What is a digital miner?
A digital miner is a non-fungible token (NFT) backed by real hash rate. Each NFT miner has specific power (measured in TH/s, terahashes per second) and energy efficiency (W/TH, watts per terahash).
Owners of digital miners receive daily bitcoin mining rewards and pay for the electricity consumed.
Who issues NFT miners, and how?
Digital miners are created by GoMining (formerly GMT), which has operated since 2017 and owns nine data centres with more than 350 MW of capacity. The team outlined the initial NFT-miner concept in a white paper in 2021.
Among GoMining’s partners are Binance Pool and Bitmain. The company is a council member of the Bitcoin Mining Council, which brings together leading bitcoin miners.
GoMining NFTs are available on Ethereum, BNB Chain and The Open Network (TON).
In an interview with TON Foundation, GoMining CEO Mark Zalan said the firm plans to integrate with Solana in 2024.
How does an NFT miner work?
Each digital miner is tied to a defined amount of computing power generated in GoMining’s data centres and tokenised via the Liquid Bitcoin Hashrate (LBH) protocol. The current hash-rate level is available on the company’s website.
The LBH mechanism is similar to Liquid Staking, in which a protocol issues a “derivative” token that guarantees rewards for staking. With LBH, the NFT holder obtains the right to a share of hash rate and the related mining reward.
“There is a fundamental difference between liquid staking and LBH. In the first case you can redeem tokens for the network’s currency, for example Ethereum. Digital miners cannot be exchanged for real bitcoins, but you can earn them in the process of mining,” GoMining notes.
Like physical hardware, a digital miner has two main characteristics—computing power and energy efficiency. There is also a collectible element: an NFT’s price also depends on its rarity.
Owners of digital miners can mine bitcoin:
- independently (solo). Daily rewards for holding the NFT. Default mode;
- in a pool. Available to owners of miners with at least 10 TH/s. A gamified mode.
The GoMining app includes a “Game” section, where users join and create mining pools, poach big players and compete to mine the next block. Pool participants can earn multiples—or nothing at all.
How to buy a digital miner?
Digital miners are available on GoMining’s website, in the mobile app for iOS and Android, and on NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea and GetGems.
To buy a digital miner on the site or in the app, register by providing an email or connecting a wallet such as MetaMask or TON Wallet.
The service suggests generating an NFT with optimal energy efficiency (20 W/TH) and power from 1 to 5000 TH. This parameter determines the miner’s price. At the time of publication it ranges from $29 for 1 TH to $115,965 for 5000 TH.
You can pay for miners with Tether (USDT), Toncoin (TON), Google/Apple Pay, bank cards, and GOMINING tokens via Binance Pay, Gate Pay and Coinbase.
Drawing on historical data, GoMining shows projected NFT returns based on the current or expected bitcoin price.
Example: a digital miner with 1 TH, at a bitcoin price of $70,000, earns $1.70 per month (2,428 satoshis). The owner spends $0.64 (920 satoshis) on maintenance. Net profit is $1.06 (1,508 satoshis).
Users receive a 10% discount when paying for maintenance with GOMINING tokens. In this case, the net profit in the example rises to $1.15 per day.
The rarity of miners in the The Mine Box collection depends on a combination of nine image parts—case, display, buttons and others. An NFT’s appearance is generated randomly. The user sees it only after purchase.
Digital miners can be upgraded by increasing power and energy efficiency. To do this, go to “My miners”, select Upgrade on the NFT card, set the new parameters and click “Pay”.
By default, rewards in bitcoin are credited to a GoMining virtual wallet. The minimum amount for withdrawal to an exchange or external wallet is 10,000 satoshis (0.0001 BTC).
What are GOMINING and veGOMINING for?
GOMINING is GoMining’s native token, issued on Ethereum, BNB Chain and TON. It can be staked to obtain governance tokens (votes) veGOMINING, and used to buy, upgrade and service NFT miners with a 10% discount.
The project burns and reissues GOMINING tokens received as payment for electricity under a weekly Burn & Mint cycle:
“After burning we mint fewer tokens to implement a deflationary model in GOMINING tokenomics. By the twentieth epoch, the amount of GOMINING will decrease from 436 million to 100 million.”
The number of new tokens depends on the coefficient of the current epoch cycle. GoMining distributes them as follows:
- 65% — to the service provider that creates digital miners;
- 20% — to holders of veGoMining votes;
- 10% — to GoMining rewards;
- 5% — to the project team.
veGOMINING are votes credited by GoMining to users in exchange for GOMINING locked in staking on a 1:1 basis.
In addition to weekly staking rewards, veGOMINING holders gain the right to influence the project’s development and vote on the distribution of minted tokens.
What is a digital avatar?
GoMiners digital avatars are non-fungible tokens that provide various bonuses within the project’s ecosystem. You can obtain a character from the collection in three ways:
- buy a GoMiners NFT on GoMining’s marketplace;
- grow your farm to 5000 TH. After that, the company sends a key that grants access to any NFT avatar;
- take part in contests. GoMining regularly raffles keys on X and Telegram.
At the time of publication, two series have been issued: “Humans” (3% discount on NFT-miner servicing) and “Cryptilians” (increase miner energy efficiency by 1 W/TH). A third series, “Guardians”, is in development.
Why buy NFT miners?
Thanks to broad customisation options, NFT miners suit both beginners and large investors looking to diversify their assets.
“Against the backdrop of high volatility inherent to the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin mining may look like a less risky long-term strategy, given BTC’s stable market position.
Our main task is to make the product efficient and convenient for all users. GoMining’s clients include both newcomers choosing starter miner configurations and OTC clients who own several NFTs with a combined capacity of more than 5000 TH,” company representatives comment.
At the time of writing, the minimum price for a GoMining NFT is about $29 — the lowest entry threshold for mining in 2024. Users do not need to worry about housing or maintaining hardware.