What Is a USB Bitcoin Miner?

USB Bitcoin Miners were USB connection type mining devices marketed to allow quick and easy mining and lower powe﷽r 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.

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 cumulati💎ve 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 ope♋rations.

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 wit💟h other miners.

Historical Developments

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

Then came the Field Programmable Gate๊ 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 mini🅠ng 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 FPGAs are now superseded by Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), which consume less power and offer faster processing speeds compared to the former three.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-lin🍷e graphics cards and processors to net a few dollars per month.

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  for more info. As of the date this article was written, the author does not own cryptocurrency.