With 2026 right around the corner, I initially thought the market would just quietly cross into a new year, but Ethereum suddenly exploded with a "big fish"—long-term holders' sales plummeted by 95%. Having been in this market for over a decade, I know very well how significant this signal is. Maybe this is the prelude to a rally in the new year. Let's start with the core logic. The crypto market, at its essence, is a tug-of-war between supply and demand. When long-term holders are frantically offloading, it indicates market sentiment has collapsed, and a decline is almost certain; but if they stop selling, or even start quietly accumulating, it means selling pressure has bottomed out. Ethereum is currently in this situation—95% of the selling pressure has disappeared, and the massive "sell order army" on the market is basically wiped out. The remaining stage naturally belongs to the buyers. Now, look at the timing. The end of the year is the golden period for institutions and big funds to position for the new year's rally. They usually quietly accumulate during this time, waiting for the New Year sentiment to warm up before pushing prices higher. Given Ethereum's current conditions, it's almost tailor-made for these big players—less on-chain selling pressure, attractive chart patterns, and expectations being lowered. But we also need to stay rational. The "supply wall" around $3000 still needs close attention; it was once a key entry point for many, now it’s a resistance level. However, based on current capital strength, breaking through this level shouldn't be a problem. Once it breaks, the target is around $4400, roughly a 40% increase.

From the perspective of the broader economic environment, the Federal Reserve's recent actions are indeed quite aggressive. The third rate cut of the year, by 25 basis points, along with an additional announcement to buy $40 billion worth of short-term government bonds within 30 days—this is a classic signal of liquidity expansion. When money becomes cheaper, capital inevitably flows into high-yield risk assets, and the crypto market is among the first to benefit from this influx. Historical data clearly illustrates this point: during the last cycle of consecutive rate cuts, ETH increased by over 400%. Given the current liquidity environment, which is even more relaxed, the overall trend is unlikely to change. Regarding specific opportunities, SOL's recent performance is definitely worth paying attention to. The recently completed Alpenglow upgrade directly addressed some long-standing pain points. Previously, there were constant complaints that SOL "was fast but unstable." This upgrade pushed TPS stability above 15,000 transactions per second, with extreme scenarios reaching up to 20,000 TPS, and also optimized security mechanisms under high concurrency environments. The most tangible improvement is cost reduction—after deploying Layer2 solutions, the gas fees for contract transactions dropped from around $0.2–$0.5 to $0.05–$0.08, a decrease of over 60%. What does this reduction mean? It indicates that projects previously hesitant to launch due to high transaction fees now have the motivation to enter the SOL ecosystem. Developers and users will vote with their feet; once the cost issue is resolved, naturally, more participants will come. The data is clear: in the three months since the upgrade, the number of full nodes on SOL increased from over 1,800 to more than 2,500, daily active users jumped from 800,000 to 1.5 million, with 40% being new users. This is not just capital speculation; it reflects genuine ecosystem growth. Additionally, it is worth noting that traditional financial institutions have recently increased their activity in the crypto space. Reports indicate that two major exchanges in Russia are preparing to launch crypto trading services next year. This institutional-level participation from different players further confirms that the industry is entering a new stage of development.

