Raspberry Pi 4 is here: Great news for Alt-coiners!
Raspberry Pi (RPi) is a low-cost, portable, credit-card sized computer (board) that plugs into a monitor or TV and uses a standard computer and mouse. It is mostly used by people of all ages to explore computing and learn Scratch, Python and other programming languages, though it is capable of performing other things such as browsing the internet, playing high-definition video, making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games. Since the advent of cryptocurrencies, hobbyists and coiners alike have found it a very useful device for cashing out some of the $$$ in the cryptosphere. Raspberry can be used for cryptocurrency staking, masternodes, and mining, especially for new coins with friendly algorithm and low difficulty.`
A Raspberry Pi is a low cost ($35) about #17,000 naira, low energy consuming (5V.1) board which can be left running 24/7 while earning some nice money from Proof-of-Stake (PoS) cryptocurrencies. It’s more energy efficient than mining as you don’t need an expensive computer rig, and you can earn more of a PoS cryptocurrency by simply staking coins you already have in your wallet.
Most of us down here in Nigeria and for the most part of Africa where electricity is barely available, understand the near impossibility of mining Proof-of-Work Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or even Ethereum. Even leaving your own PC or Mac on 24/7 connected to the internet to stake proof-of-stake coins can be impractical. But by using a Raspberry Pi instead, you can leave it on your desk/ in your office/ on your balcony/ bedroom staking coins (minting money) all the time without needing to interfere and leaving you to use your laptop/ desktop/ Mac however you like. It's almost like planting a money tree!
The real drawback to mining these PoW Cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum is electricity. To run even a GPU rig, you will have to make a significant investment in electricity. But Raspberry Pi 4 staking farm can be powered via solar or other green energy options. Entry cost is also far lower.
Why is the recent launch of Raspberry Pi 4 model B a piece of great news for alt-coiners?
The Raspberry Pi 4 is a massive leap forward for the low-cost computer, marking a number of firsts in the evolution of the best-selling board. The leap to 4GB of fast memory, support for 4K displays, true gigabit Ethernet, the bump in processor speed to 1.5GHz, the inclusion of USB 3.0, and move to a new, more modern system-on-chip, are some o the key features that will likely endear alt-coiners to the device. Its predecessor, Raspberry Pi 3 B+ only ran on 1GB memory, 1.4GHz, and USB 2.0 ports. The Gigabit Ethernet port of Pi 4 has been improved to run at full speed, whereas on the Pi 3 it was limited to 300Mbps.
The Raspberry P1 4 also supports dual screen!
The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B is clearly the best mini computer you can buy for crypto-investing.
Typically to set up for 2 or more coin staking, all you need is a minimum of 8GB microSD Card, USB Stick (8 GB for 1–2 blockchains, 16 GB+ for more), SD Card Reader & Raspbian installation, computer with PuTTY and a wallet installed & synced on your computer. You might not even need a screen as you can go headless!
Which altcoins can I stake on a Raspberry Pi?
You can use RPi to stake Devcoin, NEO, Neblo, Obsidian, QTUM, Reddcoin, CloakCoin, Pinkcoin, Whitecoin, Denarius, Stratis, NAV coin, Magi, Bytecoin, Monero etc. However, specific coins have their guidelines on how to set up to stake the coins on Raspberry. I found out that you can also stake Storj- a decentralized cloud object storage that is affordable, easy to use, private and secure, everywhere.
For staking WSP coin on a Raspberry, look at this tutorial: First of all, the project team calculated the total annual electricity costs of running a Wispr node on an average PC, laptop and Raspberry Pi in The Netherlands and guess what? They found out that running a Wispr node on a Raspberry Pi is 114 times cheaper than on an average PC and 27 times cheaper than on a laptop.
Where you can buy Raspberry Pi 4
Although Pi 4 was just launched 2 weeks ago, it is already available on local store in Europe and elsewhere in developed worlds. I went to my usual hardware shop, Hub360 and I was informed that they will begin having it in stock from the week of 15th July. However, you can order it on Amazon.com, and it will be delivered to you anywhere in Nigeria.
Cryptocurrency Mining on the Raspberry Pi: Final Thoughts
Although cryptocurrency mining on the Raspberry Pi might not be hugely profitable, it’s not an entirely expensive endeavor. Thus, it’s the perfect project to learn more about cryptocurrencies, from how they are mined to which coins exist. Notably, it’s a great means to explore alt-coins. Plus, mining crypto coins on a Pi is another opportunity to probe Raspberry Pi hardware and software.
In the near future, I will be able to configure custom branded staking kits that contains everything you need to get started. All you will need is to plug and play and smile to the bank.
In the meantime, take a look at Stakeboxes.
