Overview

Sia is a decentralized, peer-to-peer network for buying and selling computer storage space.Users pay for transactions within Sia using a cryptocurrency called Siacoin. Like Bitcoin, Sia relies on “miners” to supply computing power to the network. These miners are paid for their contributions in Siacoin.In this guide, I’ll show you how to generate money when you’re not using your Windows PC by setting it up to mine Siacoin.

Why mine Siacoin?

If your PC supports high-end gaming or graphic design, your graphics card may have the potential to generate extra income through Siacoin mining.Even if you don’t have top of the line graphics hardware, you still may be able to earn a significant amount of money mining Siacoin. I mine with an NVIDIA GTX 970, which was released almost three years ago. It generates ~2,000 Siacoin per week. At current Siacoin prices ($6.72 USD per thousand Siacoin), this is equivalent to a weekly revenue of ~$13 USD. This is not bad, considering I don’t need to put in any work after the initial setup. You can estimate your own profit from mining by using the minings earning calculator on SiaPulse.If you’re not looking for extra income, maybe you’re interested in playing with cryptocurrency. Siacoin mining provides an easy, low-risk way to get your feet wet.

Time Required

This guide looks long, but it’s just because there are lots of screenshots. I estimate that it only takes about 20 minutes to get started with mining.TaskTimeInstalling software5-10 minutesCreating a Siacoin wallet5 minutes (fast method) / 3 days (slow method)Setting up automatic mining5 minutesTotal~20 minutes

Software versions

This guide uses the latest version of each software component at the time of writing:

• Sia-UI v.1.2.1
• CUDA v.8.0.61
• OpenCL 2.0
• Marlin v.1.0.0
• Windows 10 (will also work on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1)

Find your graphics card type

Siacoin mining uses your computer’s graphics card (which I’ll refer to as “GPU” for graphics processing unit).Different GPUs require different software, so follow the steps below to determine your GPU type:

1. Hit Win+R to open the run dialog.
2. Type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
   
   
   
3. Expand the “Display adapters” entry

You should see something like the following:Note whether your GPU begins with “NVIDIA” or “AMD.”

• If you have an NVIDIA GPU, you will install CUDA.
• If you have an AMD GPU, you will install OpenCL.

If you see something else, you likely don’t have a compatible GPU. This means you won’t be able to mine Siacoin, but check the mining hardware section (below) to see what mining-ready GPUs are available for your next build.

Install GPU library

In order to run a Siacoin miner, you must install the correct library for the mining software to communicate with your computer’s GPU.

Install CUDA (for NVIDIA GPUs)

If you have an NVIDIA GPU, you’ll need to install CUDA. For AMD GPUs, skip to the next section.

1. Go to https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads
2. Next to “Operating System,” click “Windows.”
3. Click the version that corresponds to your version of Windows.
4. For “Installer Type” click “exe (network).”
5. Click “Download.”
6. Open the downloaded file and proceed through the installation using the default options.

Install OpenCL (for AMD GPUs)

If you have an AMD GPU, you’ll need OpenCL. It may be installed already, as it is included with many AMD drivers, but to ensure you have the latest version, follow the steps below.

1. Go to https://support.amd.com/en-us/download
2. Under “Automatically Detect and Install Your Driver” click “Download Now”
3. Open the downloaded file and proceed through the installation using the default options.

Install a Siacoin miner

There are a few different Siacoin miners to choose from, but they all offer similar features and performance. This guide uses the Marlin miner because it is compatible with both CUDA and OpenCL, but you might want to check out other mining options.To install Marlin, follow the steps below:

1. Go to the Marlin miner download page.
2. Click the link for “Windows (64-bit)” to download the Marlin package.
3. When the download completes, open it and unzip to C:\marlin
4. Hit Win+R to open the Windows run dialog.
5. Type cmd and hit Enter.
   
