MinerGate – a popular mining pool. Users can purchase mining contracts for seven cryptocurrencies (ETH, ETC, BTG, ZEC, BCN, XMR, XMC). It has been working since 2014. MinerGate reviews are mostly negative.
It is generally accepted that cryptocurrency mining is most often only possible for experienced specialists who know exactly what they are doing. But some companies allow you to plunge into the mining process not only to professionals in their field, but also to novice users.
In this review, we have at our fingertips the MinerGate service, which managed to win a millionth user audience around the world.
- What is MinerGate?
- MinerGate Features
- How to Use MinerGate
- MinerGate Calculator
- Mining on MinerGate
- Earning Rewards at MinerGate
- Withdraw Funds and Commission MinerGate
- How to Increase Production Speed at Minenergate
- Advantages and Disadvantages of MinerGate
- History and the Minergate Team
- MinerGate Reviews
What is MinerGate?
MinerGate is the largest multi-currency mining pool that entered the market in 2014.
Today, MinerGate is a large international portal for mining and has more than 3.9 million users worldwide.
With MinerGate you can mine the following coins:
- Ethereum (ETH);
- Ethereum Classic (ETC);
- Bitcoin Gold (BTG);
- Zcash (ZEC);
- Bytecoin (BCN);
- Monero (XMR);
- Monero Classic (XMC).
The coin is supposed to be used as a tool of loyalty to users of the service. Several MG tokens have already been distributed to the most active clients in gratitude for their feedback and contribution to the development of the project.
MinerGate Features
In a competitive market, each company strives to provide some unique options that will stand out among competitors and attract more users. Minergate is no exception. The main MinerGate features are described below.
Smart Mining Function
This is a unique development of the company, which involves intellectual mining.
If the profit leader changes, the application starts mining a new currency. It is difficult to say how much the system takes into account other important points, but this is a tempting function, especially for those who want to start mining on MinerGate without unnecessary troubles.
Joint Mining
The service presents a unique opportunity to mine two cryptocurrencies simultaneously based on the CryptoNote cryptocurrency algorithm. Minergate users can mine Monero Classic and simultaneously receive Bytecoin, without losing the hash rate for the main coin, thereby increasing mining profit. The function is implemented through the mining pool MinerGate Pro.
Special Software for Mining
For the convenience of users, Maynergate developers have released and regularly update special software for cryptocurrency mining. Separate versions of the program for various operating systems have been developed, while there are both console versions and GUI miners.
The mining program is very convenient to use, since it allows you to mine all available cryptocurrencies through one application.
MinerGate Control Mobile App
The company has developed a special application for smartphones based on Android, which helps the user to manage and control the mining process directly through the phone.
The application allows you to connect to your Minergate account and remotely track your balance, receive notifications and control your devices. It is important to note that the application does not support mining on a smartphone.
How to Use MinerGate
How to use MinerGate:
- Step 1. Go to the official website.
- Step 2. Go through the registration by entering your email and creating a password.
- Step 3. Confirm the email by clicking on the link in the email.
- Step 4. Configure two-factor authentication (2FA) through the user’s account.
- Step 5. Calculate the mining profitability of the selected coin using the special Minergate calculator.
- Step 6. Download and install special software.
- Step 7. Choose the type of reward in the pool for mining.
- Step 8. You are ready to mine at Minergate!
Below will be described all the details of working with the Minergate pool.
Registration
Go to the official MinerGate website listed above. The portal start page will open in front of you.
But it’s worth noting that the translation of the site is partially completed, so if you have any difficulties, we recommend that you immediately use the built-in translation function of your browser.
By the way, the developers of the service offer users to help with the adaptation of website translation for a fee in the form of a discount on the use of the pool.
To create an account, click on the "Register" button:
Creating an account on MinerGate takes place without unnecessary checks and filling out time-consuming forms. All you need to do is enter your email address and create a password.
After entering this data, you become a full member of the MinerGate community.
Personal Account MinerGate
MinerGate user account is located on the “Panel” tab. It contains all the necessary information and tools for navigating mining and revenue management.
Let's start with the Profile tab. It contains the user's personal data, as well as security settings and account activity history.
