# Monero XMR is still profitable to mine but when will the ASIC threat return?
Aside from the recent up-swing, Monero $XMR's difficulty has seen a consistent decline since the CryptoNightv7 hardfork back on April 6th, 2017. Currently there are no apparent signs of ASICs on XMR pools. Although we've seen the return of [FPGA mining](https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3459858.0); true ASICs are no longer feasible mining XMR with the current 6mos mining window between each planned Anti-ASIC hardfork.

Monero's difficulty has risen since the [previous Monero XMR Difficulty Watch post](https://steemit.com/monero/@donald.porter/xmr-mining-difficulty-at-lowest-since-november-2017-or-monero-difficulty-watch-e6), but that shouldn't deter anyone from mining Monero. The pools are growing and that's a strong indicator for positive sentiment and a strong foundation set by XMR miners at ~100. Most of whom believe in the technology and have found innovative new ways [how to spend/use Monero](https://steemit.com/altcoins/@donald.porter/how-to-cash-out-your-crypto-and-avoid-using-tether) in the current market.

![Screen Shot 2018-07-01 at 9.04.20 PM.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmeqD5G4ErpqgCqHCTxRA7WQFjjSeqWhi6nT9n1X2K9PNi/Screen%20Shot%202018-07-01%20at%209.04.20%20PM.png)

> $XMR Mining is a great way to hedge and grow your portfolio in a bear market.

We are now back to difficulty levels from May, implying a return of some miners!
![Screen Shot 2018-07-01 at 9.00.12 PM.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZkGi2mUvwsVxKobwDSfBWGhYGg1kte4BTGSZJeLf5Gud/Screen%20Shot%202018-07-01%20at%209.00.12%20PM.png)

## Focus on the Good News: Cloud Contracts
[Minergate](https://minergate.com/a/7fb471ecc9fc984387f17bb5)'s Monero Cloud Mining contracts have held on while many other contracts have been frozen or squeezed by recent market sell-offs. Bitcoin $BTC mining contracts are under the most fire, some have less than 21 days to return to profitability or risk termination. Minergate's lifetime XMR cloud mining contract fees are deducted from your confirmed balance; as long as you can afford the fees, the contract will continue.

> " The contract payment will be deducted from your current balance automatically. "- from Minergate's XMR Cloud Contract purchase page.

The most decentralized altcoin with lifetime cloud mining contracts that seem fit for the long haul and Anti-ASIC/botnets hardforks every 6mos; I believe  Monero XMR will maintain it's dominance in the privacy coin sector. Other coins I hodl in the sector include [DigitalNote $XDN](https://steemit.com/digitalnote/@donald.porter/digitalnote-xdn-community-update-anti-asic-hardfork-and-merge-mining), Dash $DASH and [Linda $LINDA](https://steemit.com/altcoins/@donald.porter/the-easiest-way-to-buy-linda-coin-and-setup-a-linda-wallet-before-moon).

# Current XMR Difficulty:
**Difficulty** 57.25 G +4.65% in 24 hours
**Hashrate** 463.171 Mhash/s +0.34% in 24 hours
**Monero Mining Profitability** 0.8684 USD/Day for 1 KHash/s

**Reward Per Block** 4.31+0.03751 XMR ($575.1 USD)
**Reward (last 24h)** 3,016+26.22 XMR ($402,229.83 USD)

**Monero Price** 1 XMR = $ 132.2 USD (2018-07-01 21:44:54) 
*Chart from [CoinWarz](https://www.coinwarz.com/difficulty-charts/monero-difficulty-chart)
*Data from [BitInfoCharts](https://bitinfocharts.com/monero/)

### Let's enjoy the discounts and low Monero difficulty and profitable GPU mining while it lasts!

![DQmXj4EwV36gCwqxzUxsSbo95ipou9hqcgeH4r8eynhnvFi_640x480.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmU1AiNTRYbvaPL1Cdyj6Zd5kRpeivm1Mq9i3viD4k9V4X/DQmXj4EwV36gCwqxzUxsSbo95ipou9hqcgeH4r8eynhnvFi_640x480.png)

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## More Steem
* [How to Cash-out Your Crypto & Avoid Using Tether](https://steemit.com/altcoins/@donald.porter/how-to-cash-out-your-crypto-and-avoid-using-tether)
* [The Easiest Way to Buy Linda Coin and Setup a Wallet before Moon](https://steemit.com/altcoins/@donald.porter/the-easiest-way-to-buy-linda-coin-and-setup-a-linda-wallet-before-moon)

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## Interested in mining Monero XMR? Try [Minergate](https://minergate.com/a/7fb471ecc9fc984387f17bb5).

[![CROPPED_9GwNo4J.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUVEBQhb5WHdQb23yf7SfR8Je6iSgs4TE4iqmtXj8Rq3U/CROPPED_9GwNo4J.png)](https://minergate.com/a/7fb471ecc9fc984387f17bb5)

## How to cash out your Crypto? Try [SpectroCoin](https://spectrocoin.com/en/signup.html?referralId=1714245648&refTrackId=SBD)

 [![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmehFUoSRKvbChjucRP1TvJPrBqHpmY4DqT5uocSdFA2cv/image.png)](https://spectrocoin.com/en/signup.html?referralId=1714245648&refTrackId=SBD)

![DQmXnWeEUFhNgRoanPWZ7o1sqWfUyZhjEn2NPcBXg4KFc9t_1680x8400 (1).png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYChmqT4N1eTEQat2AfeEEdP6dm7xEax7ygHqGKMvVw3R/DQmXnWeEUFhNgRoanPWZ7o1sqWfUyZhjEn2NPcBXg4KFc9t_1680x8400%20(1).png)