How to Select and Join Bitcoin Mining Pool that Makes Money
Back in the earliest days of the Bitcoin revolution, miners made tons of money. Some even became millionaires. Others never thought BTC would be worth much, spending or trading away their coins only to cry about it later as the value jumped from a fraction of a cent, to tens of thousands of dollars. Yes, we all know the story by now. For most of us, we only wish we’d gotten in sooner, and are hopeful that maybe it’s not too late to start now.
I have to assume that’s your viewpoint if you’re reading this. You either landed on this page from our directive on How to Mine Bitcoin and Altcoins in Canada, or you found similar info on another website and are now looking for advice on joining the right mining pool. Either way, we welcome you, and hope that the information on this page helps you make the right choice for your situational needs.
Before we get started, please know that Bitcoin is not the only crypto currency worth mining. In fact, Bitcoin mining is so competitive these days, it may not be worth mining at all. As you navigate this page, you’ll find information on mining pools for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Ether, and Litecoin. But first, let’s talk about…
What Constitutes a Good Crypto Mining Pool
A good mining pool is one that exhibits the follow traits:
- Compatible ASIC / GPU
- Hashrate of 1+ TH/s
- Respectable Number of Miners and Workers
- Preferred Reward Method
When all of these qualities combine, you’re far more likely find…
…A Mining Pool that Makes Money!
Let’s take a moment to learn about each of these items, and why they are important.
Compatible ASIC / GPU
Mining pools share resources with one another to mine blocks. To do so, their systems must be compatible with one another. If you’re looking to mine with an ASIC processor, make sure your processor is compatible with the pool. ASIC processors can run on SHA256, EthashScrypt, Equihash, CryptoNight, etc.
For GPU mining, the list of compatible hardware is much longer. GPUs can run on everything from Equihash, NeoScrypt and Yescrypt, to a series of CryptoNight protocols, to numerous X16 variants, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As I said, you need to know what your system is compatible with, and be sure to join a congruent pool.
Individual and Network Hashrates
The individual Hashrate and Network Hashrate of the pool are important, because they translate to the speed and profitability of the overall group. Hashrate refers to the average hashing speed of each individual member, while Network Hashrate represents the total hashing speed of the entire pool.
Your personal hashrate is determined by your graphics card. The more MH/s (millions of hashes per second), the more power it requires (e.g. 20 MH/s at 30W). A personal hashrate of 1 TH/s (terra hash, or trillions of hashes per second) is recommended to make any meaningful profit (so long as the electricity usage doesn’t exceed the reward). The average individual hashrate should also be at or above 1 TH/s. The size of the Network Hashrate is less relevant, so long as the average individual rate is good.
Crypto Miners and Workers
The term “miner” refers to a single ASIC or GPU device that is designated for no other purpose than mining crypto currency. A “worker” refers to the login for each device, or group of devices. Thus, the number of miners is far more relevant than the number of workers. The more miners there are operating in a pool, the faster they will be able to mine blocks. However, more miners also means sharing the reward with more people. Joining a pool with a respectable number of miners means finding a good middle point, where your system capabilities are at or above the average individual hashrate. In this way, you too may make a respectable profit from the endeavor.
BTC Mining Pool Reward Methods
Every mining pool has one or more ways of rewarding its workers. I’ll list the most common ones below, followed by a brief description of each. Not everyone prefers the same mining pool payment method, so be sure you understand what and how you’ll get paid before you join.
- PPS – Pay Per Share
- PPS+ – Pay Per Share Plus
- PPLNS – Pay Per Last N Share
- FPPS – Full Pay Per Share
- Solo
Pay Per Share
Pay Per Share rewards miners with a stable, daily income, based on the number of valid shares submitted to the pool. The operator of the pool determines how much each share is worth, in mineable crypto, and pays each miner accordingly. Payouts are received whether or not a block is successfully mined. Thus, the operator is assuming most of the risk, but is also collecting 100% of the transaction fees for successfully mined blocks.
Pay Per Share Plus
This system works just like PPS, where miners receive a static rate per share. The difference – the plus factor – is the added bonus of miners sharing in the transaction fees for mining a block. The transactions fees are only paid as a bonus when a block is successfully mined.
