How to Mine Monero (XMR) in 2026: XMRig and P2Pool

Monero (XMR) is one of the few large coins you can still mine with an ordinary computer. It uses proof of work with an algorithm called RandomX, which was built for general-purpose processors. This guide covers the hardware, the software, the choice between a pool, P2Pool and solo mining, how payouts and the lock on mined coins work, and how to estimate what you would earn.

What you need: CPU, RAM and huge pages

The Monero project says RandomX is ASIC resistant and that CPUs are much more efficient at it than graphics cards. So the CPU is the part that matters.

The RandomX documentation lists what efficient mining needs:

• A 64-bit CPU with hardware AES support.
• 2 MiB of L3 cache per mining thread, plus 256 KiB of L2 and 16 KiB of L1.
• At least 2.5 GiB of free RAM per NUMA node. The mining mode (“fast mode”) uses 2,080 MiB of shared memory.
• Support for large memory pages, often called huge pages.
• Several memory channels on fast CPUs, because each channel can only feed so many hashes a second.

Cache per thread is the usual limit. A CPU with 32 MiB of L3 cache runs up to 16 efficient threads, whatever its core count. Our guide to the best CPU for Monero mining compares real benchmark results.

The software

You need up to three programs. Download each one only from its official source.

• XMRig is the open-source miner that most people use. It does the hashing. Official binaries are on its GitHub releases page for Windows, Linux, macOS and FreeBSD. By default it gives 1% of mining time to its developers (1 minute in 100). You can raise that with the donate-level option.
• monerod is the Monero node from getmonero.org. You need it for P2Pool and for solo mining. It downloads the blockchain, which takes time and disk space.
• P2Pool is a decentralized mining pool that runs next to your node. It is optional, and our P2Pool guide sets it up step by step.

The official GUI wallet can also solo mine by itself, with no extra software. Its guide says to use about half your CPU’s cache size in threads.

Get the most from XMRig

XMRig’s documentation describes three settings that change the hashrate:

• Huge pages. On Linux, reserve them with sysctl. On Windows, run XMRig as administrator once so it can set them up. At startup, XMRig should report huge pages at 100%.
• MSR mod. XMRig can change CPU registers for up to 15% more hashrate. This needs administrator or root rights.
• 1 GB pages (Linux only) give another 1% to 3%.

XMRig’s built-in benchmark (xmrig --bench=1M) tests your CPU offline and prints a checksum that shows whether the hardware is stable.

Pool, P2Pool or solo

The Monero project encourages solo mining and P2Pool, because both help keep the network decentralized. Each way pays differently.

The figures in the table come from the P2Pool project. With a normal pool, the operator holds your unpaid balance and chooses what your hashrate mines. A pool is still the simplest start: XMRig and a wallet address are all you need.

Solo mining is a lottery for most people. The Monero site warns that it can take months to find a block, depending on your hashrate. P2Pool gives you frequent small payouts without a pool operator.

Payouts and the 60 block lock

Mining rewards arrive in a special reward transaction, the first transaction of each block. The block reward is 0.6 XMR plus fees since tail emission began in 2022. It never drops to zero.

Coins from this reward transaction are locked for 60 blocks. A block comes about every 2 minutes, so this takes about two hours. Your wallet shows them in your balance, but not in your unlocked balance, until then. A normal payment only needs 10 blocks.

Pool payouts are normal transfers from the pool’s wallet, so they unlock after 10 blocks. P2Pool and solo payouts come in the reward transaction, so they take the full 60.

Estimate your earnings

Our Monero mining calculator does the sum with live network data. It works like this, in words:

1. Monero aims for one block every 120 seconds, so about 720 blocks a day.
2. Your share of those blocks is your hashrate divided by the network’s hashrate. The network hashrate is the difficulty divided by 120.
3. Multiply your share by the reward per block (0.6 XMR plus fees) and by the number of blocks.
4. Take off the pool fee, if any.
5. Take off your power cost: the watts your computer uses at the wall, times 24 hours, divided by 1,000, times your price per kWh.

Difficulty changes with every block, and so does the price of XMR. Treat any estimate as a guide for today, not a promise for next month. A power meter at the wall shows what the whole computer uses, not only the CPU.

What to do with mined XMR

Mine to a wallet you control. Our Monero wallet guide shows how to set one up. P2Pool publishes the addresses of its miners, so use a wallet made for mining.

You can hold the XMR, spend it, or swap it. On HiddenSwap you can swap with no account and no email:

• Monero to Bitcoin (XMR to BTC)
• Monero to USDT on Tron (XMR to USDT)

Wait for your payouts to unlock, and collect enough to pass the swap minimum shown in the swap box. Our Monero coin page explains the address types.

Stay safe

• Download only from official sources: getmonero.org for monerod and the GUI, the XMRig and P2Pool GitHub release pages for those. Check the hashes where they are published.
• Expect antivirus warnings. The Monero mining guide explains that some antivirus programs flag XMRig as malware, because it is often put on infected computers to mine without the owner’s consent. On your own computer, set up by you, you can add it to the exception list. Only do this for a file you downloaded yourself from the official page.
• Use a separate user account for mining, as the P2Pool project advises.
• Watch power and heat. Mining keeps the CPU at full load for hours.