Recently, many people have still been asking whether Bitcoin mining can be profitable—this is definitely a topic worth discussing.

To be honest, the rules of Bitcoin mining have changed completely in recent years. The era when you could mine BTC with a regular computer is already gone for good. From CPU mining in 2009, to later GPU mining, and now to ASIC professional mining rigs dominating the entire market, the hardware threshold has been climbing steadily. If you really want to make money from Bitcoin mining now, you’ll need to invest at least a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars to buy professional mining rigs, or you can lease computing power directly.

More importantly, the form of mining has also changed. Solo mining by individuals has basically been phased out; now it’s mostly about joining mining pools to mine together. This means earnings are allocated according to your share of the computing power, and deductions are made for mining pool fees and electricity costs. Do the math: if you mine BTC independently with a regular computer, the chance of actually mining BTC is so close to zero because the total network computing power has reached a staggering level.

Interestingly, after the halving event in 2024, the block rewards were reduced again. For small miners, this is even more like adding snow on top of frost. But I’ve noticed that institutional-scale mining farms are actually expanding—especially those using renewable energy. This shows that Bitcoin mining is moving toward industrialization and specialization, and big capital is monopolizing this track.

So do ordinary people have absolutely no opportunities? Not necessarily. If you truly want to participate, here are a few approaches. First, buy mining rigs with relatively high energy efficiency, such as models with power consumption below 20 J/TH, and join reputable mining pools. Second, if you don’t want to handle your own maintenance, consider mining rig hosting services and leave these tasks to professional teams. Third, leasing computing power is also an option. Although your returns will be reduced by the platform’s cut, you avoid hardware investment and operational maintenance costs.

I have to be frank: in 2026, wanting to profit from Bitcoin mining is absolutely not a low-cost endeavor. You need to put real money into buying equipment or leasing computing power, and you also have to cover ongoing costs like electricity and maintenance. And you should also pay attention to compliance issues—some regions have policies toward mining that are not very friendly, so you must understand the local situation in advance.

Finally, my advice is: if you don’t have a professional technical background and sufficient funds, instead of struggling to mine, you’d be better off trading Bitcoin directly on a trading platform. This saves you from mining rig costs and maintenance hassles, and also lets you respond flexibly to market conditions. Bitcoin mining does still exist, but it’s no longer a playground for ordinary people.