Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is decentralized digital money designed to be used over the internet. Bitcoin, which launched in 2008, was the first cryptocurrency, and it remains by far the biggest, most influential, and best-known. In the years since, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum have grown as digital alternatives to money issued by governments. There are now over 20,000 different cryptocurrencies in circulation.

Buying

The easiest way to acquire cryptocurrency is to purchase on an online exchange like Coinbase, which is the world's most trusted and most secure platform to buy, sell and manage crypto.

Top Assets

1. Bitcoin
2. Ethereum
3. Tether
4. XRP
5. Cardano
6. Dogecoin
7. Solana
8. TRON
9. Litecoin
10. Polygon

https://www.coinbase.com/browse

Exchanges

Binance vs Coinbase

Binance

Binance

Coinbase

Coinbase

API

Getting Started

Prices

curl -s https://api.coinbase.com/v2/prices/ETH-USD/spot | jq -r .data.amount

ByBit

ByBit

AI

BotCrypto - Crypto Trading Bots

Trading

A Complete Guide to Cryptocurrency Trading for Beginners

Investocks - Investocks allows you to actively invest in most popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and more, profit from market rallies and declines, or hedge your existing cryptocurrency holdings.

Staking

Staking is a process by which individuals lock their cryptocurrency (their "stake") to support the security and operation of a blockchain network. When someone stakes their coins, they are essentially helping to secure the chain and validate transactions on the blockchain.

Staking is only possible on blockchains such as Ethereum and Cardano based on a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. PoS differs from the proof-of-work (PoW) used in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, where miners use computing power to validate transactions. Staking coins makes users' holdings less liquid because the coins are tied up in the staking process.

Individuals can usually still access their staked coins but may only be able to use them for other purposes once they are no longer staked. You can unstake your crypto at any time, and your crypto is always yours.

Example rates ...

• Solana = 4.35%
• Ethereum = 3.29%
• Cardano = 2.00%

Coinbase Help - Earn Rewards with Staking

Binance Help - What is Staking?

Stablecoins

Stablecoins are tokens pegged to an external asset, such as gold or the U.S. dollar, which ensures price stability. These coins are usually backed by the external asset, commonly USD, minimizing risk. Nonetheless, some stablecoins are collateralized by other cryptocurrencies, which elevates the risk factor. Stablecoins are generally less volatile. For instance, USDC remains fixed at $1 and is supported by numerous financial institutions. In a highly unstable market, stablecoins offer stability by being collateralized.

• US Dollar Coin (USDC) = 4.60%

Tax

UK Tax Law - Easily sync wallets and prepare HRMC forms

Mining

Cryptocurrency mining is the process of validating transactions and adding them to a blockchain by solving complex mathematical puzzles, typically done using powerful computers to earn rewards. (Thanks My ChapGPT:)

Mining is the process that Bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies use to generate new coins and verify new transactions. It involves vast, decentralized networks of computers around the world that verify and secure blockchains - the virtual ledgers that document cryptocurrency transactions.

List of Mining Pools

https://wheretomine.io/pools/all

XMRig

XMRig is a high performance, open source, cross platform RandomX, KawPow, CryptoNight and GhostRider unified CPU/GPU miner and RandomX benchmark. Official binaries are available for Windows, Linux, macOS and FreeBSD.

Installation and Usage

System Tweaks

First, if you have 4GB or more RAM for your rig, then enable Huge Pages support in Linux, which will improve your mining performance ...

sudo bash -c "echo vm.nr_hugepages=1280 >> /etc/sysctl.conf"
sudo sysctl -w vm.nr_hugepages=1280

Reduce CPU Usage

In your config, look for something like:

"rx/0": [-1, -1, -1],

The number of -1's will be the number of threads the miner will use (in the above case, it's configured to use 3 threads). Just start removing -1's until you get the overall CPU usage you're looking for.

Compile Software

Installation on Linux

Installation on macOS

Installation on Raspberry Pi

Generate Configuration

Generate your config file using the XMRig Wizard, which will look something like this ...

