A coin that looks profitable today can flip into a loss after a price dip, a difficulty jump, or a higher electricity bill. Mining math changes by the week, and a calculator that hides its assumptions tells you very little. Here’s a grounded look at what’s actually mineable, and what it actually costs.
Is Crypto Mining Still Profitable in 2026?
Mining in 2026 is profitable for some setups and a money-loser for others, often using the exact same hardware. Bitcoin mining is now mostly an industrial game: efficient ASICs and electricity under roughly $0.06–$0.08/kWh separate profitable operators from those barely breaking even. GPU mining lost its biggest market when Ethereum moved to proof-of-stake, but it hasn’t disappeared; coins like Ergo and Vertcoin still rely on GPUs. CPU mining is real but modest, mostly centered on Monero. Across the board, network difficulty, hardware efficiency, and electricity rate matter more than the coin’s name or hype.
Regional electricity costs swing the outcome dramatically. A setup that loses money at $0.15/kWh residential rates can be solidly profitable at $0.04–$0.07/kWh industrial rates. That’s why the same ASIC can be a “buy” in one country and a “skip” in another.
How Crypto Mining Profitability Is Calculated
Mining revenue isn’t just profit. The basic formula is:
Net operating profit = mining revenue − electricity cost − pool fees − software fees − other direct operating costs
That’s before accounting for hardware purchase price, depreciation, cooling, maintenance, downtime, and taxes, which affect your actual return on investment separately. A rig can show a positive daily number on a calculator and still never pay back its hardware cost if difficulty rises or the coin’s price falls.
Data Used in This Guide
- Data pulled: Mid-to-late June 2026, primarily from WhatToMine and CoinWarz live calculators
- Electricity scenarios: $0.05, $0.10, and $0.20 per kWh
- Pool fees: 0–3% depending on pool, included where the source calculator applies them
- Hardware depreciation, cooling, and taxes: Not included in daily profit figures below; these reduce real returns further
- Uptime: Assumes 24/7 operation; real-world downtime lowers output
All figures in this article are tied to the date the information was pulled and will shift with price and difficulty.
How We Selected These Coins
Coins made this list only if they’re actively mined with proof-of-work, have verifiable network hashrate and difficulty data, trade with real liquidity on tracked exchanges, and have maintained mining software and at least one active pool. We deliberately included coins across ASIC, GPU, and CPU categories, and we didn’t drop a coin just because its current margin is thin. Some coins below are included specifically because they illustrate a risk (crashed price, an unprofitable network) that’s worth understanding before you buy hardware.
Quick Mining Profitability Comparison Table
Electricity rate: $0.10/kWh. Figures exclude hardware depreciation, cooling, and taxes. Pulled mid-to-late June 2026. Treat as a snapshot, not a forecast.
| Coin | Algorithm | Hardware Type | Example Hardware | Hashrate | Power | Est. Daily Profit | Hardware Cost | Liquidity | Risk Level |
| BTC | SHA-256 | ASIC | Antminer S21 XP | 270 TH/s | 3,645W | ~$1.80-$5 (rate-dependent) | ~$5,700 | Very high | Moderate |
| LTC+DOGE | Scrypt | ASIC | Antminer L9 17G | 17,000 MH/s | 3,450W | DOGE side ~$0.64; LTC alone negative | ~$14,399 | High | Moderate |
| ZEC | Equihash | ASIC | Antminer Z15 Pro | 840 KSol/s | 2,780W | Strongly positive after ZEC rally | ~$1,299 | Moderate | Moderate-high |
| DASH | X11 | ASIC | Antminer D9 | 1,770 GH/s | 2,839W | Roughly breakeven to negative | ~$1,100 | Moderate | Moderate-high |
| ERG | Autolykos2 | GPU | RTX 3070 | 160 MH/s | 125W | Thin, price-dependent | ~$280 (used) | Lower | Moderate-high |
| VTC | Verthash | GPU | Consumer GPU (2GB+ VRAM) | ~720 MH/s | ~1,200W (multi-GPU rig) | Near breakeven | GPU cost only (no ASIC) | Low | High |
| KAS | kHeavyHash | ASIC | Antminer KS7 | 36-40 TH/s | 2,772-3,080W | Marginal; most older models negative | Varies | Moderate | High |
| XMR | RandomX | CPU | AMD Threadripper 3990X | 54 KH/s | 280W | ~$0.88 | ~$3,995 | Moderate-high | Low-moderate |
The Best ASIC Coins to Mine
1. Bitcoin (BTC)
- Algorithm: SHA-256
- Hardware: Antminer S21 XP (270 TH/s, 3,645W, 13.5 J/TH), ~$5,700
- Network hashrate: Roughly 900 EH/s to 1 ZH/s
- Block reward: 3.125 BTC plus fees
Bitcoin remains the benchmark for ASIC mining, and the newest air-cooled machines like the S21 XP can stay profitable down toward the high $40,000s per BTC at industrial electricity rates, according to manufacturer and reseller efficiency comparisons. At $0.10/kWh residential rates, margins are thinner and can disappear entirely depending on the day’s price and difficulty.