After registering an account, it is important to make some mandatory security settings, such as confirming your email address and connecting two-factor authentication (2FA). Without this, it is impossible to withdraw funds and other actions with an account on MinerGate.
We suggest that you immediately go to the menu "Panel" → "Profile" and click on the system notification indicated in the picture below to authorize email.
Email Authorization
To connect 2FA, just scroll down the page and using the Google Authenticator application, enter the verification code in the corresponding field. To confirm your actions, click the "Activate" button.
The “Panel” tab displays basic information about all of your active mining and balances. It also shows detailed information for each coin: mining status (online / offline), your current hashrate and hashrate for this currency, the number of miners in the pool, etc. It is on this tab that all manipulations with the balance and tracking the profitability of mining are performed.
All transfer and withdrawal transactions are displayed in the Transactions history section.
Very detailed instructions on how to start mining on MinerGate in the video below:
MinerGate Calculator
Before you start mining coins, we advise you to use a special mining calculator, which is presented at Minenergate.
The Minergate Online Calculator allows you to calculate estimated earnings based on your hash rate. All cryptocurrencies are grouped according to the mining algorithm.
To calculate the profit from mining, simply enter the hash power that you have or plan to have, and do not forget to specify the correct unit of measurement in the drop-down list next to this field.
The system will automatically calculate the potential profit from production, taking into account the data entered, as well as the complexity of the network, the amount of remuneration for the mined block, the commission of the pool, etc. All calculations are presented in the form of a table, which shows the approximate profit for an hour, day, week. In this case, the user can also select the unit of calculation – BTC, USD or EUR.
Mining on MinerGate
This is undoubtedly an advantage of Minergate, as it makes it easier for users to find the right software for mining on the Internet.
Software Download
To start mining, you need to download and install software. You can do this through the "Downloads" menu.
You will be presented with a choice of xFast GUI Miner or xFast Console Miner. Select the appropriate version for your OS and click "Download".
MinerGate Mining Setup
In our review, we will take a closer look at an example of setting up mining on MinerGate through a GUI miner. At the same time, setting up the console version of the software comes down to launching the application with certain command line parameters, including account information, currency and the number of processor cores used.
So, after the xFast GUI Miner program has downloaded, you need to log in. To do this, use the same account information as for entering the official site.
The first step is to start with the Benchmark feature. Through this option, MinerGate will analyze your equipment and within a few minutes will display an approximate calculation of profit that you can count on.
To start mining on MinerGate, you can select the “Smart miner” option, which automatically determines the most profitable cryptocurrency for mining. To do this, go to the appropriate menu and click "Start Mining".
The system will display the details of the current mining process, where you can see the currency that is currently being mined, mining statistics of your processor and video card with the number of working cores, etc.
In addition, you can select the cryptocurrency for mining manually through the “Mining” tab. This tab only seems complicated at first glance. In fact, you can easily choose which cryptocurrency to mine through the “View” menu, and you can also set a different number of capacities (cores) for each mining process.
It is important not to overload your device, otherwise it will not withstand such a busy work for a long time.
In any case, to start mining, you just need to click “Start Mining” in one of the columns – CPU or GPU.
For stable mining, just keep your device turned on. No further action is required.
Earning Rewards at MinerGate
MinerGate users can receive 2 types of rewards:
- PPS – a reward is awarded for each ball accepted by the mining pool.
- PPLNS – the reward is calculated in proportion to your contribution to the total in the mining process.
You can set the type of reward through the "Panel" menu. Here, for each cryptocurrency, available options for calculating the reward for mining coins are displayed.
All accruals from the extraction of coins are collected in the “Unconfirmed” block. This amount will be blocked for withdrawal until it reaches the minimum threshold, which is different for each cryptocurrency:
- For Bitcoin Gold - 0.001 BTG;
- For Zcash - 0.001 ZEC;
- For Ethereum - 0.000001 ETH;
- For Ethereum Classic - 0.001 ETC;
- For Bytecoin - 20 BCN;
- For Monero - 0.005 XMR;
- For Monero Classic - 0.001 XMC.
Upon reaching the minimum threshold, the amount will be added to the current balance available for withdrawal. The sum of the current balance (confirmed) can be seen near the name of the selected cryptocurrency. At the same time, in the “Total Mined” block, the total number of coins mined by you for the entire time is displayed. This amount includes a confirmed, unconfirmed balance sheet and profit from an affiliate program.
