How Does the ViaBTC Mining Guide Explain Cryptocurrency Mining Step by Step?
ViaBTC’s mining guide presents cryptocurrency mining as a sequence of measurable tasks: select a Proof-of-Work coin, match its algorithm with suitable ASIC hardware, estimate electricity cost, prepare cooling and networking, connect the machine to ViaBTC, choose a payment method, and monitor accepted hashrate. In 2026, ViaBTC supports PPS+ and PPLNS for BTC, with standard BTC connections using ports 3333 and 443. PPS+ applies a 4% fee to the block-reward component and 2% to transaction-fee distribution, while PPLNS uses a 2% fee. A miner therefore has to evaluate hardware efficiency, uptime, pool settings, and operating cost together rather than treating hashrate alone as performance.
Mining starts before an ASIC is connected to a pool. The first task is selecting a Proof-of-Work asset and identifying its mining algorithm. Bitcoin uses SHA-256, Litecoin uses Scrypt, Zcash uses Equihash, and Kaspa uses kHeavyHash in ViaBTC’s current pool configurations. Hardware designed for one algorithm generally cannot be reassigned to an unrelated algorithm, so buying a miner before checking algorithm compatibility can leave the operator with equipment that cannot perform the intended job. ViaBTC’s 2026 support material therefore places machine selection before pool configuration.
Hardware comparison then moves from compatibility to operating efficiency. Hashrate describes how much computational work a miner can attempt per second, while power consumption determines how much electricity must be purchased to produce that hashrate. Two miners can generate similar output but produce very different operating costs if one requires 20% more electrical power. The ViaBTC Miner Ranking is designed for comparing mining machines by factors such as hashrate, power use, and estimated profitability rather than relying only on the manufacturer's headline hashrate figure.
Electricity cost makes the hardware comparison more concrete. A 3,000-watt ASIC operating continuously consumes 72 kWh in 24 hours. At $0.07 per kWh, electricity alone costs $5.04 per day; at $0.12, the same machine costs $8.64 per day, a 71.4% increase without any change in hashrate. Cooling fans, ventilation, networking hardware, power-distribution losses, maintenance, and downtime add further expense, which is why ViaBTC lists power supply, internet access, cooling equipment, temperature, and humidity among the required facilities before mining begins.
That operating environment also affects the amount of paid work reaching the pool. An ASIC can be powered on for 24 hours yet produce less useful work if it overheats, loses network connectivity, or frequently restarts. A machine with 95% uptime loses about 1.2 hours of mining time each day compared with 100% uptime; across 30 days, the difference reaches roughly 36 hours. ViaBTC recommends wired internet access and suitable cooling because pool accounting depends on valid shares submitted over a stable connection, not on the number of hours shown on an electricity meter.
Once the physical installation is stable, the operator creates a ViaBTC account and connects each ASIC through a worker identity. ViaBTC’s March 2026 BTC instructions use the structure userID.workerID, with the worker portion limited to lowercase letters and numbers and up to 64 characters. An account named miningfarm, for example, could identify machines as miningfarm.001, miningfarm.002, and miningfarm.003. Organizing workers in a predictable pattern makes it easier to compare individual machines when a rack containing 20 or 50 units reports lower hashrate than expected.
The pool address comes next because the ASIC needs a Stratum endpoint for receiving mining jobs and submitting shares. ViaBTC’s 2026 BTC guide lists btc.viabtc.io on port 3333, with port 443 available as another connection. Its August 14, 2026 pool-information page also lists additional global BTC domains, European endpoints, SSL addresses, and failover ports. Configuring more than one supported connection lets compatible mining firmware move to another endpoint when the first connection cannot be reached.
A miner that displays normal fan speed and power draw can still generate no pool credit when the Stratum address, port, username, worker name, or network route is wrong. ViaBTC therefore recommends checking pool configuration and monitoring reported hashrate after setup rather than assuming that electrical operation equals successful mining. In 2026, its BTC instructions specifically recommend multiple ports for more stable connectivity.
Payment configuration determines how submitted work is converted into credited mining income. ViaBTC currently offers PPS+ and PPLNS, and it discontinued SOLO for all supported coins on May 20, 2026. BTC users may select either PPS+ or PPLNS, while some other assets support only one method. The distinction matters because the two models distribute block rewards and transaction fees differently even when the underlying ASIC produces exactly the same hashrate.
| ViaBTC payment detail | PPS+ | PPLNS |
|---|---|---|
| BTC availability in 2026 | Yes | Yes |
| Block-reward fee | 4% | 2% |
| Transaction-fee component | 2% PPLNS-based calculation | Included under 2% PPLNS calculation |
| Main calculation reference | Submitted shares and network difficulty | User hashrate share of pool hashrate |
| PPLNS measurement window | Transaction-fee component uses PPLNS rules | Last 5 difficulty rounds |
| Block confirmation point used for PPLNS calculation | 6 confirmations | 6 confirmations |
ViaBTC states that PPS+ block-reward payments use submitted shares divided by difficulty, multiplied by the block reward after the applicable pool fee. The PPS portion is distributed hourly according to current difficulty. Transaction fees under PPS+ are handled using PPLNS-based allocation, while full PPLNS calculates a miner’s portion according to its share of pool hashrate over the last five difficulty rounds once a block reaches six confirmations. ViaBTC’s May 2026 documentation lists the PPS block-reward fee at 4% and the PPLNS rate at 2%.
The practical difference is income consistency rather than extra physical production. Under PPS+, the pool assumes more of the short-term block-finding variation because qualifying shares receive a defined theoretical payment for the block-reward portion. PPLNS follows actual pool block production more closely, so daily credited amounts can vary even when a miner maintains 100 TH/s without changing settings. A miner choosing between the two should compare fee rates and payment variability rather than assuming a lower percentage always produces a better result over every short period.