Pay Per Last N Share
With PPLNS, miners only get paid when they successfully mine blocks. The total reward is divided by the total number of valid shares submitted during excavation, with equal parts paid per valid share. Hence, the more you contribute to the hashrate, the larger your slice of the pie. The PPLNS model is especially popular with large mining pools that regularly succeed in mining blocks.
Full Pay Per Share
The FPPS method combines the ‘get paid per contribution’ model of PPLNS, with the ‘share in transaction fees’ model of PPS+. Miners receive a portion of the reward for a successfully mined block, based on their contribution to the excavation, as well as a portion of the transaction fee. Most operators do not offer FPPS payments due to the high risk involved. Those that do offer it tend to charge the highest fees to join their pool.
Solo
The Solo reward method is self explanatory. Solo means you are not part of a mining pool, but rather an individual crypto miner who reaps the full reward, and transaction fees, for all successfully mined blocks. It’s a lot harder to achieve success as a Solo miner, but the payout is far greater if you do. If you choose this route, look into FPGAs (as opposed to CPU/GPU) to leverage maximum power with consumption. Also consider mining Alctoins, as solo BTC mining is virtually impossible today.
Canadian Bitcoin and Altcoin Mining Pools that Make Money
It’s important to select the right type of crypto to mine based on your budget, system capabilities, and expectations. Bitcoin mining takes a larger initial investment, whereas less valuable tokens like Dogecoin and Ether can still be mined with a good GPU. You can get more information about this here. Otherwise, choose an item from the list below to learn more.
Bitcoin Mining Pools
As I’ve said before, Bitcoin is just about the hardest crypto to make money mining these days. The competition is wild, and you’ll have to make a lofty investment in a good ASIC mining computer system to make any meaningful profit doing it. If you’re ready to take that plunge, here’s what you need to know:
- Mine with ASIC? Yes
- Mine with GPU/CPU? No
- Hash Protocol: ASIC SHA-256
- Number of BTC Pools: 55+
- Difficulty (1-5): 5
- Canadian Pools: 4
Bitcoin Mining Pools in Canada
| Pool BTC | https://pool.btc.com/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 250,000+ |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 12.47 EH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | 0.00000570 BTC |
| Fee | 0% |
| EMCD | https://pool.emcd.io/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 100,000-150,000 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 2.83 EH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS+ |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | 0.00000564 BTC |
| Fee | 1.5% |
| Great Pool | https://greatpool.ca/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 20,000-25,000 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 160.96 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | PPS / FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | PPS 0.00000563 BTC FPPS 0.00000571 BTC |
| Fee | 2% |
| SigmaPool | https://sigmapool.com/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 15,000-20,000 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 189.31 EH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | 0.00000568 BTC |
| Fee | 1% |
| Lincoin Pool | https://lincoinpool.com/ |
| Network Size | n/a |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 136.3 EH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 4% |
| Collective B | https://mine.collective-b.org:8443 |
| Network Size | n/a |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 7.6 MH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 5% |
| A Mining Pool | https://aminingpool.com/ |
| Network Size | n/a |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 11.2 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | PPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 0.95% |
| D Pool | http://www.dpooltop.com/ |
| Network Size | n/a |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | n/a |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 3% |
Bitcoin Cash Mining Pools
There’s not nearly so much competition among BCH mining pools. In fact, one pool – BiaBTC.NET, based out of Germany – is harvesting about one-third of all the world’s mined BCH. Here in Canada, there are only a few BTC mining pools that make money. Here’s what you need to know:
- Mine with ASIC? Yes
- Mine with GPU/CPU? No
- Hash Protocol: ASIC SHA-256
- Number of BCH Pools: 55+
- Difficulty (1-5): 5
- Canadian Pools: 4
BCH Mining Pools in Canada
| Pool BTC | https://pool.btc.com/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 5,000-10,000 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 125.4 PH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | 0.00058171 BCH |
| Fee | 0% |
| EMCD | https://pool.emcd.io/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 100-1,000 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 16.97 PH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS+ |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | 0.00056190 BCH |
| Fee | 1.5% |
| D Pool | http://www.dpooltop.com/ |
| Network Size | n/a |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | n/a |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 2% |
