Why I Mine For Peercoin

Mining doesn't provide the sole or most significant source of blockchain security in the Peercoin Network. It more directly serves the purpose of achieving an equitable distribution of peercoins. Peercoin encourages participants from around the globe to do their part in claiming new peercoins by running SHA256 hashing equipment.

I feel obligated to mine as efficiently and effectively as possible to set a standard against which others must also strive. It feels healthy. It feels real. My not mining only benefits those that do.

But what does being a good mining steward look like? Surely we can do better than using our laptop's CPU. Surely we don't need to start a mining company with warehouses of ANTMINERs.

What I can offer below is a middle ground. Enough hashing power, quietly tucked away in a home office, to earn about one peercoin a day at the time of writing.

Is it complicated? A little. Is it profitable? Not by a long shot. Is it worth it? Yes. Let's get started!

Hardware And Software

Personal Computer
You'll need a personal computer running some distribution of Linux. I'm using a System 76 Thelio in my setup but this can be any desktop or laptop you have on hand.
Think Penguin
System 76
Raspberry Pi 5

Operating System
Any flavor of Linux will likely work for our needs. I'm using Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish) on my Thelio computer and always recommend it to others.
Ubuntu 22.04
Raspberry Pi OS

Peercoin Wallet
In order to receive your hard earned peercoins you'll need a Peercoin address. The simplest way to attain a Peercoin address is by installing the mobile app from your phone's preferred app store (it's free and developed as open source software by the Peercoin Team). A more robust client can be found by opting for the PC Wallet. I use the PC Wallet in my setup.
iPhone or Android Wallet
PC Wallet

SHA256 Mining Equipment
You compete to create new blocks on the Peercoin Network by using specialzed chips that quickly compute values from a SHA256 based hashing algorithm. This means regular CPUs are no longer suitable for mining and I'd warn against using the industrial grade ANTMINER in your home. The GekkoScience Compac F is the latest iteration in USB miners that provide a decent amount of hashing power with a small footprint and minimal cooling needs. I have four USB miners in my setup but you could always start with one.
GekkoScience Compac F

Powered USB Hub
The GekkoScience Compaq F uses more power than your average USB device so it's important to have a powered USB hub. I've found Anker to be reliable and the model linked below has the exact number of ports and dimensions to fit four USB miners.
Anker USB Hub

USB Fans
The GekkoScience Compaq F chips generate a blistering amount of heat and will fail if not cooled. You only need a couple of fans to keep them operating at a reasonable temperature. I've tried a few different USB fans and have liked the ones linked below the most.
Gaiatop USB Desk Fan

Mining Pool
You could mine with this rig by yourself but the odds of finding a block are extremly low. To smooth out the frequency of rewards, miners use an intermediary to pool their resources together and share credit for blocks found by the group. There are multiple pools to choose from but I use CoinMinerz.com. You can find the stratum connection address for the Peercoin pool at the link below. It's duplicated here for convenience: stratum+tcp://us-stratum.coinminerz.com:3312
Coinminerz.com Peercoin Pool

Stratum Mining Client
The last piece of the puzzle is the software that communicates with the Peercoin mining pool and the GekkoScience Compaq F USB miners. There are multiple projects that fulfill this role but I use CGMiner. In order to obtain CGMiner you'll need to checkout code from GitHub and compile it with the following commands:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install build-essential autoconf automake libtool pkg-config libcurl4-openssl-dev libudev-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev libncurses5-dev zlib1g-dev git

git clone https://github.com/kanoi/cgminer.git

cd cgminer

CFLAGS="-O2 -fcommon" ./autogen.sh --enable-gekko

make

Once you have produced the cgminer executable you can start the whole mining operation with the command:

sudo ./cgminer -o stratum+tcp://us-stratum.coinminerz.com:3312 -u YourPeercoinAddressHere

Final Thoughts

I only mine during the cold months of my part of the world. It's good to take a step back from mining for a few months every year. It gives technology a chance to move forward so you can replace your USB miner with an even better one when it breaks. It keeps the activity of mining fresh and interesting. It feels healthy. It feels real.

Thank you for reading and I hope you find this to be a fun and rewarding hobby like I do :)