Crypto glossary
Mining rig
A mining rig is the hardware setup used to mine cryptocurrency: ASIC machines for bitcoin, or frames of graphics cards for coins that still allow GPU mining.
For bitcoin, a mining rig today means an ASIC miner, a box built around chips designed only to compute SHA-256 hashes, with power supply, control board and loud fans. A single modern unit delivers well over 100 terahashes per second and draws several kilowatts. For other proof-of-work coins, rigs are open frames holding six to twelve graphics cards connected to one motherboard.
The economics of a rig depend on its hashrate, its efficiency in joules per terahash, the price paid for it and the cost of power where it runs. Newer models are more efficient, which is why miners upgrade fleets after halvings and sell older units to regions with cheaper electricity. Used rigs trade on secondary markets with prices that track hashprice.
Running a rig at home is harder than it looks. ASICs are as loud as a vacuum cleaner, produce significant heat, need suitable electrical circuits and rarely pay off on residential electricity rates. Hardware also loses value quickly as more efficient generations arrive, so a rig bought at the top of a cycle may never recover its cost.
Example
A hobbyist installs a used ASIC in a garage and discovers that at household electricity prices its daily power bill exceeds the bitcoin it earns, so they move it to a hosting facility.