   
   
6. In the Command Prompt, type the following: C:\marlin\marlin.exe --selftest 

You should see output that says PASS on each line:

2017/05/18 20:24:30 Starting marlin 1.0.0

2017/05/18 20:24:31 OpenCL error: cannot load OpenCL.dll

2017/05/18 20:24:31 CUDA (driver version 8.0)

2017/05/18 20:24:31  [0] GeForce GTX 970 (CC 5.2)

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] default   : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m1p0      : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m1p1      : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m1p1x32   : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m1p4x32   : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m2p0      : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m2p1      : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m2p1x32   : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m2p2      : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m2p2x32   : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m2p4      : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] m2p4x32   : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] x1p1      : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] x1p1x32   : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] x1p2x32   : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] x1p3x32   : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] x1p4x32   : PASS

2017/05/18 20:24:31 [0] x1p5x32   : PASS

This verifies that your GPU library is installed correctly and your miner is able to access it. All you need now is a Siacoin wallet and you’ll be ready to begin mining.

Generate a Siacoin wallet

In order to mine, you’ll need a Siacoin wallet to store the coins you earn. There are currently two main options for Siacoin wallets, which I describe below.

Poloniex - The quick ‘n dirty way

The fastest way to create a Siacoin wallet is to use Poloniex, a cryptocurrency exchange. Poloniex provides a web wallet, so you can create an account and generate a Siacoin wallet instantly.The downside is that you have to trust Poloniex to keep your Siacoin secure. There have not been any major security breaches at Poloniex that cost their customers money, but many other exchanges have had issues with this, and Poloniex is by no means immune.I recommend starting with Poloniex as you build familiarity with Siacoin and mining. Once you become comfortable, create a wallet with Sia-UI, move your Siacoin from Poloniex to your Sia-UI wallet, and set your Sia-UI address as your new mining address.To create a wallet with Poloniex, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Poloniex.
2. Create a new account and log in.
3. From the upper right menu, click Balances > Deposits & Withdrawals.
   
   
   
4. Find “SC - Siacoin” in the list of cryptocurrencies and click the “Deposit” link on that row
   
   

You will see a long series of letters and numbers. This is your Siacoin wallet address.Save this address and proceed to the Start mining step.

Sia-UI - The better, but slower way

If you created a wallet with Poloniex, you can skip this section.Sia-UI is Sia’s official Windows app. Developed and maintained by the Sia developers, it is the most secure and powerful Sia wallet available (though this is somewhat by virtue of it being the only Windows wallet available).

Download and Launch Sia-UI

1. Go to the Sia-UI download page
2. Click the link ending in -win32-x64.zip (e.g. Sia-UI-vXX.YY.ZZ-win32-x64.zip)
3. Extract the downloaded file to C:\Sia-UI
4. Click “Sia-UI” in the extracted files.
5. A Windows Firewall dialog will appear asking if you want to give Sia access. Click “Allow”. 

Set up Sia-UI wallet

You’ll see a progress bar in the upper right corner that represents Sia-UI’s progress synchronizing your app with the rest of the Sia network. While you wait for synchronization to reach 100%, create your Siacoin wallet with the steps below:

1. In the lefthand sidebar, click the “Wallet” button.
2. Click “Create a new wallet.”
3. Sia-UI then displays your wallet seed. This is a series of words that gives you access to your Siacoin wallet.
   • Save your wallet seed. Either write it down on paper or save it to a text file.
   • Sia offers to let you choose a wallet password that is distinct from your wallet seed. For simplicity, leave the password as is so that it will match your seed.
   • Important: You’ll need your wallet seed to access your wallet every time you start Sia-UI. If you lose your wallet seed, you can never recover the money inside your wallet.
   • Important: Anyone who has your wallet seed controls your Siacoin balance. Never post your wallet seed online (unless you’re writing a Siacoin mining tutorial).
4. Click the button that says “I have written these down in a safe place.”
5. Because Sia-UI maintains a healthy skepticism of its users, the next screen challenges you to enter the wallet seed you just saved. Type in the seed you saved in step 3 and click “Unlock.”

At this point, Sia-UI will likely still be synchronizing with the rest of the network. Unfortunately, you can’t use your wallet until this process completes.First-time synchronization is sloooooow. It can take hours to days to get synchronized depending on your disk speed and network connection. I posted a workaround on reddit that reduces the wait time to ~20 minutes, so check that out if you don’t feel like waiting.When you’re finally synchronized, click the “Receive Siacoin” button in the wallet screen:You will see a long series of letters and numbers. This is your Siacoin wallet address.Save this address and proceed to the Start mining step.Note: Every time you click the “Receive Siacoin” button, Sia will generate a new wallet address for you. This is normal. You will still receive payments sent to any of your previously generated addresses. If you want to see a full list of your wallet addresses, go to the “Terminal” view and type wallet addresses.

