I recently saw an ad from GoMining to mine Bitcoin. But yesterday, I heard on Bankless that Zcash mining was more profitable... so let’s compare.

Bitcoin mining remains the most established option: deep liquidity, predictable issuance, and exposure to the asset with the strongest institutional demand. But it is also highly competitive, capital-intensive, and extremely sensitive to electricity costs and mining difficulty.

Zcash, on the other hand, may offer more attractive short-term mining economics when its price, network hashrate, and block rewards align. Yet profitability can change quickly, and miners take on additional volatility and liquidity risk.

The key question is not only “which coin pays more today?” It is also:

• Are you mining for immediate cash flow or long-term accumulation?
• Do you own efficient hardware and have cheap electricity?
• Are cloud-mining offers worth the fees and counterparty risk?
• Does higher Zcash yield compensate for the added market risk compared with Bitcoin?

I looked into the latest numbers, and the gap is striking: Bitcoin hashprice is hovering around $38–$39 per PH/day, meaning mining is still viable mainly for operators with very efficient ASICs and cheap electricity. Meanwhile, the Zcash economics mentioned on Bankless, around $1,000 profit per MWh compared with under $150/MWh for Bitcoin, make ZEC look far more attractive right now. But is this opportunity accessible to you and me? Probably not directly, unless we have access to low cost electricity, suitable hardware, technical infrastructure, and enough capital to manage the risks. For most individual investors, the more practical approach may be to compare reputable cloud mining options, verify all fees and withdrawal conditions, or simply gain exposure by buying and holding the asset. These figures can change quickly as price, hashrate, and difficulty adjust, so I would treat this as a snapshot rather than a guaranteed opportunity.

So, in summary, for most people, buying BTC or ZEC directly may still be simpler than operating, or renting, mining capacity. But mining can make sense if the unit economics are genuinely favorable and you understand exactly where the returns come from.

What do you think and do you mine yourself? I'm not mining, but I'm interested in your feedback.