Money. It’s all around. Being made or being spent. Everyone wants it whether they have a lot or a little. For some people now, money is made through a computer screen. No, not an office job, but out of the comfort of their own home without even having to lift a finger.

The only evidence of money being made is the light whirring sound of fans spinning and the flickering of bright red and blue lights. Crypto-currency has been around for since 2009, as many believe that Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency. Still, there are few people in the world engaged in it. With the United States accounting for the majority of the crypto-miners it is still difficult to find someone who crypto-mines.

However, there is one person at TC who has begun the world of crypto-mining. 

Junior Ali Ravjani, began crypto-mining in October 2020 by watching YouTube videos learning how to. No fancy crypto courses needed, just the wide world of YouTube. He explained he started after hearing just how simple and effortlessly he could start making money.

“It sounded like any easy way to make money,” Ravjani said. “Just buy graphic cards, plug it in and start printing money, literally. I have 12 rx580 graphic cards for mining.”

For Ali it wasn’t all that complicated or troublesome for him. He used HiveOS to set it all up, which required little coding. He explained it wasn’t difficult at all to set up or keep up with. After setting all the graphics cards and HiveOS up there was little left for Ali to do than watch the money start rolling in.

“Since I’ve set it up I haven’t even touched it,” Ravjani said. “Money keeps on coming into my ETH wallet.”

While at first crypto-mining sounds daunting, but long term substitute and computer science graduate Zachary Sanford says it’s easier than it looks. He confirms the validity that there isn’t really much to do rather than buying graphics cards, like the 12 Ali bought, which was the biggest setup cost to start.

“It’s an exchange of data,” he said. “You’re basically giving your computing power to Bitcoin (or other crypto-currency) where they then sell it which raises the value of the currency.” 

In theory, you can crypto-mine on any device whether it’s smaller or larger. Sanford clarifies it is possible to use a personal device such as a cellphone, but not very practical.

“The processing power is going to determine how much you get,” Sanford said. “A phone can do it, but the amount that you would get compared to how much you would lose because of constantly draining the battery, is probably not worth it”

Ali’s computer is constantly running 24/7. It does so to solve the complex mathematical problems it’s given to ensure the transaction is not fraudulent. As a reward for being able to use the processing power of the device crypto currency is given as payment.

“When you transfer crypto to somebody it takes a couple minutes,” Ravjani said. “The reason being is it wants to make sure you’re transferring crypto to the right person.”

When Ali’s mother, Fatima Ravjani, found out about Ali’s desire to start crypto-mining she was unsure. Ali had asked for money to buy all the necessary equipment. In total the startup cost for Ali to start crypto-mining was about $4,000 for the 12 graphic cards. She was a little hesitant at first, due to it being a new concept to her.

“At first glance I was very dubious about it,” Mrs. Ravjani said. “But now I think it’s amazing.”

While others fight and debate over the legitimacy of crypto-currency Ali just sits back and enjoys what he has made. With no time being necessary to work and earn money he can use it for other things instead of having to balance crazy hours at a part-time job and the time he has to spend at school learning new information. So far Ali says he has already made about $65,000 in total.

“Crypto-mining is the most passive income I’ve ever seen,” he said. “You literally don’t have to do anything.