Start mining

You’re ready to start mining! To begin, follow the steps below:

1. Open Notepad
2. Go to File > Open and enter C:\marlin\marlin.bat
3. Under “Your Payout Address” change the address to your own Siacoin wallet address.
   
   
   
4. Go to File > Save and close Notepad.
5. Go to C:\marlin in Windows Explorer.
6. Double-click on marlin.bat.
7. If you get a security warning, click “Run.”

You’re mining! You should see output like the following:

2017/05/19 22:55:17 Starting marlin 1.0.0

2017/05/19 22:55:18 CUDA (driver version 8.0)

2017/05/19 22:55:18  [0] GeForce GTX 970 (CC 5.2)

2017/05/19 22:55:18 OpenCL: NVIDIA CUDA

2017/05/19 22:55:18  [1] GPU: GeForce GTX 970

2017/05/19 22:55:18 [0] Initializing GeForce GTX 970

2017/05/19 22:55:18 Connecting to siamining.com:3333...

2017/05/19 22:55:18 Difficulty set to 17G

2017/05/19 22:55:18 New block ...fa4d65e6 detected, difficulty 43P

2017/05/19 22:55:18 Authentication successful

2017/05/19 22:55:18 [0] Initialized, work size 268435456

2017/05/19 22:55:18 [0] Accepted 2b5b471d D: 42G/17G  965.8 MH/s

2017/05/19 22:55:18 [0] Accepted 0c1e4a1f D: 23G/17G  965.8 MH/s

2017/05/19 22:55:20 [0] Accepted 727c0e70 D: 50G/17G  967.5 MH/s

2017/05/19 22:55:23 [0] Accepted f1eede1e D: 46G/17G  966.2 MH/s

Close the window to stop mining.If you configured your Siacoin wallet address correctly in Marlin’s settings, you will see your mining activity in the SiaMining dashboard:

• https://siamining.com/addresses/[your siacoin address]

I’ll go into more details about the SiaMining pool below.You’ll notice that your system responds sluggishly while you’re running the miner. This is because mining consumes all available graphics resources, which makes it difficult for you to use your computer normally. Don’t worry. We’ll address this in the next section.

Using the mining pool

Mining is a game of chance. Your machine is doing repeated calculations with random numbers hoping to discover a solution to an equation that the Siacoin network needs at the given moment. The computer that finds a solution receives a miner’s reward. The reward is currently ~200,000 Siacoin (~$1,300 USD). A solution is found roughly once every ten minutes, but due to the number of miners active, it is possible for your miner to go months without getting lucky and stumbling on a solution.This guide configures your miner to participate in the SiaMining pool to give you a more regular and predictable mining income stream. With a mining pool, all participants implicitly agree to share effort and share rewards proportionally. The SiaMining pool takes a 3% fee for administering this system.The SiaMining pool provides a dashboard that allows you to monitor your miner’s activity:

• https://siamining.com/addresses/[your siacoin address]

When the unpaid balance for your wallet address reaches 500 Siacoin, the pool pays out your rewards. Within six hours, you will see a deposit in your wallet for a little over 500 Siacoin.My particular GPU reaches the payout threshold about once per week. Your experience will vary depending on the performance of your GPU, the percentage of time your miner is running, and the number of other active Siacoin miners.

Cashing out your Siacoin

Now that you’ve accumulated some Siacoin, you probably want a way of spending them.There are cryptocurrency exchanges that allow you to sell Siacoin, but they don’t support converting Siacoin directly to fiat (e.g. dollars, Euros). You need to convert your Siacoin in two stages:

1. Convert Siacoin to Bitcoin.
2. Convert Bitcoin to fiat currency.

You may also consider holding your Siacoin as an investment. Over the past year, Siacoin’s value has increased 35-fold (e.g. $100 of Siacoin purchased a year ago would be worth ~$3,500 today). Siacoin has been trading for less than two years. By comparison, when Bitcoin was this age, its price was ~$5 per coin. Today, Bitcoin is worth almost $2,000 per coin.That said, the future of cryptocurrencies is highly unpredictable. In a year or two, Siacoin may be worthless. Consider your tolerance for risk when deciding to hold or sell your Siacoin.

