How to increase income from mining DOGE and LTC

Special material with the opinion of professionals. As mining experts, ViaBTC is one of the largest mining pools in the world. Experts will tell you how to increase income from LTC and DOGE mining with the right firmware.

In the crypto market full of competition and uncertainties, miners keep searching for the most efficient ways to maximize their mining revenues. As the Litecoin halving approaches, the network is witnessing a continuous inflow of miners, pushing up the hashrates of the network and intensifies competition. As a result, Litecoin miners have to face rising mining costs. Under such circumstances, maximizing mining revenues has become the most pressing issue for Litecoin miners today.

Recently, ViaBTC has launched a poll on several methods to increase LTC & DOGE mining revenues. According to the results, most miners believe that the key lies in using better ASIC firmware.

What is ASIC firmware?

Currently, with the high mining difficulty of cryptos like BTC and LTC, miners need to pump up their computing power to gain a first-mover advantage in the mining race. As a result, ASIC miners have replaced CPUs and GPUs as the preferred mining tool for miners.

Similar to the firmware we may install to expand the functionality of our home routers, ASIC firmware is the software embedded in ASIC miners.

How does ASIC firmware work?

By installing the proper firmware，miners can control the operation and functional programs of various components in ASIC miner chips, such as managing input/output interfaces, controlling clocks and timers, handling interruption, etc. These optimization efforts help to increase the hashrate and reduce power consumption of mining machines.

What kind of ASIC firmware should we choose?

As ASIC firmware is essential for mining, there are now numerous ASIC firmware products on the market, broadly categorized as official firmware and third-party firmware. When choosing ASIC firmware, miners should consider the following five aspects:

1. Application scenario: Firstly, miners should be clear about the actual application scenarios and requirements for their ASIC miners. For instance, in regions with high temperatures, the ASIC firmware should ideally optimize the high-temperature protection process to extend the lifespan of the mining machine.

2. Functionality: In the bear market yet with high mining costs, underclocking ASIC miners to lower the unit power consumption as appropriate can potentially bring in returns. Therefore, miners should choose ASIC firmware that supports both overclocking and underclocking modes, if possible.

3. Firmware cost: Due to the investment in firmware development and operations,there’s cost accordingly for users to use,but varies in price and ways of charging. No matter which ASIC firmware to use,testing personally on a small scale or referring to evaluations from others is necessary .

4. Installation convenience: Some ASIC firmware may require hardware modifications after installation, and the difficult operation is unfriendly to novice miners. Therefore, it’s advised that miners choose ASIC firmware that is easy to install and operate.

5. Technical and community support: When choosing ASIC firmware, miners should consider whether there is comprehensive technical and community support available to ensure prompt assistance from the community when they encounter issues.

At present, BitMain Antminer L7 is the most efficient mining machine for LTC. As the Litecoin halving approaches, the demand for Antminer L7 among miners continues to rise, and ASIC firmware that is matched has become essential. However, firmware for Antminer L7 available for download on the BitMain website comes with limited extendable functions, which may not meet the needs of all miners.

HiveOn, a renowned ASIC firmware service provider, has launched firmware compatible with Antminer L7, which boasts several advantages over other firmware available in the market:

• It supports both overclocking and underclocking modes, which can boost the hashrate of Antminer L7 by up to 30%;
• It reduces power consumption by adjusting the chips and selecting the optimal voltage for the chips, without compromising hashrates. As a result, it consumes less power than the original firmware provided by the manufacturer;
• It has a clear price tag, charging 3% of revenue as R&D expenses;
• It is easy to install. Miners do not need to modify any hardware on the mining machine. All they need to do is download the firmware onto a prepared SD card and then insert it into the mining machine.

Furthermore, HiveOn’s ASIC firmware supports features such as mining machine positioning, fan speed control, and critical temperature threshold configuration, meeting various mining demands. According to the official statement, to benefit more Litecoin miners with the excellent firmware, HiveOn has launched a dedicated version for ViaBTC, the world’s largest LTC mining pool. ViaBTC miner users can download the ASIC firmware compatible with Antminer L7 through the link below.

Installation can be completed in just six steps (Prerequisite: SD card up to 16 Gb).

1. Download archive for your control board;

2. Format SD card as FAT32;

3. Unzip firmware’s ZIP archive to the SD card or flash img file via Etcher;

4. Power off the miner;

5. Put the card into the control board’s slot;

6. Turn the miner on.