How to mine Monero (XMR) in 2026: CPU hardware, income math, pools and setup

To mine Monero in 2026 you need an ordinary computer with a modern multi-core CPU, the free XMRig miner, a Monero wallet and a pool such as SupportXMR or the decentralised P2Pool. Monero still runs on RandomX, which favours CPUs. A Ryzen 9 9950X earns about $1.10 a day before electricity at the 2026-10-01 price.

Monero is one of the few large coins where a home PC still makes a measurable contribution to the network. That does not make it a money machine. This guide walks through what hardware matters, how to calculate income yourself, which pools to consider and how to set up XMRig, with the source and date for every number. POOL BTC is an independent comparison site: we are not a pool, we run no hashrate and we sell no hardware. Nothing here is investment advice, and the coin price used below is only a snapshot.

Can you still mine Monero with a regular CPU in 2026?

Yes. Monero's proof of work is RandomX, an algorithm built around random code execution and large memory use, which general purpose CPUs handle well and specialised chips do not. As of 2026-10-01 the network still uses it, and XMRig lists it as the rx/0 algorithm. GPUs work, but they lose to CPUs on efficiency.

The Monero project describes RandomX as designed for CPUs and resistant to ASICs (getmonero.org, RandomX, checked 2026-10-01). In practice that means the hardware you already own competes with everyone else on fairly even terms. A data centre can still run thousands of servers, but it cannot buy a chip that is ten times better than yours per watt, which is what happened to Bitcoin and Litecoin.

How much does a Monero block pay and how often is one found?

A Monero block is targeted every 120 seconds, which gives about 720 blocks a day. Since the end of May 2022 the base reward has been fixed at 0.6 XMR per block forever, the so-called tail emission, plus transaction fees. There is no halving schedule anymore, so supply grows by roughly 432 XMR a day.

The 120 second target comes straight from a Monero node (get_info, "target": 120, block height 3,774,560 on 2026-10-01). Tail emission is described on getmonero.org, Tail emission (checked 2026-10-01). Fees are small: block 3,774,559 paid 0.61152 XMR in total, so fees added about 0.0115 XMR on top of the base 0.6. For the income math below we use 0.6 XMR to stay on the conservative side.

What is the Monero network hashrate right now?

On 2026-10-01 the Monero network difficulty was 721,347,940,768 at block 3,774,560, read from a public Monero node. Dividing difficulty by the 120 second block time gives about 6.01 GH/s, or roughly 6.01 billion hashes per second across all miners. Your share of that number is your share of new coins.

Difficulty changes every block, so treat 6.01 GH/s as a snapshot rather than a constant. The formula is simple enough to redo whenever you want: network hashrate = difficulty / 120. Any block explorer that shows the current difficulty is enough to update it.

Which CPU is best for Monero mining?

Big many-core desktop CPUs with plenty of L3 cache lead. In XMRig's public benchmark database the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X shows 28,416 H/s and the Ryzen 9 7950X 26,960 H/s. An older Ryzen 9 5950X still reaches 23,370 H/s on a lower 105 W rating, which makes it one of the more efficient used options.

The RandomX specification asks for 2 MiB of L3 cache per mining thread and 2080 MiB of shared memory in fast mode, so cache and dual channel memory matter more than clock speed. Intel's hybrid chips score lower than AMD parts with similar core counts. Figures below are the rx/0 results listed in the XMRig benchmark database (checked 2026-10-01); power is the manufacturer's rated TDP or base power, not a wall measurement.

Rated power comes from AMD and Intel product pages. A full PC draws more at the wall than the CPU figure: the motherboard, RAM, fans and power supply losses add to it, and a 14900K left at its turbo limit can draw close to 253 W on its own.

How much can you earn mining Monero?

Daily XMR = your hashrate / network hashrate x 720 blocks x 0.6 XMR. With a Ryzen 9 9950X at 28,416 H/s against 6.01 GH/s, that works out to about 0.00204 XMR a day. At $539.67 per XMR (CoinGecko, 2026-10-01) and after a 0.6% pool fee, it is about $1.10 a day before electricity.

Here is the full calculation for the 9950X, step by step:

1. Network hashrate: 721,347,940,768 / 120 = 6,011,232,840 H/s.
2. Your share: 28,416 / 6,011,232,840 = 0.00000473.
3. Coins per day: 0.00000473 x 720 x 0.6 = 0.00204 XMR.
4. Dollars per day: 0.00204 x $539.67 x (1 - 0.006) = $1.095.
5. Electricity: 170 W x 24 h = 4.08 kWh, multiplied by your tariff.

The table uses the same formula for every CPU. Electricity is shown at three assumed tariffs and counts only the rated CPU power, so a real PC will do somewhat worse. The price is a snapshot from 2026-10-01 and will not stay put.