## 2024 Mining Ecosystem Overview: The Seven Mainstream Coins' Best Strategies Cryptocurrency mining has long moved from the fringe to the mainstream. Entering 2024, choosing the right coin plays a decisive role in miners' profitability. This article starts from market realities, deeply analyzes the most promising mining projects today, and helps you formulate a mining strategy suited to your conditions. ## Core Decision Factors for Choosing Mining Coins Before deciding which coin to mine, the following dimensions must be considered: ### Economic Ledger Benchmarking Whether mining is profitable ultimately depends on balancing three accounts: **electricity costs vs block reward value vs mining difficulty**. Lower electricity prices, higher coin prices, and stable difficulty lead to healthier ROI. Also pay attention to the long-term community enthusiasm and ecological development progress of the coin; short-lived projects, no matter how high their returns, are futile. ### Hardware Compatibility Different coins have vastly different hardware requirements. Bitcoin and Litecoin favor ASIC miners, Ethereum Classic and Ravencoin rely on GPU, Filecoin requires dedicated storage devices—choosing the wrong hardware is equivalent to self-sabotage. Be sure to confirm in advance whether your equipment can support the target coin. ### Environment and Compliance PoW mining consumes enormous energy, with electricity costs being the main factor. Regions with low electricity prices naturally have a competitive edge. Also, keep an eye on local regulatory developments—regulatory policy changes can destroy an entire mining business model, so never underestimate policy risks. ### Market Cycle Judgment Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile, directly affecting mining profits. When prices are high, mining becomes extremely attractive, attracting many new players and pushing difficulty up; conversely, during sharp price drops, losses become normal. Be prepared psychologically for seasonal losses. ## The Seven Most Suitable Coins for Mining in 2024 ### 1. Bitcoin (BTC) — The King Choice **Current Market**: Price $87.05K, 24h change -1.23%, Market Cap $1738.12B Bitcoin mining difficulty is the highest, but its brand effect is the strongest. Although unit earnings decrease year by year (halving mechanism triggered every four years), as the most recognized asset globally, its value foundation remains solid. Professional miners generally use new generation ASIC miners like Antminer S21, with software such as CGMiner or BFGMiner. The key is to have scale advantages—individual retail miners almost cannot compete with large pools; joining mainstream pools (like AntPool, F2Pool) is wiser. **Challenge**: High capital threshold, fast equipment depreciation, and short-term profit pressure after halving. ### 2. Litecoin (LTC) — The Undervalued Silver Asset **Current Market**: Price $76.46, 24h change -0.71%, Market Cap $5.86B Often dubbed "Bitcoin’s silver," Litecoin’s mining difficulty is relatively friendly, with faster block generation (2.5 minutes vs BTC’s 10 minutes), making it attractive to retail miners. Antminer L3+ and other ASIC miners perform stably; software like EasyMiner or CGMiner is sufficient. Due to lower difficulty and more restrained hardware investment, medium-scale independent mining remains feasible. **Focus**: Litecoin also faces halving cycles, but community recognition is more stable, and price volatility is relatively mild. ### 3. Zcash (ZEC) — Pioneer in Privacy Track **Current Market**: Price $443.58, 24h change +0.12%, Market Cap $7.30B Zcash has gained special status for its privacy features—allowing users to build encrypted transactions via zero-knowledge proofs. The privacy sector is long-term promising, giving ZEC mining room for imagination. Using ASIC miners like Antminer Z9 or high-end GPUs, combined with EWBF Cuda Miner software, can achieve good mining efficiency. Market attention is moderate, difficulty is not extreme, making it a good option for those seeking differentiated gains. **Feature**: Persistent market demand for privacy functions; future regulatory updates may bring new opportunities. ### 4. Ethereum Classic (ETC) — GPU Miner’s Arena **Current Market**: Price $11.64, 24h change -2.88%, Market Cap $1.80B ETC retains the original Ethereum chain, emphasizing decentralization. Its key advantage is support for GPU mining, lowering participation barriers. Miners equipped with Nvidia RTX or AMD RX series graphics cards, using PhoenixMiner or GMiner software, can start mining. Because GPU mining hardware is relatively inexpensive, ETC is suitable for beginners wanting to test mining with consumer-grade hardware. **Risks**: Price volatility is high; as an "older" blockchain, its ecological innovation is limited, raising doubts about long-term competitiveness. ### 5. Dogecoin (DOGE) — Community-Driven Miracle **Current