Tutorial 2: How to mine HNS

In this post, we will cover the steps and all relevant topics you will need to easily and successfully mine HNS. Since we are in the early days of the Handshake protocol launch, please expect this topic to evolve as the protocol is launched and other pieces of information and context are made available. 

Let’s get started. 

There are three main steps to get you ready to start mining HNS. 

1) Register on Namebase to get your HNS wallet address 

2) Run 6block mining software  

3) Withdraw to your HNS wallet address

SPECIAL: Namebase has partnered with 6block so that you can withdraw HNS even during the 2 week mining-only period on Handshake! This means that if you want to sell any HNS during this period you'll be one of the only HNS sellers.

Step 1: Register on Namebase to get your HNS wallet address 

The first part of this process is to create a Handshake wallet address. To do this, simply create your Namebase account and complete your registration.

After completing your registration, you will notice a [Dashboard] tab at the top navigation. When you arrive at the Dashboard page, you will notice a card that will show your available HNS balance. At the bottom of the card, you’ll notice a string of numbers. This is your HNS wallet address. You can easily copy this by using the clipboard feature next to your wallet address. See screenshot below for reference. 

Step 2: Run 6miner  

This step requires registering, installing and running a Handshake mining software. We recommend using 6miner and the 6block mining pool. 

To start this process, register for 6block here before Handshake mining for the wallet address configuration, worker and revenue monitoring and payment records checking.

The algorithm of Handshake is blake2b+sha3.

What is 6block?

6block is a mining pool, well, not just any mining pool but it is one of the first mining pools to be ready for the Handshake launch. 6block is built for performance and designed to be stable, fast and secure.

What is 6miner? 

6miner is a highly optimized miner for Handshake, it performs over 20% faster than HandyMiner on most GPUs tested. It is a direct competitor of HandyMiner which is also a very good miner. 

Here are the links for both miners — we encourage people to test and decide which option will suit them best. 

Install GPU Drivers 

In order to mine Handshake, you will need to have your GPU's drivers installed in your computer. 6miner works with both AMD and Nvidia cards, here's how to install the drivers: 

Nvidia GPU 

Here's a very good tutorial on how to install Nvidia Drivers on Ubuntu: https://www.linuxbabe.com/ubuntu/install‐nvidia‐driver‐ubuntu‐18‐04 

AMD GPU 

Here's the official AMD tutorial for installing amdgpu‐pro on Ubuntu and CentOS: https://amdgpu‐install.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ 

For Ubuntu, please make sure to download from this link, Version 19.50 is recommended as it'll support up to the 5700XT (aprox 240mh hashrate). 

https://drivers.amd.com/drivers/linux/19.50/amdgpu‐pro‐19.50‐967956‐ubuntu‐18.04.tar.xz 

Download 6miner from here 

Currently there's only a Linux‐64bit build, please choose that one. The miner will work on any Linux distribution, please make sure to have the correct GPU drivers installed.

Wait, how did you do this ? 

Here we just downloaded and decompressed the miner on our Linux mining rig, here's the process we followed and commands used: 

1. Go to http://github.com/6block/6miner/releases 

2. Download the release file, currently: https://github.com/6block/6miner/releases/download/v0.0.1/6miner‐v0.0.1‐amd64‐ linux.tar.gz 

3. Open the terminal and decompress the file: tar -xpf 6miner-v0.0.1-amd64-linux.tar.gz 

4. Go inside the folder that was just created: cd 6miner-v0.0.1-amd64-linux 

5. As seen below, open the mining script with your preferred editor, here we used "nano":nano mine_hns.sh 

6. Edit the config and change the following: 6.1 POOL (if mining on a pool different from 6block)

7. USERNAME: This is the username you registered on the pool, you can do something like myusername.1 6.3 PWD: This can be anything, just a "x" will suffice 6.4 VENDOR: amd/nvidia depending on your GPU 

8. After you've finished, save and exit the file by pressing "ctrl +x and then press Y when asked" 

9. Start mining with ./mine_hns.sh and press Enter 

10. If you see this, we're mining!! 

Note the 64.7 MH/s reading, that is your hashrate. This is from a Radeon RX 580 8GB. Pretty good results on this one. 

Downloading and setting up Handyminer 

Full install steps are detailed here: https://github.com/HandshakeAlliance/HandyMiner‐CLI 

Stats from the 6block.com pool 

Go to https://6block.com and go to "My Homepage", this will show you your current dashboard and all the mining stats you'll need. 

Step 3: Withdraw to your HNS wallet address

Go to https://6block.com, click on your email address in the top right corner and then "Settings".

From your settings, click on Mining Accounts and paste in your Namebase HNS wallet address. Now you can withdraw your HNS to Namebase and trade even during the two week mining-only period!

All in all it should be straightforward to get started mining HNS. If you have any questions, you're welcome to join our Discord community where the creators of the miners lurk: https://discord.gg/krfKaHv

Upcoming topics (educational series)

• Difference between handshake domains and traditional domains 

• How to get HNS on Namebase

• What is Namebase and how does it work?

• Buying a Handshake domain on Namebase (registrar overview)

• How Handshake domains are released for bidding

• How to register a domain and publish content while staying anonymous

• Ways to run a resolver OR visit a Handshake domain

• What use cases will Handshake and Namebase solve?

• Can Handshake names be seized?