Strengths: deepest liquidity of any mined coin, largest pool ecosystem, most mature hardware market.
Drawbacks: high upfront hardware cost, heavy competition from industrial-scale operations, difficulty has trended both up and down through 2026.
Best for: miners with access to electricity under roughly $0.08/kWh and a dedicated space for noise and heat. Casual home miners on standard residential rates may struggle to break even.
2. Litecoin + Dogecoin (merged mining)
- Algorithm: Scrypt
- Hardware: Antminer L9 17G (17,000 MH/s, 3,450W), ~$14,399
- LTC block reward: 6.25 LTC (next halving expected mid-2027)
- DOGE block reward: 10,000 DOGE
Litecoin and Dogecoin share the Scrypt algorithm, so any Scrypt ASIC mines both at once at no extra electricity cost. That matters because, based on CoinWarz calculator data, mining Litecoin alone with an L9 is solidly negative at $0.10/kWh, while Dogecoin alone is only marginally positive. The combined LTC+DOGE reward is what makes this pairing worth considering at all.
Strengths: Merged mining meaningfully improves the economics versus mining either coin alone; mature, widely available hardware.
Drawbacks: High power draw per unit, and profitability still depends heavily on DOGE’s price, which is volatile.
Best for: Miners who specifically want merged-mining economics rather than a single-coin strategy, and who have cheap power to offset the high wattage.
3. Zcash (ZEC)
- Algorithm: Equihash
- Hardware: Antminer Z15 Pro (840 KSol/s, 2,780W), ~$1,299 from Bitmain
- Block reward: 1.25 ZEC
ZEC’s price rallied sharply into mid-2026, and that move alone pushed Z15 Pro economics from modest to strong. Based on CoinWarz figures, daily profit at $0.10/kWh was solidly positive even before the rally; with ZEC trading several times higher, the same hardware throws off considerably more.
Strengths: Relatively low hardware cost for the output, currently strong margins, established privacy use case keeps demand for the coin.
Drawbacks: Profitability is unusually sensitive to ZEC’s price swings, and a pullback could erase a large share of current returns quickly.
Best for: Miners comfortable with a coin whose profitability moved sharply in a short window and could move sharply back.
4. Dash (DASH)
- Algorithm: X11
- Hardware: Antminer D9 (1,770 GH/s, 2,839W), ~$1,100
- Block reward: ~1.55 DASH
Dash mining with the D9 sits close to breakeven at $0.10/kWh, and different sources show it tipping slightly positive or slightly negative depending on the exact moment and price feed used. This is a coin where the electricity rate you actually pay decides the outcome more than anything else.
Strengths: Efficient, dedicated ASIC hardware with limited algorithm competition.
Drawbacks: Margins are thin enough that a small difficulty increase or price dip can flip daily profit negative.
Best for: Miners with electricity well under $0.08/kWh. Not a strong fit at standard residential rates.
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Best GPU Coins to Mine
5. Ergo (ERG)
- Algorithm: Autolykos2
- Hardware: RTX 3070 (160 MH/s, 125W), ~$280 used
- Block reward: ~3.0 ERG
Ergo is one of the few coins where a mid-range GPU like the RTX 3070 still produces a meaningful hashrate. Profitability is thin and depends heavily on ERG’s price, which sits well under a dollar, so daily output in dollar terms is small per card.
Strengths: Accessible with common consumer GPUs, no specialized hardware needed.
Drawbacks: Low coin price means even decent hashrate produces modest dollar revenue; smaller market cap than the major ASIC coins.
Best for: GPU owners who already have the hardware for other purposes (gaming, rendering) and want to run it idle rather than buying GPUs specifically for this.
