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SHA, Scrypt, or X Which Mining Algorithm is the Best? What is so important about the hashing algorithm you may ask, and why is it necessary to have choices? What makes each hashing algorithm unique is often most important to the coin developer, for instance, SHA based coins have a block time of around minutes, whereas Scrypt coins can have block times as low as 30 seconds! Security also comes to mind when choosing an algorithm for a new coin; longer block times can make the network more secure especially with low network hash.
Even strategically choosing an algorithm to attract disenfranchised GPU miners from an ASIC ridden market or integrating developments from other coins with the same algorithm can also influence decision making. A cryptocurrency may even be based on the fact that it is ASIC resistant and may need to change algorithms in order keep that promise.
All in large, choices are important when developing a coin and can mean a lot for the purpose and specific mission of that coin. SHA is considered to be one of the most secure cryptographic algorithms in existence and is the security standard in many intelligence agencies around the world. The white paper was officially released to the public by the National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST and was intended to be used as a Federal Information Processing Standard FIPS , which means it was released as standard for all non-military government agencies as well government contractors.
At one point it was possible to mine Bitcoin on a simple set of hardware, a laptop CPU would be all you needed to mine, and miners were at a logical standstill.
Scrypt Mining Scrypt was first introduced in cryptocurrency mining with the introduction of Litecoin. For whatever reason, Scrypt never achieved that goal and GPU miners flooded the network in any case. Scrypt was originally invented by Colin Percival for the Tarsnap online backup service, the service touts that Scrypt makes it tremendously expensive for custom hardware attacks to be conducted and is thousands of times more secure than many popular cryptographic algorithms in use today.
Scrypt requires attackers to either use more memory to conduct a brute force attack, or use less memory and conduct a slower attack, this trade off is intentional and makes Scrypt very secure. It is no wonder it was first implemented by Litecoin creator Charlie Lee as the coins algorithm. Scrypt takes up more memory than SHA, however this is offset by the fact that Scrypt mining uses up less electricity than SHA mining. With less electricity comes lower heat output and less noise coming from your miners, however mining Scrypt can still increase your AC bills during the Summer, and lower your gas bills in the Winter.
Scrypt coins are currently still profitable and can be an excellent investment if you have the equipment, however if you are interested in mining Scrypt you may want to consider investing in an ASIC miner instead. X11 is a hashing algorithm that includes eleven different hashing algorithms bundled up in one package. The original intent of X11 was to protect the network from what its creators called, Single Point Failures, which is a scenario where a hacker could theoretically crack an algorithm, making it vulnerable to attacks.
Unlike SHA and Scrypt, which are based on a single hashing algorithm, X11 features eleven different algorithms, all of which would all have to be compromised for an attack to be successful. Critics claim that SHA and Scrypt are still extremely secure algorithms, as no one has been able to crack them, especially with the money behind these algorithms; even with all of the added attention no obvious flaws have been found. The simple difference between these algorithms is the amount of hashing algorithms intertwined in the package.
X11 is also less power hungry then both SHA and Scrypt, keeping your house cooler and quieter especially in the summertime, and keeping your significant other slightly happier about your mining operation. X11 is a great choice if you are a GPU miner who has some time to tinker with your software with the added bonus of saving money on electricity cost. How Serious are you, about Crypto mining?
SHA ASIC miners come from a large and developed industry, thus finding a reputable manufacturer is very easy to do. I am a robot. I just upvoted you! I found similar content that readers might be interested in: Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.