In the last few years, solo mining of cryptos like Bitcoin has become uneconomical. And sometimes it becomes completely unprofitable during the energy crisis and bear market.

Does this mean that you should give up the idea of getting income from mining crypto? So the answer to this question is No, as you can rent cloud hash power from remote data centers in order to reduce expenses on electricity.

Advantages and disadvantages of cloud mining

First, the pleasant things.

Advantages of renting third-party mining services:

1. Cloud mining doesn’t require special knowledge and skills as all processes are automated and set up. You join a stable team, where every miner is important.

2. You don’t have to buy expensive mining equipment and therefore you do not need to think how to recoup the funds invested in the farm: you immediately start mining to get a net profit (subtracting a service charge).

3. You do not need to update the software and set up hardware as the data center owners do these things.

4. Energy bills aren't scary. They differ little from what you have paid before starting work with the cloud farm. And if you were mining on video cards, then it is three times less expensive.

This is a passive income model without the need to put in constant efforts. And a cherry on top is the fact that you do not have to worry about noise or temperature.

Now the bad side of that:

1. There are a lot of fraudulent resources offering cloud mining services. A certain indicator of a scam is promises of life-altering amounts of income. If they talk about “guaranteed income” above 250% per annum, feel free to close the website. It's a trap for the naive fans of easy money.

2. The choice of crypto does not always meet your idea of a profitable mining goal. The owners of the equipment are selecting the list of crypto for mining and it’s up to you to decide if you are in or out.

3. The minimum term for the lease of a hash contract is 6 months. Taking into consideration the high volatility of cryptocurrencies, there is a risk of signing a contract with high estimated profitability, but in a quarter the profit may decrease.

How to choose a service provider for cloud mining

Choose a platform based on the obvious pros and cons listed above.

But don’t be so optimistic and try to look at things with an open mind. If you are ready to invest at least $100 per month in order to get a 30-80% return in a year, then you can start looking for offers on the market.

Pay attention to the following details:
1. What payment methods does the service provider have? Besides cryptocurrencies, reliable providers accept credit cards and IBAN transfers.

2. How long does a contract last? If the minimum term of the hash contract is 3 years, then it is better not to risk money. A six-month contract with 100% prepayment is even more risky, as you will not be able to terminate it in order to get your money back. The best option is a 90-day contract with a monthly payment and an extension.

3. Is there a two-factor authentication on the website? Legitimate providers care about the protection of your funds and are not interested in claims, so they try to protect miners' wallets from hacks.

4. How often can you withdraw profits to a personal wallet? If the offered contract specifies that funds can be withdrawn only after its expiry (even if the period is set at 90 days), then this is a fraudulent website. Reliable platforms make it possible to withdraw on a daily basis.

5. What is the minimum withdrawal amount? Limits vary from 0.01 BTC to the equivalent of $20. Choose the best option for you.

We prepared tips for beginners and ranked cloud mining services based on our personal experience and user reviews posted in the public domain.

The best cloud mining websites

The choice of a cloud hash contract provider also depends on your country of residence. For example, some companies do not accept miners from the former CIS countries, while others do not register users from China. We tried to make a small universal list that would suit anyone who wants to try cloud mining.

IQ Mining

IQMining is a company registered in Seychelles Islands in 2016 with headquarters in the UK. Its data centers are located in Canada, Iceland, Norway, Georgia and they serve about 1 million clients from India, the USA, Turkey and the former CIS countries.

Pros:

• big variety of coins for mining including Monero, Dash, Zcash;

• payouts in ВТС and ЕТН;

• 30% off on all contracts under the promo;

• income booster for auto reinvesting;

• cryptocurrency trading tools;

• mining statistics in real time;

• minimum deposit for a Bronze package is 0.01 BTC;

• 24h live support;

• licensed and certificated;

• two-factor authentication;

• a choice of a 1-year, 2-years, or 5-years contract.

Cons:

• hidden account service charges;

• high commission for contract performance (10%);

• increased cost of additional hashrate;

• slow verification procedure.

We would also add that the platform provides account levels that differ with their prices per GH/s, maintenance fees, and the minimum hash rate amount to rent. When signing the contract, you need to check how the account level will affect the amount of payments. There are also “Pro” cloud contracts with 20% extra interest per year, which you can get by signing a five-year contract.

To summarize briefly, the algorithm for making money on the IQMining platform does not inspire confidence and is definitely not suitable for beginners.

Our rate: 4/10

ECOS

ECOS was officially registered in 2017 in Armenia in the Free Economic Zone. The data center receives power for mining from the Hrazdan TPP. The company is offering its services to over 300,000 users from the countries of the former CIS and the Middle East.

ECOS is more than a cloud mining service. It is a platform with various tools to work with digital assets: a crypto wallet, an exchange, a platform for investing in promising digital startups, an exchanger and infrastructure for building your own farm.

Pros:

• a calculator for choosing a mining contract with profitability forecast;

• daily withdrawals from 0.001 BTC;

• a convenient mobile app. that is available on App Store and Google Play;

• free trial contract for 30 days;

• multilingual interface;

• minimum investment: $100;

• an official license to operate;

• big choice of cryptocurrencies for cloud mining.

Cons:

• hidden payments for hashrate that are not specified in the contract and significantly reduce the estimated profit;

• slow withdrawal of funds to an external wallet;

• not very friendly customer support;

• vpn is required for users from some countries;

• imposing offers on non-transparent investment projects without clear calculations.

We would rate it 4/10, but the good thing is that the company really assesses the possibilities of the crypto market. They promise an estimated annual income of 45%. And we are adding an extra score to the rate for the test period.

Our rate: 6/10

BitDeer

Bitdeer provides customers from 200+ countries (including the USA) with cloud contracts beginning in 2018. The platform brings together cloud hash mining contracts, a multi-brand hashrate market, and cloud hosting services. The data centers are located in Norway.

Pros:

• the estimated revenue calculator;

• direct deposits from the best mining pools;

• Official Bitdeer app for iOS and Android;

• 24/7 multilingual customer support;

• cryptocurrency charts in real-time;

• referral program (2%);

• mining plans depending on the chosen crypto that lasts from 3 to 12 months;

• daily payouts.

Cons:

• services are expensive (from $542 for 50 TH/s)

• it takes 10-14 days in order for the money to arrive to miners wallet after the withdrawal is done;

• no information about the legal address and licenses.

Our rate: 7/10

Let Me Cloud

LetMeCloud is a hash provider that has been officially registered in the UK since 2016 and has an office in London. Data centers are located in Iceland, Norway and Canada.

Pros:

• daily automatic payments with fast crediting to the miner's personal wallet or to a debit/credit card;

• 24/7 multilingual customer support;

• user-friendly website interface;

• easy controlling from any PC, smartphone, or tablet;

• mining statistics in real time;

• three one-year contract options (Standard, Start Bonus и FT Bonus) with different hash power and profitability rate;

• minimum initial amount: $250;

• possibility to pay for cloud mining services with fiat;

• two-factor authentication;

• licenses and certificates from the UK government;

• bonus of 33% extra capacity in the first month after signing the contract;

• referral program (20%).

Cons:

• minimum contract term - 12 months;

• real profits come after a $1000 investment.

It could be rated 10/10, but there is one nuance: LetMeCloud allows you to mine only BTC.

Our rate: 9/10

#cloud mining

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