Over 30 days the 9950X makes about 0.061 XMR, or roughly $26.70 at $0.05 per kWh and $18.20 at $0.12. That covers a used part slowly, not a new build. To run your own numbers, open the POOL BTC calculator and pick the coin in the selector.

Which pools support Monero mining?

Among the pools we track, SupportXMR is the dedicated Monero pool: 0.6% fee on PPLNS, payouts from 0.3 XMR automatically or 0.1 XMR by manual request. P2Pool is the decentralised alternative with no fee and payouts straight from each block. Other pools also mine XMR, but we have not verified their current terms.

SupportXMR's maturity depth is 60 blocks according to the same config file, so rewards wait about two hours before they count as confirmed. P2Pool has no account and no balance on a server: when the P2Pool network finds a Monero block, each miner in the PPLNS window gets an output directly to their wallet. For a single CPU, the mini or nano sidechain gives more frequent, smaller shares than the main chain.

How do you set up XMRig for Monero step by step?

Get a Monero wallet address, download XMRig from xmrig.com or its GitHub releases, point it at a pool with your address as the user name and start it. On SupportXMR the global host is pool.supportxmr.com, port 3333 for low end hardware or 7777 for strong desktops. With P2Pool you run its program locally and connect XMRig to 127.0.0.1:3333.

1. Create a wallet in the official Monero GUI or CLI wallet from getmonero.org and copy the primary address, which starts with 4.
2. Download XMRig from xmrig.com and check the release hash. Some antivirus programs flag any miner, so add an exception only for the file you verified.
3. For SupportXMR, run xmrig -o pool.supportxmr.com:7777 -u YOUR_ADDRESS -k. If your network blocks unusual ports, the pool lists 443 as its SSL firewall bypass port; add --tls in that case.
4. Run XMRig as administrator (Windows) or with sudo (Linux) once so it can enable huge pages. RandomX is noticeably slower without them.
5. For P2Pool, run monerod (or point P2Pool at a node), start p2pool with --wallet YOUR_ADDRESS and --mini, then start xmrig -o 127.0.0.1:3333. P2Pool ignores the wallet set in XMRig.
6. Wait ten minutes, then compare the hashrate XMRig reports with the benchmark figure for your CPU. A gap of more than 20% usually points to missing huge pages, single channel RAM or thermal throttling.

The SupportXMR host and ports come from the pool's own port list. The P2Pool command and the 127.0.0.1:3333 address come from the project's README (checked 2026-10-01).

Is it legal to mine Monero, and on whose computer?

Mining Monero on your own hardware with electricity you pay for is allowed in many countries, but some regulate, tax or restrict mining, so check where you live. Mining on someone else's computer without permission is not a grey area: it is cryptojacking, and in many jurisdictions it is a crime.

That covers work laptops, school machines, rented servers whose terms forbid mining and cloud accounts under a free trial. Check local rules on mining and on income tax before you start, because mined coins are usually taxable when received.

FAQ

Is Monero mining profitable in 2026?

With a modern 16-core desktop CPU it pays a few dollars a week above the electricity cost at tariffs between $0.05 and $0.12 per kWh, using the 2026-10-01 price of $539.67. It rarely justifies buying hardware just for mining. It makes most sense on a PC you already own.

Can I mine Monero with a GPU or an ASIC?

A GPU can mine RandomX, but at much lower efficiency than a CPU, so most people do not bother. Monero does not have ASICs in the way Bitcoin does, because RandomX is designed to resist them. If someone sells a "Monero ASIC", check carefully what algorithm it actually runs.

How long until my first payout?

On SupportXMR with a Ryzen 9 9950X earning about 0.00204 XMR a day, reaching the 0.3 XMR automatic threshold takes around 147 days, and the 0.1 XMR manual threshold about 49 days. On P2Pool you are paid each time the P2Pool network finds a block while your shares are in the window.

What is the difference between P2Pool main, mini and nano?

They are separate sidechains with different share difficulty. Main suits large miners, mini suits mid sized setups and nano suits a single PC, because shares come often enough that payouts stay regular. The fee is 0% on all three, according to the P2Pool README checked on 2026-10-01.

Does Monero still have halvings?

No. Block rewards decreased smoothly until the end of May 2022, then tail emission set a permanent reward of 0.6 XMR per block plus fees. Your income in XMR therefore depends only on your share of the network hashrate, not on a halving date.

Will mining damage my CPU?

Running a CPU at full load around the clock is within normal operating limits if cooling is adequate. The usual problems are fans wearing out and heat in a small room. Keep the CPU well below its throttling temperature and watch the fan noise, especially on laptops, which are poorly suited to constant load.