet.
Signs of a hidden miner: fans at full speed while idle, a slow machine, and an unknown process using most of the CPU. How cryptojacking works and how to avoid it is covered in the Monero mining guide, because Monero is the coin most of it targets.
How can you mine Bitcoin without using your PC?
You mine bitcoin for free in the CloudMineCrypto app, with no hardware, no noise and no power bill. Claim a free 4.6 GH/s plan that runs 8 hours, add more from ads, games, offers and daily check-ins, and withdraw to your own wallet, Lightning included. It works in any browser, so your PC is fine too. CloudMineCrypto doesnât mine on your device. You claim plans, and the app credits estimated rewards worked out from each planâs hashrate and live network data.
Mine for free
Free plan
4.6 GH/s for 8 h
Claim it, and claim it again when it ends.
Watch ads
7.3 GH/s for 24 h
Each rewarded ad adds another plan.
Play games
7.3 GH/s for 24 h
Game rewards add plans on top.
Complete offers
7.3 GH/s for 24 h
Partner offers add plans too.
Daily check-in
7.3 GH/s for 24 h
Come back each day for another plan.
Optional boost
Paid plans, for more speed
Much more hashrate for longer, for the fun of it. They usually mine less than they cost, and the price is shown before you confirm.
Hashrates live, updated hourly. Ads, games and offers are in the mobile apps; availability varies. Rewards are estimates and arenât guaranteed.
Good to know: rewards are estimates that arenât guaranteed. Itâs a rewards app, not an investment, and a plan doesnât give you ownership of any hardware or pool. Paid plans are an optional boost and usually mine less than they cost. Terms apply.
Frequently asked questions
Can you mine Bitcoin on a PC?
You can run the software, but a PC is so slow next to the network that it would take hundreds of thousands of years or more, on average, to find one block, and the electricity costs hundreds of times more than the expected reward. Bitcoin is mined by ASICs, chips built only for SHA-256.
Can I mine Bitcoin on a laptop?
Technically yes, practically no. A laptop is slower than a desktop and isnât built to run at full load for days, so it gets hot and throttles. Its expected share of new bitcoin rounds to zero.
Is CPU mining still worth it?
Not for Bitcoin. Bitcoin Core removed its built-in CPU miner in 2016 because CPU mining had been useless for a long time. Some coins, like Monero, were designed so CPUs stay competitive, but that isnât Bitcoin and it isnât free, because of the power bill.
How long would it take a PC to mine 1 bitcoin?
Far longer than a lifetime. Even a generous gaming-PC figure would take hundreds of thousands of years to find one block alone, and a block pays about 3.125 BTC plus fees. In a pool youâd get tiny steady amounts instead, still worth less than the power.
Can I mine Bitcoin with my graphics card?
Not usefully. Graphics cards stopped being competitive for Bitcoin when ASICs arrived in 2013. A few other coins are still mined with GPUs; our GPU mining guide covers which ones.
Is the speed test on this page mining?
No. It hashes random data for a few seconds to measure your computerâs speed, then throws the results away. It doesnât connect to any pool, doesnât send anything, and stops when you press Stop or leave the tab.
How can I get bitcoin without mining hardware?
Use a mining rewards app. CloudMineCrypto doesnât mine on your device. You claim plans for free with the free plan, ads, games, offers and daily check-ins, and the app credits estimated rewards worked out from each planâs hashrate and live network data. You withdraw to your own wallet. Rewards are estimates and arenât guaranteed.
Sources and further reading
- Bitcoin Core 0.13.0 release notes: removal of the internal miner · Bitcoin Core
- Mining (history: CPU, GPU, FPGA and ASIC mining) · Bitcoin Wiki
- Non-specialized hardware comparison (CPU and GPU hashrates) · Bitcoin Wiki
- Mining (developer guide: solo and pool mining) · Bitcoin Developer Documentation
- Antminer S21 XP specifications · Bitmain (manufacturer)
- cpuminer: a multi-threaded CPU miner for Litecoin and Bitcoin · GitHub (open source)
- RandomX: a proof-of-work algorithm optimized for general-purpose CPUs · GitHub (open source)
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 arenât guaranteed.
Youâve read how it works. Now watch it happen.
Claim a free 8-hour mining plan in the CloudMineCrypto app and see your estimated BTC tick up from live network data. No hardware, no card.