How You Could Lose Out While Mining Cryptocoins

Like any type of commodity investment, there are risks involved.  And because cryptocoin mining is not a regulated currency like conventional banking, there is the additional downside that there is no insurance coverage that you can call on to recoup losses because of misconduct.

The bottom line is that there is a lot at risk when you mine for cryptocoins. Rewards can certainly be big in the long-run but it's a good idea to think of cryptocurrency mining as investing in the stock market before 1929 (when the government did not insure the banks where money was invested.)

The 5 Biggest Risks Of Cryptocurrency Mining

There are some pretty substantial risks to be aware of when mining Litecoins and other cryptocoins: 

1. Losing your digital wallet of coins: You can lose your wallet either by locking yourself out by forgetting your password or by physically losing the wallet via a broken hard drive or if your online wallet provider goes out of business.
2. Dishonest mining pool organizers: If you join a pool that is run by dishonest administrators, they could skim coins from your earnings, or take your earnings altogether and close shop. 
3. Electricity costs make your mining unprofitable: For most mining computers, a cost of 14 cents/kilowatt hour is the most you want to pay for your mining hobby. Above 14 cents, mining Litecoins, Dogecoins or Feathercoins will not be worth the investment. Similarly, if you invest more than a several hundred dollars in mining hardware, at a rate of two dollars profit per day (and assuming there is no leap in coin value), it could take two years for you to pay off your hardware investment.

1. Black Hat Hackers: It is possible that a talented hacker can break into your mining pool and empty the users' wallets, including yours. 
2. The cryptocurrency you choose will drop in value instead of grow: Just like gold or any other commodity, there is a chance that the market value of your cryptocoins will fall, and you will be sitting on top of a pile of pennies instead of a pile of dollars. 

How Do I Reduce These Coin Mining Risks?

While no moneymaking venture is ever risk-free,  you can certainly reduce your cryptocoin mining risks. Here are a few suggestions for managing your coin mining vulnerabilities:

1. Follow a personal habit of backing up your wallet every two days, keep your password written down in a safe place, and keep a personal wallet on your home computer to lower the risk of losing your wallet.
2. Find a reputable mining pool where the members are very active in a forum and keep each other honest by keeping constant eyes on the pool operations.  
3. Some electricity providers will allow you to lock in your per-kilowatt-hour fee for a year or two. If you can do so at 14 cents or less per kwh, then do it. 10 cents per kwh and less is excellent, not just for mining but for your own benefit as a consumer.
4. The best prevention against getting hacked is a combination of hardware and personal habit. Put your coin wallet database on a detachable hard drive or even a USB stick, which you detach from your computer and network when you're not using it. Then, transfer your coins from your online storage into your detachable wallet so they do not accumulate online. Finally, backup your wallet regularly.