Bitcoin mining is not accessible for everyone, but one person from San Fernando Valley wants to change the situation. Idan Abada posted an interesting video on TikTok. In a video that went viral, he is using free Starbucks electricity to run a Bitcoin mining rig. The rig which Abada used in his post on TikTok looks a whole lot different than a warehouse packed with rows of whirling ASICs. Instead, Idan Abada’s miner which he assembled is quite simple. His budget-friendly miner consists of a multi-port USB hub, a mounted mini fan, as well as ten USB sticks, each containing two Bitmain-manufactured ASIC mining chips.
Idan Abada started mining the world’s largest cryptocurrency in his room in a shared house in 2015. Two years later Idan Abada opened his own shop. The company founded by Abada now offers customers all the hardware they need to get into mining.
Crypto mining is quite popular all over the world and the overall market for global crypto mining hardware is expected to grow by $2.8 billion from 2020 and 2024. Unsurprisingly, Abada’s business also flourished in the last four years as people are willing to invest in crypto-related activities. Bitcoin Merch sales reached $428,000 so far this year, up 355% from 2020.
One of the main sellers on Bitcoin Merch is the NewPac. It is the main component of the rig featured in Abada’s video. Each of the mini-USB rigs comes with two ASIC chips, so all in, the $875 rig has 20 chips.
$875 Bitcoin mining rig and technical aspects
Idan Abada’s $875 Bitcoin mining rig has its shortcomings as well. His mining rig is a lot less powerful than industrial miners. Two important factors determine the output of a rig: how much power it consumes and how much hashing power it produces.
Abada’s mining rig has a very low hashrate, so this machine will trend toward producing less Bitcoin than competing rigs. Crypto miners are competing against each other to see who can unlock each batch of Bitcoin first. To win, miners almost have to join a team of other crypto miners, and Abada is not an exception.
However, even with the help of this so-called mining pool, the proceeds from the $875 mining rig are minimal. His mini miner generates 0.0002478 Bitcoin per month, minus a 5% mining pool fee.
