Golem releases laptop app to mine Ethereum… but turning a profit is tricky

Golem Network has launched an app that allows users to mine Ether (ETH) on their laptops, but it could be a long time before riches can be reaped.

The decentralized computing resources sharing platform released the Thorg app that allows users to mine Ether on Windows-based PCs and laptops.

The app runs in the background and harnesses unused computing power to process the calculations required for proof-of-working mining. Users are rewarded in Golem’s native GLM token, however, and not ETH.

The system runs on layer-two aggregator Polygon, which alleviates any heavy transaction fees associated with the ERC-20 GLM token. It creates “shares,” which are batched computing tasks that are collected and used to mine Ether.

Golem CEO Piotr Janiuk said that Thorg was designed to increase adoption of Golem Network by allowing users to earn passive income on their own computers.

The minimum requirements for running the app are the Windows 10 operating system, and a 6 gigabyte or greater graphics card, which only high-end gaming laptops will have.

Those thinking that this could be an easy way to make a mint by mining at home may have to think again. A 6GB graphics card will produce a hash rate of around 26 megahashes per second, according to review websites. Taking this and average desktop PC power consumption of around 600 watts into consideration for a hypothetical example, profits from mining Ether on a PC could yield around $0.06 per day, or take more than a fortnight to make $1, according to mining calculators.

There are many variables, however, such as the specific computer hardware, power consumption and cost of electricity, so this is just one theoretical example, and results may vary.

Related: ETH mining still highly profitable despite upcoming Eth2 upgrade

The calculations also do not account for the cost of high-end graphics cards, which are extremely expensive at the moment due to the demand and global chip shortage. The announcement did state that a high-end GPU was not necessary for all users.

“In case you don’t have a high-end GPU, you can still use the Golem Network to compute tasks and earn GLM.”

At the time of writing, Golem’s native token was trading down 1.5% on the day at $0.475 according to CoinGecko. GLM is currently down 64% from its $1.32 all-time high in April 2018.