I have been wanting to mine for about a year now.  I waited with anticipation, but this is more exciting then I could have imagined. It is better then Christmas, or a birthday for me. 

![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmR7fDrhr875xJujH8qwmLF5vqhTmcd3MS5hWJWycdxsUv/image.png)

## Why Now?

Crypto prices have been in the shitter this year and because of that mining equipment has also cheapened. Many mining rigs don't turn a profit anymore, and even the new ones take over a year to make their money back, if not more. I have been scouring Ebay the last months, looking for good deals on used mining equipment, but prices still weren't reasonable. Finally, after this latest drop I saw a posting for a brand new D3 19.3 GW Antminer for sale. It was the most reasonably price ASIC miner I've seen, so I pounced on it. 


## The Process

I knew nothing about setting it up or joining a mining pool or any such technical aspects, but thanks to YouTube, Steemit, and 6 hours, I was able to figure it out and set it up accordingly. Each step, from plugging it in, finding the IP address and connecting to a pool was exciting . I was amazed each step I got it to work. I also had no idea how loud these things got. If I was alone it wouldn't be a problem, but damn I live with roommates. I also set up my pool with NiceHash because it was the easiest. I might change pools in the future I'm not sure.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RDAGuTZoa4g/U8tDSdwX84I/AAAAAAAAAiM/QPyI6a3whVI/s1600/2.JPG

## Fall from Grace

A year ago, the D3 was the hottest miner on the market. It sold retail for $1600, but preorders were resold for 10k on the secondary markets. The estimated earnings per day at that time was **$150!!** which is insane. These things were cranking out 15k a month! Of course, once the difficulty got adjusted, they became significantly less profitable and currently don't even turn a profit. (Luckily my electricity is included at my next apartment, so I can still make a little).
Even if I didn't make money, I would still do it for the love of cryptocurrency and learning.  I will only keep buying and experimenting more in the future. Can't wait!