6. Vertcoin (VTC)
- Algorithm: Verthash (intentionally memory-hard to resist ASICs)
- Hardware: Consumer GPU with 2GB+ VRAM
- Market cap: Roughly $3 million, among the smallest mineable coins tracked here
Vertcoin is built specifically to stay GPU-friendly, and its community has said it would re-fork if ASICs ever threatened that. At $0.10/kWh, most mid-range GPUs sit close to breakeven, and that’s before accounting for VTC’s very thin liquidity.
Strengths: Genuinely ASIC-resistant by design, low barrier to entry for anyone with a GPU.
Drawbacks: Very small market cap and trading volume mean limited liquidity for selling rewards, and price can be volatile on thin order books.
Best for: Hobbyists interested in supporting a small, GPU-only network rather than anyone optimizing for return.
7. Kaspa (KAS)
- Algorithm: kHeavyHash
- Hardware: Antminer KS7 (36–40 TH/s, 2,772–3,080W) is the only widely-tracked model showing a positive margin at standard rates
- KAS price: Down roughly 85% from its 2024 peak as of mid-2026
Kaspa is included here specifically as a cautionary example. Network hashrate grew faster than the coin’s price could support, and per multiple ASIC profitability trackers, the large majority of KAS-specific ASICs, including older KS5-series machines, are currently mining at a loss at typical electricity rates. Only the newest, most efficient model clears a positive (and still thin) margin.
Strengths: Very fast, low-variance block times that smooth out payout timing; some of the newest hardware is genuinely efficient.
Drawbacks: Most existing KAS-specific hardware is unprofitable right now, and buying new hardware means betting on a price recovery that may not happen.
Best for: Miners who already own efficient, current-generation KAS hardware. Not a coin to buy new ASICs for without running the numbers carefully first.
Best CPU Coin to Mine
8. Monero (XMR)
- Algorithm: RandomX (deliberately CPU-favoring)
- Hardware: AMD Threadripper 3990X (54 KH/s, 280W), ~$3,995; or Ryzen 9 7950X (31 KH/s, 140W), ~$699 for a lower-cost entry
- Block reward: 0.65 XMR, fixed via tail emission with no halving
Monero is the most credible CPU-mining option available. Based on CoinWarz figures, the Threadripper setup nets a solidly positive margin at $0.10/kWh, with a healthy profit percentage relative to revenue. The lack of a halving schedule also means rewards won’t suddenly drop the way ASIC-coin rewards can.
Strengths: No specialized hardware needed, genuinely accessible mining software (XMRig), strong privacy use case, no halving risk.
Drawbacks: Absolute daily earnings are modest compared to ASIC coins, and the same XMRig software is sometimes flagged by antivirus tools because it’s also used in unauthorized cryptojacking, which can confuse new users.
Best for: Anyone with spare CPU capacity who wants a low-barrier entry point and doesn’t need large absolute returns.
What Is the Easiest Crypto to Mine at Home?
“Easiest” and “most profitable” aren’t the same thing. For setup simplicity:
- Monero is the most beginner-friendly because it runs on a regular CPU, doesn’t need specialized ventilation, and uses well-documented software.
- Ergo or Vertcoin are reasonable next steps if you already own a gaming GPU and want to try mining without buying new hardware.
- ASIC coins (BTC, LTC+DOGE, ZEC, DASH) require dedicated electrical circuits, serious ventilation, and tolerance for noise in the 72–76 dB range, which usually rules out apartments and shared housing.
But easy setup doesn’t guarantee profit. Always run your specific electricity rate through a calculator before committing.
Solo Mining vs. Pool Mining
Solo mining means you keep the entire block reward if you find a block, but for any coin with meaningful network hashrate, that could mean months or years between finds for a single average-sized rig. Pool mining combines hashrate from many participants and pays out proportionally, with far more frequent and predictable payouts in exchange for a fee, typically 0.5–3% depending on the pool and payout model (PPLNS, PPS, etc.).
For nearly all home and small-scale miners, pool mining is the practical choice. Solo mining is mostly relevant for miners with serious hashrate or those treating a tiny chance at a full block reward as a deliberate lottery-style bet (this is a real, if niche, strategy some Bitcoin hobbyists use with very low-power solo-capable devices).
How to Start Mining Altcoins Safely
- Pick a coin that matches your hardware. Don’t buy a Scrypt ASIC and then wonder why it can’t mine Monero.