Converting Siacoin to Bitcoin

There are a few options for converting your Siacoin to Bitcoin:

• ShapeShift: (recommended) ShapeShift is simple and fast because there’s no signup required. Just give them your Bitcoin address, and they’ll give you a Siacoin deposit address. You send Siacoin and receive your Bitcoins. Boom. Done.
• Poloniex: Poloniex is the other major exchange that supports Siacoin. It’s more complicated than ShapeShift, and they sometimes hold up your transactions for hours, but they usually get the job done.
• BitSquare: (for advanced users) BitSquare is a decentralized, peer-to-peer exchange. Trading is slower and involves more steps, but can give you better rates than traditional exchanges. BitSquare also supports converting Siacoin directly to fiat, but you’re relying on another person not to rip you off. If you choose this option, take steps protect yourself from fraud.

Converting Bitcoin to fiat currency (regular money)

Bitcoin has been around longer and the ecosystem is much more mature, so you have several options for cashing out your Bitcoins. Bitcoin exchanges are beyond the scope of this post, but here are a few places to start.

• Gemini: Caters to US customers.
• BitStamp: Caters to European customers.
• LocalBitcoins: A private, peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange.

A more comprehensive list is available at bitcoin.org.

Siacoin mining hardware

The tables below show estimated mining performance of different GPUs. These numbers are based on anonymous, self-reported data from a mix of systems, aggregated from Sia mining wikis. Don’t expect 100% accuracy, but they should give you a rough idea of how different systems perform.The performance metric is a function of how many million mining calculations the chip can do per second (measured in megahashes per second or MH/s). The rate that a GPU generates mining income is directly proportional to its MH/s. In other words, all things being equal, a 2,000 MH/s GPU will generate twice as much income as a 1,000 MH/s GPU.For each GPU chip, I’ve provided an example GPU product that contains that chip, but the same GPU chip is generally available from a variety of manufacturers.

NVIDIA GPUs

GPUPerformance (MH/s)ExampleGTX 660300EVGA GeForce GTX 660GTX 670400ASUS GeForce GTX 670GTX 970895EVGA GeForce GTX 970GTX 9801,290GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 980GTX Titan X1,300EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN XGTX 980 Ti1,540GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 980TiGTX 980 Ti Hybrid1,725EVGA GeForce GTX 980 TiGTX 1080 FE2,190EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition

AMD GPUs

GPUPerformance (MH/s)ExampleR9 270X635Gigabyte R9 270XR9 380750ASUS STRIX Radeon R9 380HD 7970790Sapphire Radeon HD 7970R9 2901,050Sapphire Radeon R9 290R9 290X1,200Sapphire Radeon R9 290XR9 390x1,200Sapphire Radeon NITRO R9 390XR9 Nano1,600XFX Radeon R9 NanoR9 Fury X1,800XFX RADEON R9 FURY XR9 295x22,250Sapphire Radeon R9 295X2I do not recommend buying a GPU for the express purpose of mining Siacoin. Your profits are determined by Siacoin’s market price and the number of other active miners on the network. These variables can change drastically at any time.If you’re buying a new GPU anyway, and you’re interested in Siacoin mining performance as a factor in your decision, the tables above can help you decide.Update (2017-06-22): On June 20th, 2017, Sia announced an upcoming ASIC miner for Siacoin, so investing in Siacoin GPU mining hardware at this point will almost certainly be unprofitable. Using your existing mining hardware may continue being profitable until ASICs ship, however.

Caveats

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you begin Siacoin mining:

• Heat: Siacoin mining adds considerable stress to your GPU and may reduce its lifetime. Monitor your GPU’s heat to make sure mining is not heating it to the point of damaging to your system.
• Taxes: Many jurisdictions consider cryptocurrency mining profits to be taxable income. If you convert to fiat through an exchange such as Coinbase or Gemini, they are legally required to share your financial information with tax authorities if requested.
• Electricity costs: Your GPU consumes more electricity when it is mining Siacoin than when it is doing less intensive tasks such as browsing Facebook. Be sure to take the cost of electricity into account when considering your mining profit.