The world is all about cryptocurrency now. With various cryptocurrencies emerging daily, many people are catching interest in the crypto world and are investing time and money in it. One of the biggest questions that How Long Does it Take to Mine 1 Ethereum?
Currently, it could take up to six months or more to mine 1 Ethereum using GPUs due to the current trends and level of difficulty. However, an ASIC mining rig can significantly improve the process, although it may require a financial investment. It’s important to note that the process still requires time and resources.
Bitcoin is considered the most prominent cryptocurrency in the world as of now. Ethereum, on the other hand, is an emerging cryptocurrency that has been gaining popularity recently. Check out how Ethereum differs from Bitcoin. As we know, the Bitcoin price fluctuates wildly. Let alone Bitcoin; almost all cryptocurrencies’ prices fluctuate. Thus, people invest in multiple currencies simultaneously rather than risk all their capital in a single cryptocurrency.
With people walking on this thought, Ethereum is a significant cryptocurrency people trust. But with Ethereum emerging, many people have a question: How long does it take to mine one Ethereum? This article addresses the question and gives the advantages, disadvantages, and scope of investing in Ethereum.
Table of Contents
How Long Does it Take to Mine One Ethereum?
Ethereum is a blockchain unit and, thus, is stored in blocks. It has a block time of roughly 20 seconds. Each block stores 2 Ethereum coins. Nevertheless, this does not imply that you will retrieve 2 Ethereum coins in 20 seconds.
The time to mine one Ethereum varies significantly from person to person. It mainly depends on the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) you use. Depending on the GPU strength, it can be 3 or 7 minutes, maybe a day or a whole month.
The term “Hash rate” determines how long it does take to mine one Ethereum. The Nvidia RTX 3090 provides its users with a hash rate of 120, whereas ASIC A10 Pro delivers a hash rate of 500. Therefore, ASIC processors are roughly four times faster than the latest Nvidia processors. Lesser GPU versions may take up to 6 months to mine 1 Ethereum coin.
Ethereum hash rate
Miners must solve hash functions and start with a list of desired hashes based on the difficulty. Moving forward with the analytics, the estimated time for obtaining one Ethereum with a Hash rate of 100 is around 400 days. Upgrading that to a 2000 hash rate reduces the retrieval time to 20 days.
Although we can reduce the time for obtaining Ethereum by upgrading to GPUs with higher hash rates, we must consider the cost. According to the data, a GPU with a significant hash rate will cost you $20,000. It would be best if you combined several such GPUs for faster mining, and thus the price would increase manifold.
We cannot avoid the electricity costs associated with using GPUs. According to reports, the total electricity cost would be the same as buying GPUs.
So, to give an example, if we were to combine 50 GPUs, the cost would go up to $100,000, and the power consumption would cost around the same. Therefore, to mine an Ethereum today, you would need $200,000.
You must consider how people can afford to mine Ethereum if it costs this much. The answer to this question is quite impressive and alters the answer to our main question, how long does it take to mine one Ethereum?
GPU
Mining allows miners to combine their GPU powers and mine for Ethereum. This reduces the time to obtain Ethereum exceptionally. It also reduces the need for an expensive, high-end GPU for mining. The rewards collected from this kind of mining are then distributed in proportion to the power contributed by each miner.
E.g., If three miners having GPUs with hash rates of 100, 300, and 600 group up for mining and manage to get their hands on one Ethereum, the Ethereum would be distributed in the ratio of 1:3:6. That is, the miner with a GPU of hash rate 100 will receive 0.1 Ethereum; the miner with a GPU of hash rate 300 will receive 0.3 Ethereum, and the miner with a GPU of hash rate 600 will receive 0.6 Ethereum, summing up to the total of one Ethereum.
Ethereum
This table shows how Ethereum stands out in its features, such as innovative contract capability, faster transaction speeds than Bitcoin, and a limitless maximum supply over other famous cryptocurrencies. 
Moreover, its consensus algorithm and decentralized applications make it more popular than others.
| Feature | Bitcoin | Ripple | Litecoin | Bitcoin Cash | Ethereum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch Date | 2009 | 2012 | 2011 | 2017 | 2015 |
| Market cap (as of 24th Feb’23) | $1.0T | $100B | $15B | $20B | $350B |
| Max Supply | 21M | 100B | 84M | 21M | No Max |
| Transaction Speed | Slow(7 TPS) | Fast(1500 TPS) | Fast(56 TPS) | Fast(116 TPS) | Fast(15-45 TPS) |
| Smart Contract Capability | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Native Token | BTC | XRP | LTC | BCH | ETH |
| Proof of work | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Consensus Algorithm | SHA-256 | Ripple Protocol | Scrypt | SHA-256 | Ethash |
| Purpose | Digital Currency | Payment Network | Digital Currency | Digital Currency | Decentralized Applications |
Does Ethereum Mining Have Future Scope?
