A wallet address
For the coin the pool mines — not an exchange address, unless you have confirmed it accepts mining payouts.
GETTING STARTED
Pick a pool, connect your first miner.
Nexthash does not mine anything itself: it points you to independently run pools. These four steps are the same on every pool, only the specifics change.
- Choose a pool. On the Pools page, match a pool's mining type (CPU, GPU or ASIC) to your hardware, and pick the network you want to support.
- Get a wallet address for that coin. Each pool's own site explains how — usually a web wallet or the coin's own node. This is where your rewards are paid, so keep its backup safe.
- Download that pool's miner and run it with your address as the username. Every pool publishes the exact download and command on its own "Mine" page.
- Watch your hashrate and balance. Each pool has its own dashboard and, usually, a public API to check your earnings at any time.
Matching hardware
A CPU-mineable network gains nothing from a GPU or ASIC, and the reverse is also true. Check the pool's mining type first.
Patience and steady uptime
Most pools reward the shares submitted over a window of time (PPLNS): staying connected matters more than chasing the biggest single burst.