After saving the pool settings, monitoring becomes more useful than repeated configuration changes. ViaBTC provides real-time hashrate monitoring, hashrate alerts, miner grouping, and watcher functions. A reported hashrate that stays 10% below a machine’s expected output for several measurement periods deserves investigation because the cause could be a failed hashboard, overheating, rejected work, unstable power, firmware settings, or network interruptions. Checking both the miner’s local interface and the pool dashboard helps separate hardware problems from pool-connection problems.
Short-term hashrate readings also need context. Mining is based on share submission, so a five-minute reading can differ noticeably from the machine’s rated figure without proving that the ASIC is defective. Longer averages provide a more useful comparison. If a 100 TH/s miner averages 98 TH/s over 24 hours, the difference is 2%; if it averages 82 TH/s over the same period, the 18% gap deserves a closer look at temperatures, board status, accepted shares, connection stability, and firmware configuration before estimating daily income.
Rejected shares deserve separate attention because not every submitted share contributes equally to pool accounting. Stale work can occur when a machine submits a share after the pool has moved to a newer mining job, often because of latency or unstable connectivity. A rejection rate moving from 0.5% to 3% reduces the proportion of useful submitted work even if the ASIC’s displayed raw hashrate remains unchanged. For a larger operation, reviewing rejected work alongside uptime and pool-side hashrate gives a better picture than comparing machine specifications alone.
Mining revenue should then be separated from operating profit. Assume an ASIC produces $10.50 of daily mining income while consuming 72 kWh. At $0.08 per kWh, direct electricity costs $5.76 and leaves $4.74 before cooling, maintenance, pool fees already reflected in credited income, facility expense, hardware depreciation, financing, and taxes. If electricity rises 25% to $0.10 per kWh, daily power cost becomes $7.20 and the remaining amount falls to $3.30. A profitable machine at one power rate can therefore become uneconomic without any mechanical failure.
Network difficulty adds another variable because an ASIC’s fixed hashrate competes against the total computational work participating in the network. If network difficulty rises while the miner remains at 100 TH/s, its expected share of total block production falls. Bitcoin’s block subsidy also changed in April 2024 from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block, so hardware payback estimates made before that halving cannot be reused without adjustment. Equipment evaluation needs current difficulty, block subsidy, transaction fees, coin price, electricity rate, and actual machine efficiency rather than a historical daily-income screenshot.
ViaBTC also supports merged mining for several assets. Its August 2026 pool-information page states that BTC mining can receive ELA, NMC, SYS, and FB under its merged-mining arrangement, while LTC mining can receive DOGE, BELLS, LKY, PEP, and DINGO. Merged mining allows compatible networks to use the same underlying computational work, so the operator can receive additional credited assets without assigning a second ASIC to the same unit of work. Availability and distribution rules should still be checked against the current pool page because supported assets can change.
Pool support also differs by asset. ViaBTC’s August 2026 information lists BTC, BCH, LTC, DASH, and KAS with PPS+ and PPLNS options, while ZEC is listed with PPLNS on that pool-information page. Connections are coin-specific: BTC commonly uses port 3333 with 443 as failover, ZEC uses 3002 with 302 as failover, and KAS uses 315 with 3015 as failover. Copying a BTC configuration into a KAS or ZEC miner will not work because algorithm, endpoint, port, and sometimes difficulty settings differ.
A small setup can use one worker per ASIC, while a larger facility benefits from structured naming and group management. With 120 machines divided across four rooms, names can include room and rack references so an operator can identify a 15% hashrate decline without walking through every unit. ViaBTC’s worker-management and monitoring functions support this type of organization, making pool-side data useful for maintenance planning as well as payment records.
Withdrawals come after credited mining income has accumulated. ViaBTC’s 2026 beginner documentation lists four methods: Auto Withdrawal, Normal Transfer, Inter-User Transfer, and Transfer to CoinEx. Auto Withdrawal is described as a daily scheduled payment between 10:00 and 18:00 UTC+8 with zero withdrawal fee, while Normal Transfer can be initiated when needed and requires a fee. Inter-User Transfer and Transfer to CoinEx are listed with zero confirmation and zero fee, subject to the platform’s current account and asset rules.
Before moving funds, an operator still needs to verify the destination asset, supported network, minimum amount, fee rules, and address. A mistake in a cryptocurrency withdrawal can be difficult or impossible to reverse, while a 1% difference in mining efficiency can take days or weeks to recover depending on the size of the operation. Account security, two-factor authentication, withdrawal controls, unique credentials, and restricted administrative access belong in the same operating process as hashrate monitoring.
A useful mining routine therefore moves from daily checks to longer financial reviews. Daily monitoring can cover worker status, rejected shares, temperatures, and pool-side hashrate; weekly reviews can compare seven-day average hashrate with rated capacity; monthly reviews can compare credited mining income with electricity, maintenance, and facility bills. If a 30-day average shows that a group of older ASICs consumes 18% more electricity per unit of hashrate than newer machines, replacing, relocating, or shutting down that group can be evaluated with actual operating records instead of manufacturer specifications alone.
ViaBTC’s guide is most useful when treated as an operating sequence rather than a promise of fixed mining income. The machine must match the algorithm, the facility must supply stable power and cooling, the Stratum settings must match the selected asset, worker names must identify equipment correctly, and the chosen PPS+ or PPLNS method must fit the operator’s preference for fee structure and payment variation. In 2026, even a properly configured miner still faces changing difficulty, coin prices, transaction fees, electricity rates, and hardware efficiency, so pool data and cost records need to be reviewed together.