Withdraw Funds and Commission MinerGate
As mentioned earlier, MinerGate output is available only after confirming the email address and connecting two-factor authentication (2FA). Therefore, if you have not done this before, it's time to use our instructions in the previous sections.
There are 2 options for output to MinerGate:
- Transfer of mined coins. With this option, you can transfer money from one MinerGate account to another. To carry out such a transaction, click on the down arrow located to the left of the "Output" button and fill out the form for sending coins.
- Conclusion of mined coins on Minergate. This is a standard option for withdrawing funds to a third-party wallet. Click on the "Withdraw" button, fill in the required fields for the withdrawal of funds and expect the receipt of coins in your wallet within 30 minutes. The duration of an output transaction may vary depending on the network load.
MinerGate withdrawal fees depend on the selected reward system and range from 1% to 1.5%.
In addition, the option of withdrawing coins to the Freewallet wallet is available on Minergate.
All you need to do is go to the "Output" menu, click on the Freewallet logo at the bottom of the screen and fill in the data for withdrawing coins. It is important to note that to withdraw to Freewallet it is not necessary to create an account, the system will automatically create you an account on Freewallet after transferring funds.
How to Increase Production Speed at Minenergate
Spending their time and resources on cryptocurrency mining, miners naturally seek to get the most out of it.
On the Internet you can find a lot of “magic” tips on how to earn more on mining, but it all comes down to a few simple truths:
- Buy more powerful equipment. Your hashrate and, consequently, the effectiveness of mining depends on the power of the equipment.
- Involve all the processor cores of your device. Here you should be careful not to harm the equipment. Some "craftsmen" often burn out video cards or processors due to excessive overload. Therefore, if you do not want to be left without equipment, you should increase the power very smoothly and with careful monitoring, so that in case of overheating, react and suspend the production process in time.
- Parallel mining on multiple devices under one account. You can install the software on several computers, laptops or mining farms, run the miner and log into your account on each device. Thus, you can significantly increase the productivity and efficiency of mining
Advantages and Disadvantages of MinerGate
Like any other service, MinerGate has its own strengths and weaknesses. Let's start with the good.
The advantages of the service include:
Among the shortcomings of MinerGate can be noted:
History and the Minergate Team
Very little is known about the MinerGate project team and the company as a whole. The official information says that the service is managed by a group of crypto enthusiasts - and that’s all. The desire of companies to remain incognito always alarms users a little and encourages various discussions and guesses about the roots of the company's origin. So, the common opinion is that the MinerGate team is part of the well-known company Changelly, which is trusted by many users. However, these are just rumors.
From the very beginning of its activity to the present day, the MinerGate team has pursued a noble goal - give an opportunity to try yourself in mining for everyone who wants to, regardless of their level of knowledge, technical base, experience and size of investments.
The project’s roadmap met this goal, so the service began its work as a pool for mining through a browser on users’ own equipment, but after a while MinerGate also added a cloud mining feature. At first, this option extended to Bitcoin, and a little later to other cryptocurrencies.
MinerGate Reviews
His work left a lot of disappointed users after the cloud mining function was in operation. Miners complained about the lack of transparency of the pool. They claimed that MinerGate displayed a lower hash rate for the hardware than the one actually used. This means that the platform deliberately underestimates the profit of the miners, and leaves the difference to itself.
After the cloud mining function was closed and all contracts were canceled in April 2019, the miners completely disbelieved the honesty of the service, since the option was stopped and the withdrawal of funds was difficult for many.
And these are not the only accusations of service by dishonesty. The forums have comments and user reviews that accuse the service of stealing money from customer accounts.
However, there are those who successfully use the functionality of the service. Although, most of these reviews about MinerGate are written by users who attach their referral links to comments, therefore they are less trustworthy.
Given such a mixed opinion of users about MinerGate, we cannot recommend it as a reliable pool for mining.
But this should not stop you from independently testing the service and making your own personal conclusions about its work. In any case, the company does not plan to curtail its activities, but is aimed at further expanding the list of cryptocurrencies and new algorithms for mining, as well as improving the software.