{
   "autosave": true,
   "cpu": true,
   "opencl": false,
   "cuda": false,
   "pools": [
       {
           "coin": "monero",
           "algo": "rx/0",
           "url": "stratum+tcp://randomxmonero.auto.nicehash.com:9200",
           "user": "NHbLd5exQeCGGyWnopVoLHLbzexKN5z8iq7p.raspberrypizero2",
           "pass": "x",
           "tls": false,
           "keepalive": true,
           "nicehash": true
       }
   ]
}

Start XMRig

Then, save it to a file and use that on the command line ...

./xmrig -c /Users/paullittlefield/xmrig_config.json

If successful you will see the following ...

* ABOUT        XMRig/6.20.0 clang/13.0.0
* LIBS         libuv/1.46.0 OpenSSL/3.1.2 hwloc/2.9.2
* HUGE PAGES   supported
* 1GB PAGES    unavailable
* CPU          Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4308U CPU @ 2.80GHz (1) 64-bit AES
               L2:0.5 MB L3:3.0 MB 2C/4T NUMA:1
* MEMORY       6.2/8.0 GB (77%)
               DIMM0: 4 GB DDR3 @ 1600 MHz 0x484D54343531533641465238412D50422020
               DIMM0: 4 GB DDR3 @ 1600 MHz 0x484D54343531533641465238412D50422020
* MOTHERBOARD  Apple Inc. - Mac-189A3D4F975D5FFC
* DONATE       1%
* ASSEMBLY     auto:intel
* POOL #1      stratum+tcp://randomxmonero.auto.nicehash.com:9200 coin Monero
* COMMANDS     hashrate, pause, resume, results, connection
* OPENCL       disabled
* CUDA         disabled
[2023-08-10 21:47:09.349]  net      use pool randomxmonero.auto.nicehash.com:9200  34.149.22.228
[2023-08-10 21:47:09.350]  net      new job from randomxmonero.auto.nicehash.com:9200 diff 238106 algo rx/0 height 52433
[2023-08-10 21:47:09.350]  cpu      use argon2 implementation AVX2
[2023-08-10 21:47:09.350]  randomx  init dataset algo rx/0 (4 threads) seed c5596b1df4d0b3f5...
[2023-08-10 21:47:09.942]  randomx  allocated 2336 MB (2080+256) huge pages 0% 0/1168 +JIT (592 ms)
[2023-08-10 21:47:20.091]  randomx  dataset ready (10148 ms)
[2023-08-10 21:47:20.091]  cpu      use profile  rx  (2 threads) scratchpad 2048 KB
[2023-08-10 21:47:21.257]  cpu      READY threads 2/2 (2) huge pages 0% 0/2 memory 4096 KB (1167 ms)
[2023-08-10 21:47:39.118]  net      new job from randomxmonero.auto.nicehash.com:9200 diff 238106 algo rx/0 height 52433

NiceHash

NiceHash is the world's leading hashpower marketplace, where you connect your computers as miners and earn Bitcoin for every share.

Links

NiceHash

CPU and GPU Mining with NiceHash QuickMiner

What is NiceHash OS

NiceHash OS User Guide

NiceHash Rig Manager User Guide

NiceHash Discord Group

NiceHash on GitHub

Connect HiveOS rig to NiceHash

XMRig Command Line Options

Mining Hardware

Type	Name	Speed	Profitability
CPU	Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 380 @ 2.53GHz	0.28 kH/s	0.00000035
CPU	Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6200U CPU @ 2.30GHz	0.79 kH/s	0.00000082
CPU	AMD FX(tm)-4350 Quad-Core Processor @ 4.20GHz	0.95 kH/s	0.00000104
GPU	Nvidia GeForce GTX 960	Example	Example
Example	Example	Example	Example

Disable X on NiceHash OS

• Set your SSH password and/or SSH Key in the configuration.json file on the root of the USB drive.
• Use the USB drive in your computer and boot as normal.
• Watch the NHM4 Information screen for registration and check your web Dashboard for the rig to appear correctly.
• Log in to your rig over SSH and type 'sudo -i' to become root.
• First, disable X with the command systemctl disable lightdm.service
• Second, make the boot console only with the command nano /etc/default/grub and change the lines so that it they read GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="text nomodeset quiet consoleblank=60" and GRUB_TERMINAL=console
• Type the command update-grub to save your changes.
• Then, type reboot and watch the magic happen :)

Help

How to make a Coinbase withdrawal from NiceHash

Hiveon

Hiveon is the ultimate mining platform which allows users to setup, mine and control processes more effectively and hassle-free across thousands of rigs all from a single place. Everything you and your team need to keep your farm at peak efficiency.