Market**: Price $0.12, 24h change -4.09%, Market Cap $18.58B From meme to mainstream asset, Dogecoin has witnessed the power of community. Its mining algorithm is Scrypt, GPU-friendly, with low hardware barriers, attracting many hobbyist miners. Both CGMiner and EasyMiner are suitable; Nvidia GeForce series GPUs are enough to get started. Due to high community enthusiasm and strong price recognition, despite large fluctuations, participation remains high. **Consideration**: Market sentiment is obvious; must tolerate short-term volatility. ### 6. Filecoin (FIL) — Storage-Driven New Paradigm **Current Market**: Price $1.23, 24h change -4.28%, Market Cap $895.33M Filecoin breaks traditional PoW frameworks, adopting "Proof of SpaceTime" consensus, shifting hardware needs from computation to storage. This means as long as you have fast storage devices, you can participate in mining—its low energy consumption and high efficiency attract environmentally conscious miners. Requires dedicated Filecoin miners and Lotus software, but costs are more transparent than ASIC or GPU mining rigs. As demand for distributed storage grows, FIL’s long-term potential is promising. **Prospect**: As a practical storage infrastructure, FIL bears real application scenarios, with more solid valuation logic. ### 7. Ravencoin (RVN) — Dark Horse in Asset Issuance **Current Market**: Price $0.01, 24h change -2.42%, Market Cap $106.30M Ravencoin focuses on asset issuance and transfer, using ASIC-resistant design, relying solely on GPU. This ensures a decentralized mining ecosystem, very friendly to individual miners. Using Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti or similar mid-high-end GPUs, with KawPow Miner or T-Rex Miner, participation is straightforward. Due to relatively stable difficulty and community, RVN is a moderate-yield long-term mining option. **Advantages**: ASIC resistance protects small miners’ interests; clear market positioning. ## Practical Guide: Starting from Zero in Mining 1. **Target Selection**: Based on your hardware, electricity costs, and capital, prioritize among the seven coins. 2. **Hardware Deployment**: Purchase appropriate equipment (ASIC / GPU / storage), ensure drivers and firmware are up to date. 3. **Wallet Preparation**: Create wallets on official platforms or major exchanges, remember private keys or seed phrases. 4. **Software Setup**: Download compatible mining software, input pool info and wallet addresses. 5. **Join Mining Pool**: Solo mining is risky and long-cycle; joining established pools (like F2Pool, AntPool, Ethermine) is recommended. 6. **Start Monitoring**: Regularly check hashrate, temperature, power consumption, and optimize parameters. **Additional Tip**: Consider cloud mining as a supplement, but verify project authenticity and beware of Ponzi schemes. ## Hidden Costs and Risks of Mining ### Hardware Dilemmas Equipment depreciates rapidly. ASIC miners have an obsolescence cycle of about 18-24 months; GPUs also face successive hardware upgrades. This entails high ongoing upgrade costs. ### Intensified Competition Large pools control most of the hash power, greatly reducing individual miners’ chances. Unless you have electricity advantages or special hardware channels, profit margins are limited. ### Policy Risks Regulatory attitudes vary; bans or encouragement can happen overnight. After China’s complete ban in 2021, the Chinese community of miners migrated en masse—an instructive lesson. ### Security Threats Mining hardware and wallets are targets for hackers. Threats include advanced APT attacks, ransomware, botnet hijacking—continuous defense is necessary. ### Environmental and Public Opinion The energy consumption controversy of PoW mining continues to ferment. While many projects are shifting to PoS, PoW coins still dominate in the short term. Environmental pressures may increase regulatory hurdles. ### Scam Traps Fake mining platforms and false cloud mining services are rampant. Projects promising "30% monthly returns" are mostly Ponzi schemes, paying early investors with later investors’ funds, eventually collapsing. Exercise caution. ## Future Outlook for Mining in 2024 Mining ecology is evolving from a "testing ground for retail" to an "industrial arena." Deep involvement of large pools, energy giants, and manufacturers raises industry barriers. The space for individual miners is shrinking but not disappearing—choosing the right coin, optimizing costs, and joining pools remain viable strategies. Meanwhile, the promotion of PoS mechanisms, energy consumption metrics optimization, and exploration of new consensus models are reshaping the definition of mining. Future winners are not trend followers but those who study deeply, keep learning, and dare to innovate. Whatever coin you choose, remember the essence of mining: it’s a long-term game that requires patience, discipline, and clear awareness of risks.