Karlsen Network (KLS) is an ASIC-resistant Fork of KASPA (KAS)

30 Nov
2023

Karlsen Network and the Karlsen Coin (KLS) is a new project that is forked from Kaspa (KAS) with a a modified Proof of Work algorithm called KarlsenHash that prevents KAS ASICs to mine the coin. The project is still new and early and not much information is available, so you should treat with caution as always and if installing a local wallet and node you should do it in a sandbox environment just to be on the safe side. The project has caught a lot of attention from crypto miners and a lot of GPU mining power is being sent over to mine KLS coins (50 coins per block with 1 second block time). There are still no exchanges available with support for KLS, but you can mine with a local node and wallet and there are already pools supporting Karlsen Network mining popping up like Herominers. The latest version of SRBMiner-Multi has added support for mining KLS coins with the new algorithm (1% dev fee) and you can use the same settings you used for KAS mining on your GPUs. Below you can find a quick guide that we’ve prepared on how to setup a local Karlsen Network node and create a local wallet that you can mine KLS coins to if you are interested in getting started with mining.

Quick Getting Started Guide:
1. Download the latest Karlsen Network node and wallet from GitHub.
2. Unzip the downloaded archive that contains 5 different executable files.
3. Run "karlsenwallet create" to generate a local wallet, you will be prompted to create a password for encryption (remember it!)
4. You will get a keys.json file created with the encrypted private key (back it up!) and you will be shown a public key (this is not a wallet you can mine at, you will need to create wallet!)
5. Run "karlsenwallet dump-unencrypted-data" to get your 24-word mnemonic phrase for recovery (write that down and store securely).
6. Run "karlsend --utxoindex" to start a local node on your computer.
7. Run "karlsenwallet start-daemon" to get the wallet ready.
8. Run "karlsenwallet new-address" in order to generate a wallet address that you can point your miners at the mining pool.
9. Run "karlsenwallet balance -v" to check the balance of your wallet(s) when pools send you payments, you need to wait for the blockchain to sync for the balance to appear.
10. Run "karlsenwallet send -v amount_of_Karlsen_to_send -t wallet_public_address" to send coins from your local wallet to a different wallet, make sure you set the amount and the wallet to send to.

Example SRBMiner-Multi Karlsen mining command line:

SRBMiner-MULTI.exe --algorithm karlsenhash --pool stratum+tcps://de.karlsen.herominers.com:1195 --wallet karlsen:YOUR_WALLET_ID --password WORKER_ID --gpu-cclock0 1710 --gpu-mclock0 810 --gpu-coffset0 250

Make sure you update the wallet and worker ids in the example command line above as well as change the GPU clock, Memory clock and offset according to what your GPUs can handle. Again, using the same settings you have used for mining KAS on your GPUs (if you did) is a good starting point. The example shows a good average for use on Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU.

– Visit the official Karlsen Network (KLS) project website for more info…

FutureBit Apollo II is More than Just a Bitcoin ASIC Miner for Home Users

27 Nov
2023

The new FutureBit Apollo II has been officially announced and it is going to be available in three different versions with shipping starting in Q1 next year (2024) with preorders expected to be available from December 8th. We are not sure how to talk about this device as it is more than just a Bitcoin miner designed and made in the USA and targeted for home users… although the Apollo II Standard ($799 USD) is essentially a cool looking USB-based Bitcoin ASIC miner capable of delivering up to 10 TH/s hashrate with about 400 Watts of power usage and that device can be plugged in to an older Apollo node or a newer Apollo II Full Node or a computer or a RPi thus adding new or expanding existing hashing power. The new Apollo II Full Node ($1099 USD) as the name implies includes a Full Bitcoin Node and the device itself is a Miner + Full Node + Linux Desktop System all in one with the mining part essentially the same as the standalone device. With the Full Node you also get a built-in modern ARM based controller with 4GB of RAM and up to a 2TB of SSD storage that has a pre-installed dedicated Apollo OS 1.0, that allows for built in zero config solo mining directly to your node. And the third version is the FutureBit Apollo II Founders Edition ($1999 USD) that has all of the Full Node features, but with additional extras such as cooler looking orange case with transparent top, and you would be able to get it shipped first with a limited number of units available.

