At any given time, millions of machines worldwide are mining Ethereum (ETH), contributing to network security and validating transactions in exchange for the chance to earn some ETH. But to make this mining process profitable, most people need expensive hardware with a lot of computing power.
“We have no direct competitors”
Golem Network is an Ethereum-based platform for sharing unused computing power. The platform has a solution for those who want to contribute to the network without going all-in.
Today it announced ‘Torg’, a free Ethereum mining app for PCs. The application is built for gamers and, for example, miners with powerful home computers. However, Golem promises that the app will support more machine types in the near future.
Of course, there are other ways to passively mine ETH on a home computer. Still, using the Golem network can help scale equipment without filling a room with more hardware. Golem Network CEO Piotr Janiuk said the following:
“Because it is not normal mining, but another proposal for idle machines and their computing power, there are no direct competitors so far.”
The mining costs of ETH
Golem is analogous to Filecoin (FIL). That is the decentralized network that allows people to sell and buy computer storage through the FIL token. Only, instead of storage, Golem facilitates the buying and selling of computing power that would otherwise go unused. If you are a gamer and have extra power to share, you can get a fee in the Golem token, GLM, for renting it out.
Torg uses Polygon, a layer 2 scaling solution. It uses this to facilitate payments. This largely avoids the high costs associated with Ethereum. However, that results in an indirect way to mine ETH as Torg users in this case receive GLM as payment. And, as the product page states, if you want to move that GLM from Polygon to Ethereum, you’ll have to pay fees in Polygon’s native MATIC token to cover the costs.
Still, that should be fine for those who are not determined to receive ETH and just want a low-intensity way to earn some crypto income. Janiuk said in a press release:
“Thorg is improving the Golem platform as this mining application opens up new and exciting ways to create a
healthy and efficient market by providing additional tools for optimizing passive income.”
Golem’s total market cap has more than quadrupled in the past year. Currently, this market cap represents approximately $500 million. The token costs almost $0.50 each at the time of this article.