• Farm = a group of rigs which mine.
• Rig = a mining device equipped with a motherboard, CPU, RAM, SSD/HDD, and GPU.
• Worker = a piece of hardware which will mine.

Setup

I really needed these simple, step by step instructions because it is not clear and some of the links are dead (sigh).

STAGE 1

1. create an account at Hiveon
2. confirm the link in the email
3. log in
4. your first farm will be automatically created
5. click add rig
6. follow the wizard to download the Hiveon OS and burn it to your USB drive
7. in the wizard, download the rig.conf file
8. when the USB drive has finished being created, take it out, then back in and mount HIVE partition
9. copy that rig.conf file to the HIVE partition and then unmount the drive partition
10. pull out the drive and put it in your mining rig computer
11. start the computer and watch your Hiveon Dashboard for the rig to appear in your farm

STAGE 2

How to create a wallet and a flight sheet, and to start mine in Hiveon OS

My God, this was hard work...

https://hiveon.com/forum/t/nicehash-read-error-end-of-file/81387/8

Help

Change the repo used in the HiveOS ubuntu distribution ...

Dashboard > Farm > Rig > Settings > Repo Select: http://download2.hiveos.farm/repo/binary

When you try to upgrade and it fails with the following error:-

selfupgrade && sreboot (failed, exitcode=100)

Open a web shell and type the following ...

sudo -i
rm /var/lib/apt/lists/* -vf

Edit the file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hiverepo.list and delete all of it then add this line ...

deb [trusted=yes] http://download2.hiveos.farm/repo/binary /

Then, continue with these commands ...

apt-get clean
apt-get update
apt-get check
selfupgrade
sreboot

Links

Connect HiveOS rig to NiceHash

Hiveon OS

The most profitable Ethereum Classic mining pool for GPU rigs

Downloads

Hiveon Forum

Hiveon OS Changelog

API

How to Install Hive OS to a M.2 SATA or mSATA drive

Bobcat Miner 300

The Bobcat Miner 300 is a wireless hotspot miner that allows users to mine Helium (HNT) cryptocurrency by providing wireless coverage and processing wireless transactions.

Setup

Current firmware version: 1.0.3.17
My firmware version: 1.0.2.1Z_11217

Plug in your Ethernet cable first, then turn it on. Find out the IP address by using a network scanner then connect to it with your web browser. This will load the 'Diagnoser Diagnostic Dashboard' Then, click Reset to reset it, which will force it to firmware update over the Internet (and not it's antenna). When prompted, type "I Agree" and then YES, and then type in the username and password:-

username: bobcat
password: miner

Wait. Wait some more. During The LED light will turn white, yellow, red, yellow and then green. This can take days. Wait for the light to go GREEN.

Continue with the Quick Start Guide.

Help

https://zendesk.bobber.com/hc/en-us/articles/4412905659675-How-to-Get-OTA-Updates-

https://cryptoguzzler.com/bobcat-miners-everything-to-know/

https://www.reddit.com/r/HeliumNetwork/comments/12v5mbg/bobcat_miner_stuck_at_error_wait/

https://www.reddit.com/r/HeliumNetwork/comments/15b8h7d/setting_up_bobcat300_uk/

https://device.report/bobcat/MINER3001

Fix OLD Firmware Bug With NEW Nebra Firmware

Discord Thread

NEBRA Firmware and Instructions

DISCORD INSTRUCTIONS

This method is tested and verified now on Linux and Mac ... (Image only currently works on g290 and g295)...

We also support g280 (which is the 1gb bobcat, this uses a different image though and can run using SD card. See https://support.nebra.com/support/solutions/articles/24000085839-getting-started-with-bobcat-1g

Follow these instructions to install the Rockchip flashing tools depending on the OS you run on your PC: https://wiki.radxa.com/Rock3/install/rockchip-flash-tools.

