What Is a USB Bitcoin Miner in Crypto, and How Does It Work?

What Is a USB Bitcoin Miner?

USB Bitcoin Miners were USB connection type mining devices marketed to allow quick and easy mining and lower power consumption at a lower price. However, network hashing rates rose too rapidly for these devices to keep up, so they were quickly abandoned by users for faster equipment.

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin mining requires a lot of computational power, as your hardware must generate trillions of hashes per second.
• These units could be “stacked” to achieve greater hashing power
• USB miners still couldn’t keep up with the ever-increasing hash rate of the network or ASICs.

How Do USB Bitcoin Miners Work?

A USB Bitcoin miner, when connected to a computer with suitable software, performs the mining function at a specific hashing speed. To enhance the hashing output, multiple miners could be plugged in together. When they first came out, a stack of six USB miners that offered 335 megahashes per second (MH/s) could generate a cumulative two gigahashes of mining power.

Since a standard computer usually has only two to six USB ports, USB hubs are required to be used to plug in the multiple USB miners. The USB hubs would be connected to a computer with software capable of controlling the USB miners and their mining operations.

Instead of connecting to a standard PC or laptop, the USB Bitcoin miner setup could also be connected to other smaller, low-cost computer devices like Raspberry Pi, which offered suitable capacity to run the miners at the time. However, they were still not fast enough to keep up with other miners.

Important

You can still purchase a USB miner that hashes hundreds of gigahashes per second. You would need to stack more than 50 USB miners to equal the hashing rate of an older Antminer S9 mining at 13.5 terahashes per second (found used on eBay for about $100). And that’s only if your USB connection speeds and multiple hubs can handle the amount of information being processed and power them all.

Historical Developments

Bitcoin mining started with the standard Central Processing Unit (CPU), an integral part of a standard computer. Mining efficiency was enhanced by the use of comparatively faster graphic processing units (GPUs).

Then came the Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), which scored better than both CPUs and GPUs at performing the hashing function, an essential element of blockchain management in cryptocurrency.

FPGAs turned the concept of concentrated mining farms into reality and were also the first kind of mining devices that supported USB connectivity. FPGAs are now superseded by Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), which consume less power and offer faster processing speeds compared to the former three.

The rapidly evolving technology has made Bitcoin mining nearly non-profitable on home computers. However, it is possible to join a mining pool using top-of-the-line graphics cards and processors to net a few dollars per month.

Do USB Bitcoin Miners Work?

USB miners have chips specifically designed to run blockchain mining software. Although they can assist a blockchain network, these devices barely do enough work to earn rewards, even in a mining pool.

Can You Mine of a USB Stick?

You can purchase a USB mining stick or use a USB stick to store the mining software your computer might use to mine crypto. However, in both cases, neither of these options will help you enough Bitcoin to be worth the effort.

Can Bitcoins Be on USB?

You can store your Bitcoin private keys on a USB drive, but Bitcoins are not actually stored off the blockchain.

The Bottom Line

With lower setup costs, USB miners offer an easy and fun way to learn about cryptocurrency mining. However, using these devices is currently financially unfeasible, as it likely would cost more to buy and power all of the USB miners needed than you’d earn.

The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed on Investopedia are for informational purposes only. Read our warranty and liability disclaimer for more info. As of the date this article was written, the author does not own cryptocurrency.

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