- Run the numbers with your real electricity rate using a live calculator like WhatToMine or CoinWarz, not numbers from an old article.
- Confirm pool and software support before buying hardware. Use official software downloads only; verify checksums where available, since fake or modified miners exist that quietly redirect part of your hashrate.
- Set up a compatible wallet before you start mining; you need somewhere for rewards to land.
- Choose a reputable pool and understand its fee, minimum payout, and payout method.
- Reassess regularly. Network difficulty and coin prices shift constantly; a profitable setup today can flip in weeks.
- Treat hardware sellers with healthy skepticism. Buy from manufacturers or established resellers. Urgency tactics, crypto-only payment demands, and “almost sold out” pressure are common scam patterns.
- Never trust guaranteed-return cloud mining offers. No legitimate mining operation can promise a fixed daily return; that’s a Ponzi-style red flag, not a feature.
Crypto Mining Risks
Mining is a capital-intensive, speculative business activity, not passive income. Key risks include:
- Price volatility: A coin’s price can swing fast enough to erase margin overnight.
- Difficulty growth: As more hashrate joins a network, the same hardware earns less over time.
- Reward reductions: Scheduled halvings (Bitcoin, Litecoin) cut issuance-based revenue instantly.
- Hardware obsolescence: ASICs are single-purpose; if a network’s algorithm changes or economics collapse, resale value can drop sharply.
- Electricity cost increases: Often the single largest recurring expense, and it’s easy to underestimate with demand charges or tiered residential pricing.
- Pool and cloud-mining risk: Pool fees and rules can change, and cloud-mining contracts have a long history of underperforming or being outright fraudulent.
- Security risk: Fake mining software, malicious firmware, and phishing sites targeting miners are common.
- Regulatory and tax risk: Mining laws, energy rules, and tax treatment vary by country and can change.
Final Thoughts
There’s no single “most profitable” coin in 2026. Everything depends entirely on your hardware, electricity rate, and risk tolerance. Bitcoin and Zcash currently reward efficient operators, Monero offers steady low-barrier CPU mining, and coins like Kaspa and Ravencoin show how quickly margins can turn negative. Recalculate before buying any equipment, and don’t trust a number that skips electricity costs.
FAQ
What is the most profitable crypto to mine in 2026?
It depends on your electricity rate and hardware, but Bitcoin (with efficient ASICs and cheap power) and Zcash (currently boosted by a price rally) are showing some of the strongest margins as of mid-2026.
Which altcoin is easiest to mine?
Monero is generally considered the easiest because it runs on a standard CPU with well-documented software and no specialized ventilation needs.
Is GPU mining still profitable?
Sometimes, but margins are thin. Coins like Ergo and Vertcoin remain GPU-mineable, but profitability depends heavily on your electricity rate and the coin’s price.
What is the best crypto to mine with a CPU?
Monero is the main credible CPU-mining option, using the RandomX algorithm, which is deliberately designed to favor CPUs over GPUs and ASICs.
What is the best ASIC coin to mine?
Bitcoin has the deepest liquidity and most mature hardware market, though Zcash and Dash are also ASIC-mineable with different cost and risk profiles.
Can crypto mining be profitable at home?
It can be, mainly with low-power setups like CPU mining or a few efficient GPUs, but high-wattage ASICs usually need electrical and ventilation upgrades most homes don’t have.
How much electricity does crypto mining use?
It varies enormously by hardware. A single Bitcoin ASIC can draw 3,000–7,000+ watts continuously, comparable to several space heaters running nonstop.
How long does mining hardware take to pay for itself?
It varies widely, from well under a year for efficient hardware at industrial power rates to never, if difficulty rises or price falls before the hardware is paid off.
Is cloud mining profitable?
Most cloud-mining contracts underperform or lose money once fees are factored in, and the space has a long history of outright scams promising guaranteed returns.
Does mining damage a GPU?
Sustained heavy load can accelerate wear, particularly on VRAM, but a well-cooled card running at reasonable temperatures generally holds up reasonably well over time.
Disclaimer: Please note that the contents of this article are not financial or investing advice. The information provided in this article is the author’s opinion only and should not be considered as offering trading or investing recommendations. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. The cryptocurrency market suffers from high volatility and occasional arbitrary movements. Any investor, trader, or regular crypto users should research multiple viewpoints and be familiar with all local regulations before committing to an investment.