Mining in Europe 2026: do the Z15 Pro and INI BOX pay off even with expensive electricity?
In May 2026, according to profitability calculators, the most profitable ASICs included the Antminer Z15 Pro (Zcash, 840 and 860 kSol/s versions) and the INI BOX PRO (the INI coin of the InitVerse project). According to the calculations at the time, both machines were profitable even at a European electricity price of around USD 0.27 per kWh. With INI, however, it later turned out that the May figures were not sustainable – see the update below.
Update as of 18 Oct 2026: since March 2026, independent analyses had been warning that the InitVerse project's VersaHash algorithm is a copy of the NexaPoW algorithm and that the network is heavily centralised. In summer 2026 the project ran into serious trouble. The details are summarised in the article InitVerse (INIBOX): what happened. So don't judge the profitability of the INI BOX by the May figures.
Two different coins: Zcash and INI
Zcash (ZEC)
Zcash was created in 2016, focuses on transaction privacy and is mined with the Equihash algorithm. The Antminer Z15 Pro is one of the most efficient machines for this algorithm: the 840 kSol/s version draws 2,780 W, i.e. 3.31 J/kSol. Why Zcash is mined more in 2026 than before is discussed in our article Zcash and Monero vs Bitcoin.
INI (InitVerse)
In May 2026, INI had been on the market for about six months and quickly rose to the top places in profitability calculators. The INI BOX PRO machines and their home version were in short supply because of their quick payback. As it turned out, the high income rested on a network largely controlled by the project itself.
Does mining pay off at USD 0.27 per kWh?
For the Z15 Pro, it depends on the price and the difficulty of the Zcash network. For illustration, here is a calculation with today's figures. At today's difficulty and price, 1 kSol/s on Zcash earns 0,93 Kč a day.
| Z15 Pro 840 kSol/s (as of 18 Oct 2026) | Value per day |
|---|---|
| Gross income (840 × CZK 0.93) | about CZK 780 |
| Consumption (2.78 kW × 24 h) | 66.7 kWh |
| Electricity at USD 0.27 (about CZK 5.8) per kWh | about CZK 390 |
| Difference before machine depreciation | about CZK 390 |
The calculation changes with the ZEC price and network difficulty. You will find current figures for all machines in the live profitability table.
If you have solar panels, the cost of electricity during the day falls and the calculation comes out better.
Heat from an ASIC as a by-product
A miner converts almost all the electricity it draws into heat. In Europe, where heating is expensive, this can be put to use:
- drying rooms – a damp cellar, storeroom or garage after winter,
- supplementary heating – heat you would otherwise pay for separately is partly covered by the mining income.
Mind the noise: the Z15 Pro runs at 75 dB. It is not suitable for living spaces, but it is fine for a garage, workshop or utility room.
What next
- Why mining Zcash pays off in 2026 – a comparison with Bitcoin.
- InitVerse (INIBOX) – what happened to the INI coin and what to do with the machines.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Is the Z15 Pro profitable even at European electricity prices?
Is the Z15 Pro suitable for a flat?
This text was prepared with the help of AI. Facts, figures and procedures were checked by Yegor.