If you try to compile on Linux and you receive this error ...

configure: error: C++ preprocessor fails sanity check

Then you look in side the error.log file and find this ...

cpp: fatal error: cannot execute 'cc1plus': execvp: No such file or directory

Then you install these extra programs ...

sudo apt-get install gcc g++

Then you can continue to compile ...

aclocal
autoreconf -f -i
CXXCPP=/usr/bin/cpp ./configure
make

Copy the software to your main system location, ready for running ...

sudo cp -av rkdeveloptool /usr/local/bin/
sudo ldconfig

Test to make sure it works ...

rkdeveloptool -v

Download and extract/unzip the Helium Nebra OS image for the Bobcat RK3566. https://github.com/NebraLtd/helium-bobcat-rk3566/releases

Open the case of the Bobcat unit so you can access the two small buttons on the board labeled "reset" and "recovery" or similar. You will need a T9 Torx Screwdriver - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193865952874 or just the end bit https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334425081302

Use a micro USB cable to connect the Bobcat to your PC (below instructions for Mac and Linux). The Bobcat has two micro USB connectors; use the one that's accessible from the back panel (labeled "USB_OTG" on the PCB).

Power the Bobcat via its regular power adapter while connected to the PC via micro USB.

Press and hold the "recovery" button; quickly press and release the "reset" button; release the "recovery" button after about 1 second. This will put your device into the so-called "loader" mode.

Then run ...

sudo rkdeveloptool ld

... which should print a device in "loader" mode.

Then run ...

sudo rkdeveloptool ef

... which should take about one minute to erase the flash.

Then you need to reset the board by pressing the reset button, and afterwards run ...

sudo rkdeveloptool ld

... which should print a device in "maskrom" mode.

Then download and install the new ROM with ...

wget https://dl.radxa.com/rock3/images/loader/rock-3a/rk356x_spl_loader_ddr1056_v1.10.111.bin
sudo rkdeveloptool db rk356x_spl_loader_ddr1056_v1.10.111.bin

... which downloads and installs the bootloader used for various rkdeveloptool commands.

Then run ...

sudo rkdeveloptool td

... which should succeed communicating with the device.

Then run ...

sudo rkdeveloptool wl 0 /path/to/extracted_nebra_image.img

... replacing with the actual image path. This will write the OS image onto the eMMC at address 0.

Then you just need to reset (press reset button) the board and enjoy Nebra firmware.

You will need to use Ethernet initially. And you can set up the WiFi again using the Nebra app over Bluetooth.

You can verify its working by checking the following ...

• device will appear in your network with hostname of nebra-xxxxxx where the Xs are the last 6 digits of the MAC address (this will be a different MAC address to what is printed on the device label)
• after the unit has fully booted you will see a green light flashing
• after the unit has fully booted you should see a Bluetooth device advertised for 5 minutes after it boots up (either via the Nebra hotspot app or another Bluetooth scanner app)
• after the unit has fully booted up you should be able to access the Nebra diagnostics page on the local IP address of the miner or the hostname mentioned above using http://nebra-xxxxxx/ or http://nebra-xxxxxx.local/ where the Xs are the last 6 digits of the MAC address (this will be a different MAC address to what is printed on the device label)
• after the unit has fully booted you should be able to see an SSH client on port 22222 (you won't be able to log in but you should be able to see/ping it)

Good luck.

REALLY GOOD INFORMATION AND TROUBLESHOOTING PAGE

Docker

Crypto Mining using Docker

Hardware Miners

altcoin usb miners. Work great for beginners and novice alike. Windows drivers installed on hardware so it's basically plug and play. Cgminer and bfgminer work great with linux. A USB hub and a few of these miners and you will have your own little mining farm. Raspberry pi makes good controller board.

Top 10 USB ASIC Miner - USB Flash Drives

USB ASIC SCRYPT 144KHS DRAGON LITECOIN MINERS

GekkoScience USB

https://gekkoscience.org/

https://github.com/wareck/cgminer-gekko

LKETC USB

https://github.com/wareck/cgminer-lketc

Help

How do I move crypto between my Coinbase Wallet and Coinbase.com account? | Coinbase Help