Dogecoin Mining Pools
In the early years, DOGE was easy to mine, but not very profitable. Since Tesla CEO Elon Musk praised the crypto, sending its price ‘to the moon‘, more and more people are mining it. It’s not as easy now, but it is much more profitable, and you can still do it with a GPU system. Here’s what you need to know:
- Mine with ASIC? Yes
- Mine with GPU/CPU? Yes
- Hash Protocol: Scrypt
- Number of DOGE Pools: 45+
- Difficulty (1-5): 3
- Canadian Pools: 2
DOGE Mining Pools in Canada
| EMCD | https://pool.emcd.io/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 5,000-10,000 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 4.71 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS+ |
| Estimated Pay Per MH/s | 0.04067242 DOGE |
| Fee | 1.5% |
| Cripto Myner | https://pool.criptomyner.ca/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 1-100 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 4317.6 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | PPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 0.25% |
| A Mining Pool | https://aminingpool.com/ |
| Network Size | n/a |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | n/a |
| Payment Model(s) | PPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 0.95% |
Ethereum Mining Pools
Ether is another great crypto for profitable mining, so long as you have the proper setup. Note that you can mine on the Ethereum network with a GPU, but it is strongly recommended to upgrade to an ASIC processor system to maximize your system’s capacity for excavation; especially considering the level of competition in mining pools. Here’s what you need to know:
- Mine with ASIC? Yes
- Mine with GPU/CPU? Yes
- Hash Protocol: Ethash
- Number of ETH Pools: 80+
- Difficulty (1-5): 4
- Canadian Pools: 2
ETH Mining Pools in Canada
| Pool BTC | https://pool.btc.com/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 250,000+ |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 14.49 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per MH/s | 0.00001845 ETH |
| Fee | 0% |
| EMCD | https://pool.emcd.io/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 5,000-10,000 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 1.42 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS+ |
| Estimated Pay Per MH/s | 0.00001551 ETH |
| Fee | 1.5% |
| K1 Pool | https://pool.emcd.io/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 100-200 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 827.72 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS+, Solo |
| Estimated Pay Per GH/s | 0.016208 ETH |
| Fee | 1% |
| CO Miners | https://eth.cominers.org/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 1-100 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 856.97 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | n/a |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 0.5% |
| TWETH Pool | https://www.tweth.tw/ |
| Network Size | 1-100 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 831.16 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | PPLNS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 1.5% |
| D Pool | http://www.dpooltop.com/ |
| Network Size | n/a |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | n/a |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 2% |
Litecoin Mining Pools that Make Money
LTC is similar to BTC in regards to mining, whereas GPUs simply aren’t efficient anymore. You’ll need a good ASIC setup to have any chance of profiting within an LTC mining pool. There aren’t many based in Canada, and there’s very little information available for those that are. Here’s what we know:
- Mine with ASIC? Yes
- Mine with GPU/CPU? No
- Hash Protocol: Scrypt
- Number of LTC Pools: 55+
- Difficulty (1-5): 4
- Canadian Pools: 1
LTC Mining Pools in Canada
| EMCD | https://pool.emcd.io/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 5,000-10,000 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 4.71 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS+ |
| Estimated Pay Per MH/s | 0.00002340 LTC |
| Fee | 1.5% |
| Pool BTC | https://pool.btc.com/ |
| Network Size / Miners | n/a |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 13.21 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per MH/s | 0.00002409 LTC |
| Fee | 0% |
| SigmaPool | https://sigmapool.com/ |
| Network Size / Miners | 250-500 |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | 302.79 TH/s |
| Payment Model(s) | PPS, PPLNS, Solo |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | 0.03815769 DOGE |
| Fee | 1% |
| A Mining Pool | https://aminingpool.com/ |
| Network Size | n/a |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | n/a |
| Payment Model(s) | PPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 0.95% |
| D Pool | http://www.dpooltop.com/ |
| Network Size | n/a |
| Avg. Network Hashrate | n/a |
| Payment Model(s) | FPPS |
| Estimated Pay Per TH/s | n/a |
| Fee | 2% |
All mining pools listed above have servers located in Canada. This information is accurate at time of writing. For more information on mining polls located in and outside of Canada, please visit Mining Pool Stats. In all our research, we’ve found this website to offer the most comprehensive, filtered database of mining pools available on the web today. Please know that we are not affiliated with Mining Pool Stats in any way. We just love and appreciate their website 🙂
