The Alephium blockchain relies heavily on the contributions of miners to maintain its integrity and functionality. Recognizing the significance of these contributors is the object of this article series titled “Miners’ Highlight.” By focusing on their contributions, challenges, and experiences, we aim to better understand the mining process, its importance & those who make it possible. You can find #1 here, #2 here, and #3 here.
What can we call you, and where should we picture you?
I go by Nick.
Tell us a bit about yourself, your passion for mining, and your background story.
I got orange pilled during 2020, spending hours on Clubhouse learning about Bitcoin. From there, I went all in on mining because it aligned with my growing affinity for cypherpunk philosophy. I’ve spent the last 3 years learning all I can about mining and crypto.
When & how did you get into mining cryptocurrency?
In late 2020, I converted my garden shed into a mining operation and now have 27 GPUs and several ASICs mining various coins.
Can you share with us how you first discovered Alephium? Are you mining Alephium? You made that awesome tutorial about mining Alephium solo! How do you see the future of mining Alephium?
I first learned about Alephium in early 2023 from a contact I made at Flux. He said it was an interesting project worth looking at, so I started to look into the project and found that it basically fixed all the problems Ethereum had created while still holding onto the UTXO model of blockchain that made Bitcoin so special. I am currently mining alph, with over 90% of my equipment on the network at the time of this writing.
I see the future of mining Alephium changing over the next few years as the project becomes more mainstream and adoption quickens.
You’ve invited Maud twice to participate in X Spaces. I see you are involved in Blockchain Basement, Coindesk interviews, Discover Crypto & more… Can you tell us more about this media side of your activities?
I’m the main producer at Discover Crypto and co-host of Blockchain Basement. I also run a crypto mining X Spaces to stay engaged with the community. My background originally was in TV production, so working in media was a natural extension of my skill set.
What would you recommend to someone just getting started with mining Alephium?
Mining Alph is a great way to get into the project community and see the fruits of your labours make an impact in the crypto verse. I highly recommend jumping in and learning.
With your current multi-cycle experience, what’s your outlook for this one?
I’ve only personally experienced one and a half cycles but have been full-time in crypto during that entire time, so I made sure to understand the history of crypto to give myself the right perspective for the coming bull run. My outlook for this cycle is evolving, but overall, I’m calling this the last FOMO Cycle. I think the days of 1000x gains and the insane cast of crypto characters are coming to a close now that the biggest asset managers on the planet are involved in the market.
Where do you see GPU mining in the next few years?
GPUs are going to be a critical part of the infrastructure of Web3, and blockchain mining will be part of that world, but not the whole world. Compute power is scarce, so those who have the knowledge of how to supply it reliably and economically are going to be positioned well for the future industries that will be popping up over the next decade.
Anything else you’d like to share with the community?
The mining, crypto, and Alephium communities must be aware of the changing playing field of crypto and blockchain, its interface with AI, and the changing world order. Blockchain will play a bigger and bigger role in securing our future freedoms and liberty. As the phrase goes, come for the gains, stay for the revolution. Don’t get left behind.
That is the end of this interview! If you are interested or have extra questions, you are welcome to reach out on our Discord, or in the Alephium Telegram channel. Don’t forget to follow @alephium on Twitter to stay up-to-date.