We remember first hearing about FutureBit back in 2016 on Bitcointalk where jstefanop announced that he is working on a USB-based Scrypt ASIC miner and soon after that we got our hands on the FutureBit MoonLander USB Scrypt ASIC Miner to test it. We really liked the design and how the device worked back then later on came the improved FutureBit Moonlander 2, after that the Apollo LTC miner and then the upgrade kit to bring it up to a Full Node and the Apollo BTC miner and Full Node, and now comes the next evolution with improved hashrate and power efficiency as well as features. The miners from FutureBit have always been for home users and not for large mining farms and are designed around the idea of quality and reliability, silent operation at home and useful additional features. So do not expect these to be rivalling the latest generation of ASIC miners designed for big Bitcoin mining farms, although efficiency wise the Apollo II does compare very well efficiency wise to the current generation of Bitcoin mining ASICs on the market.

– Check out the official FutureBit website for more details about the Apollo II…

Using Motorola Moto G Power (2021) and Moto G Pure (2021) for VRSC Mining

21 Nov
2023

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals right around the corner or already here you could be in for a good deal on Smartphones that can be used for mining VerusCoin (VRSC), so do look for sweet deals on Samsung Galaxy A03s as a popular option, that one can get you around 3.6 MH/s with a price as low as $30 USD when in promo (for an operator locked device). We are not going to be talking about Samsung here however, but about two smartphones from Motorola that you can get at a good price at the moment even without special deals – Motorola Moto G Power (2021) and Motorola Moto G Pure (2021) and we are going to see if they are good for VRSC mining and if so, what can you expect performance wise.

Starting up with the Motorola Moto G Pure (2021), a device that normally is in the $50 USD mark when operator locked or around $100 USD for an unlocked version, but you can currently get it as low as $24.99 USD from Amazon for a TracFone Moto g Pure (2021)(Locked/Renewed). This is a pretty sweet deal price wise and you essentially get a device that is like brand new with a data cable and a charger bundled as well, but the question here is if the smartphone is suitable for VRSC mining. An Android 11 device that features a Mediatek MT6762G Helio G25 (12 nm) chipset that utilizes an 8-core ARM CPU (4x 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 and 4x 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53), so far so good, but unfortunately what you get is a bit disappointing if you want it for mining. The smartphone we got was with Android 12 installed and it felt kind of sluggish right out of the box, but the bad news here is regarding mining as this device is simply a no go as it features a 32-bit OS even though the processor is 64-bit capable. Simply said this smartphone will not be able to run 64-bit apps and thus the VRSC miners are not going to work. So, do not go for that Motorola if you are looking for a smartphone for crypto mining!

The other device from Motorola, namely the Moto G Power (2021), is more promising and just a slightly more expensive than the Pure. The $34.99 USD TracFone Moto G Power (2021) Locked/Renewed deal on Amazon gets you a device that can actually be used for VRSC mining and not only is the price good, but also the performance. The Moto G Power (2021) comes with a Qualcomm SM6115 Snapdragon 662 (11 nm) chipset that has an 8-core processor (4x 2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold and 4x 1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver) and Android 11, though it is upgradable to Android 12 (but you should not, why in a moment). The refurbished version from Amazon is pretty much as a brand-new device with a charger and a data cable bundled, but at half the price what a regular locked version of this model normally goes for and at a quarter or even more of the price of an unlocked device. The next question is if the Moto G Power (2021) is good for mining VRSC what performance to expect from it?

The hashrate you can expect for VerusCoin (VRSC) mining on the Motorola Moto G Power (2021) is in the range of around 4.2-4.4 MH/s with a power usage of about 3 Watts measured at the wall. We’ve mentioned that you should not upgrade the phone to Android 12 even though it is available as it will reduce the performance a bit, the image on the right above shows Android 12 with about 0.1 MH/s slower hashrate than the same device with Android 11 on the left… and the Android 11 looks and feels better than the 12 on that particular Motorola device. Still, even if you upgrade you can still use the Moto G Power for mining, just with a slight performance hit and a bit more annoying user interface. So, Motorola Moto G Power (2021) is definitely a good option for VRSC mining, especially if you manage to get a great deal like the Refurbished one (essentially like new) from Amazon currently available. At a regular price for a Locked device, it could still be quite good considering the good hashrate, but there is more competition in that price range as well.

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