Mining
Beginner
Updated 1/15/2025
What is
Miners?
Individuals or entities who use computing power to validate transactions, secure the Ergo network, and earn ERG rewards through the Autolykos Proof-of-Work algorithm.
Miners are participants who contribute computational power to the Ergo network, competing to solve cryptographic puzzles and create new blocks. When a miner successfully finds a valid block, they receive block rewards (newly minted ERG) plus transaction fees from included transactions. Ergo uses the Autolykos 2 algorithm which is ASIC-resistant and memory-hard, allowing anyone with a consumer GPU (4GB+ VRAM) to mine profitably. Miners play a crucial role in network security, transaction validation, and maintaining decentralization.
Key Points
- Secure the network by contributing hash power
- Earn ERG through block rewards and transaction fees
- GPU mining with 4GB+ VRAM (ASIC-resistant)
- Can mine solo or join mining pools
- Current block reward: ~27 ERG (decreasing over time)
- Play a key role in Ergo's decentralization
Use Cases
1
Earning passive income through ERG mining
2
Supporting network security and decentralization
3
Participating in Ergo's fair distribution model
4
Utilizing idle GPU hardware productively
5
Contributing to the ecosystem while earning rewards
Technical Details
Ergo miners run the Autolykos 2 algorithm which requires solving memory-hard puzzles using GPU VRAM. Popular mining software includes lolMiner, T-Rex, and Nanominer. Miners can join pools (Herominers, 2miners, Woolypooly) for consistent rewards or mine solo for full block rewards. The difficulty adjusts every epoch to maintain ~2 minute block times. Storage rent also provides miners with additional income from dormant boxes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about Miners
Common questions about this topic
How do miners earn money on Ergo?
Ergo miners earn from three sources: block rewards (newly minted ERG), transaction fees, and storage rent. Block rewards decrease over time according to the emission schedule, but storage rent ensures long-term income even after all ERG is mined. Most miners use pools for consistent payouts.
How-to
Mining
How to use Spectrum DEX on Ergo?
Connect your Nautilus wallet to Spectrum Finance, select tokens to swap, review the rate and slippage, then confirm. Spectrum uses AMM liquidity pools for instant trades. You can also provide liquidity to earn fees. All trades are atomic - they complete fully or not at all, with no front-running possible.
How-to
DeFi
How to mine Ergo?
Ergo uses Autolykos v2, a memory-hard, ASIC-resistant PoW algorithm. You can mine with consumer GPUs (4GB+ VRAM). Steps: get a wallet, choose mining software (lolMiner, T-Rex, Nanominer), join a pool (Herominers, 2Miners, Nanopool), configure your miner with pool address and wallet. Solo mining is possible but pools provide steadier income.
How-to
Mining
What can I do with Ergo?
Ergo supports a full ecosystem: trade on Spectrum DEX, use SigmaUSD stablecoin, mix transactions with ErgoMixer, collect NFTs on SkyHarbor, mine with GPUs, lend/borrow on DuckPools, bridge to other chains via Rosen, and build dApps with ErgoScript. It's a complete platform for decentralized finance and applications.
Explainer
Getting Started