The answer varies from person to person. While answering this question, one must consider all the factors mentioned above. Below is a summary of what factors should be considered before stepping into Ethereum Mining.
As illustrated above, setting up a mining rig would take $200,000. With such a significant investment, it will take a couple of years before you start making a profit.
It would be best to consider the hash rate difficulty that would keep increasing with time, not to mention the equipment and electricity costs. 
The risk accompanying this is with time, the difficulty of the hash rate would increase.
Your rig will have to solve complex problems and thus require more time to mine the same amount of Ethereum you would today. With increasing time to mine Ethereum, the power consumption would increase, thus the electricity cost.
There are profit calculators available on the Internet. By specifying your equipment details and the electricity cost, you can calculate the profit you’d make and judge whether you should go for mining or not.
The problem for Ethereum miners
Another problem for Ethereum miners is the Ethereum 2.0 launch. This release will transition to evidence-of-stake consensus, wherein miners can earn returns for their stake in cash. Ethereum 2.0 may additionally launch in the quiet of 2021 or early 2022. However, PoW mining might be powerful till 2023.
If the Proof-of-stake model is implemented, the miners’ equipment will become outdated, and they may need to switch to staking coins or begin mining any other altcoin.
Miners may even need to promote their gadget and use it to accumulate ETH tokens and start staking. But Ethereum 2.0 may take longer because of numerous insects and control issues.
Pros & Cons Of Ethereum
Here is the table for various pros and cons of Ethereum cryptocurrency:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| A decentralized platform enabling smart contracts. | Scalability challenges: the network can get congested |
| Large developer community | Relatively slow transaction speed compared to some other blockchains |
| Widely accepted and supported by major exchanges | Smart contracts may be susceptible to vulnerabilities and security problems due to their complexity. |
| High liquidity and trading volume | Limited adoption in the mainstream financial industry |
| With the Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP) mechanism, ongoing development and innovation | Concerns about the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus algorithm's energy usage |
| Ethereum has a strong brand and reputation throughout the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries. | Because of its complexity, Ethereum's technology might be difficult for newcomers to comprehend and utilize successfully. |
| Support for decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem | Dependency of the PoW consensus technique on a small number of big mining pools |
| Due to its decentralised nature, Ethereum resists censorship and offers better user privacy. | The proof-of-work consensus algorithm used by Ethereum consumes a lot of energy and could be environmentally hazardous. |
FAQs
How long it takes to mine one Ethereum?
Mining of Ethereum depends on several factors, like the equipment you are using, the hash rate of the network, the complexity, and the hash rate. Nonetheless, mining one Ethereum can take 20–25 seconds.
How long will it take to mine 1 Ethereum with a GPU?
With a single GPU, it takes around 150-200 hours to mine one Ethereum. How long it takes to mine Ethereum will depend upon the GPU's hash rate and the mining difficulty level.
How long it takes to mine Ethereum with an ASIC miner?
With a single GPU, it takes around 150-200 hours to mine one Ethereum. How long it takes to mine Ethereum will depend upon the GPU hash rate and the mining difficulty level.
How long it takes to mine 1 Ethereum with a mining pool?
Joining a mining pool could increase your chances of discovering a block and earning rewards. A small-scale miner typically needs between 15 and 20 days to do the operation, while the time it takes to mine 1 Ethereum in a mining pool varies.
Conclusion
As discussed, there is a variety of cryptocurrencies to invest in today. Bitcoin has become the most used cryptocurrency. Many apps were developed to help people trade Bitcoin. One of the most used and trusted apps is ImmediateBitcoin. The user-friendly interface makes it the most compatible application to use while trading in Bitcoin.
While these applications are used for trading cryptocurrencies, you can mine cryptocurrencies yourself. Ethereum is now gaining popularity, but mining Bitcoin is becoming difficult daily. You will require more hash power than today to extract the same amount of Ethereum in the future.
Mining Ethereum may be costly, time-taking, and risky, but one can also make a fortune. It may take days or even months to mine one Ethereum. To cope with this, miners combine their power and alter the results vastly.
We hope we can answer your question about how long it takes to mine 1 Ethereum.
