How to start Bitcoin mining in 2026: 10 smart moves before you buy

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1. Be clear that you are buying bitcoin, not a machine

A mining machine is a tool that turns electricity into bitcoin. Judge it by the bitcoin it mines each month, not by the dollar figure on a calculator that day. Dollar income swings with the price. The bitcoin you collect is the part you keep. Read how to count your output in bitcoin.

2. Choose efficiency first: joules per terahash

Efficiency is the power a machine needs for each terahash, in joules per terahash (J/TH). Lower is better, because power is the main running cost.

When hashprice falls, inefficient machines are switched off first. Hashprice, what one petahash earns in a day, hit a record low of $27.74 on 6 June 2026 (Hashrate Index). See J/TH explained and the miners we sell.

3. Decide where it runs, and how power is billed

A miner is loud and hot and needs steady power, so most owners host it in a data centre. Compare hosts on the price of power, the contract term, what happens during repairs, and whether you are billed on the energy your machine actually uses. Our guide to choosing a hosting provider lists the questions to ask.

4. Budget the power bill before you buy the machine

This is the step most beginners skip. The machine is paid once. Power is paid every month, in dollars or dirhams, whatever bitcoin does. Before you buy, know where 12 to 24 months of power money will come from.

Running out of cash for bills is what hurt miners most in 2022. Core Scientific sold 7,202 BTC in June 2022, near the low, to pay debt and machine costs, and filed for bankruptcy that December. The full story is in selling bitcoin to pay the power bill.

5. Don’t plan to sell your coins to pay the bill

If you sell part of each month’s bitcoin to pay for power, you sell whatever the price is that month, often near a low. If you pay the power in cash and keep every coin, it is the same as selling those coins and buying them back each month. Keeping comes out ahead when bitcoin is above the average price you would have sold at, and behind when it is below.

One real example: an Antminer S19 running from January 2022 to October 2026 at our Hosting rate mined 0.2966 BTC. Selling enough each month to pay for power would have sold 0.1852 BTC at an average of $41,538. Keeping was behind at the close of 12 of the 58 months, all in 2022 and early 2023, and ahead after that. Try your own machine and dates in the sell or keep calculator, and read why keeping is buying.

6. Prepay 12 or 24 months of power, if you can

The simplest way to never be a forced seller is to pay the power ahead. With Segments you can prepay 12 or 24 months: your rate is fixed for the term, each month is still billed on the kWh your machines use, and unused credit is refunded when you leave.

Over the last 24 months, November 2024 to October 2026, one S21 ended with 0.0720 BTC when power was prepaid and every coin kept, against 0.0294 BTC when coins were sold for power. What that pile is worth depends on the price on the day you value it, and at some prices keeping is behind. The prepay plan shows both, on real months. We stop at two years; a 7-year prepayment ties you to the halving and to an ageing machine.

7. Pick a pool and pay out to your own wallet

A pool combines many miners so you are paid steadily rather than waiting to find a whole block. Payout methods differ: FPPS pays a fixed amount per share, PPLNS pays from blocks the pool actually finds. See mining pools explained.

Have payouts sent to a wallet you control, ideally a hardware wallet. Write the recovery words on paper, keep them offline, and never share them with anyone, a host included.

8. Plan for the 2028 halving

Around April 2028, at block 1,050,000, the reward per block halves from 3.125 to 1.5625 BTC. The same machine will mine about half the bitcoin from that day. Fees have been under 1% of block rewards for about 15 months, so they will not fill the gap. A machine bought now should still make sense on both sides of that date: see what the 2028 halving means for a miner.

9. Write your selling rule before you need it

Nobody knows where the top is, and waiting for one is not a plan. Decide in advance, on paper, when you will sell, for example a share of your coins at price levels you choose, or only what you need for planned spending. Then follow the rule rather than the headlines.

Keep a record of every payout and every sale, with the date and price, for your accountant. History can help you set your rule: our guide to Bitcoin cycles and the 2028 halving shows what past cycles did, and why each one rose less than the one before.

10. Start small, and check the host first

Start with one or a few machines, live with the numbers for a few months, then grow. Before you sign, check who signs the contract and where it is licensed, what the deposit and exit terms are, how rate changes work, and what happens to prepaid money if you leave.

Visit a centre if you can. Our visit checklist lists what to ask on the tour, and you can book a visit.

Virtual assets may lose their value in full or in part and are subject to extreme volatility. This article is education, not investment advice. Segments sells bitcoin mining hosting.