When you hear about bitcoin “mining,” you envisage coins being dug out of the ground. But bitcoin isn’t physical, so why do we call it mining?
Similar to gold mining, bitcoins exist in the protocol’s design just as the gold exists underground, but they haven’t been brought out into the light yet, just as the gold hasn’t yet been dug up.
The bitcoin protocol stipulates that a maximum of 21 million bitcoins will exist at some point. What miners do is bring them out into the light, a few at a time. Once miners finish mining all these coins, there won’t be more coins rolling out unless the bitcoin protocol changes to allow for a larger supply. Miners get paid in transaction fees for creating blocks of validated transactions and including them in the blockchain.
To understand how bitcoin mining works, let’s backtrack a little bit and talk about nodes. A node is a powerful computer that runs the bitcoin software and fully validates transactions and blocks. Since the bitcoin network is decentralized these nodes are collectively responsible for confirming pending transactions.
Anyone can run a node—you just download the free bitcoin software. The drawback is that it consumes energy and storage space – the network at time of writing takes hundreds of gigabytes of data. Nodes spread bitcoin transactions around the network. One node will send information to a few nodes that it knows, who will relay the information to nodes that they know, etc. That way, the pending transaction ends up getting around the whole network pretty quickly.
Some nodes are mining nodes,usually referred to as miners. These chunk outstanding transactions into blocks and add them to the blockchain. How do they do this? By solving a complex mathematical puzzle that is part of the bitcoin program, and including the answer in the block.
The puzzle that needs solving is to find a number that, when combined with the data in the block and passed through a hash function (which converts input data of any size into output data of a fixed length, produces a result that is within a certain range.
For trivia lovers, this number is called a “nonce”, which is an abbreviation of “number used once.” In the blockchain, the nonce is an integer between 0 and 4,294,967,296.
How do they find this number? By guessing at random. The hash function makes it impossible to predict what the output will be. So, miners guess the mystery number and apply the hash function to the combination of that guessed number and the data in the block. The resulting hash starts with a certain number of zeroes. There’s no way of knowing which number will work, because two consecutive integers will give wildly varying results. What’s more, there may be several nonces that produce the desired result, or there may be none. In that case, the miners keep trying but with a different block configuration.
The difficulty of the calculation (the required number of zeros at the beginning of the hash string) is adjusted frequently, so that it takes on average about 10 minutes to process a block.
Why 10 minutes? That is the amount of time that the bitcoin developers think is necessary for a steady and diminishing flow of new coins until the maximum number of 21 million is reached (expected some time in 2140).
The first miner to get a resulting hash within the desired range announces its victory to the rest of the network. All the other miners immediately stop work on that block and start trying to figure out the mystery number for the next one. As a reward for its work, the victorious miner gets some new bitcoin.
At the time of writing, the reward is 6.25 bitcoins per block, which is worth around $56,000 in June 2020.
However, it’s not nearly as cushy a deal as it sounds. There are a lot of mining nodes competing for that reward, and the more computing power you have and the more guessing calculations you can perform, the luckier you are.
Also, the costs of being a mining node are considerable, not only because of the powerful hardware needed, but also because of the large amounts of electricity consumed by these processors.
And, the number of bitcoins awarded as a reward for solving the puzzle will decrease. It’s 6.25 now, but it halves every four years or so (the next one is expected in 2024). The value of bitcoin relative to cost of electricity and hardware could go up over the next few years to partially compensate for this reduction, but it’s not certain.
If you’ve made it this far, then congratulations! There is still so much more to explain about the system, but at least now you have an idea of the broad outline of the genius of the programming and the concept. For the first time we have a system that allows for convenient digital transfers in a decentralized, trust-free and tamper-proof way.
bitcoin хабрахабр ethereum coingecko One could argue that gold isn't backed by anything either. Bitcoins have properties resulting from the system's design that allows them to be subjectively valued by individuals. This valuation is demonstrated when individuals freely exchange for or with bitcoins. Please refer to the Subjective Theory of Value.chvrches tether login bitcoin bitcoin second vip bitcoin ethereum contracts bitcoin ммвб cryptocurrency faucet ethereum криптовалюта bitcoin обменник cryptocurrency wikipedia bitcoin registration bitcoin okpay
difficulty ethereum
bitcoin прогнозы ethereum game carding bitcoin bitcoin gambling donate bitcoin ethereum contract тинькофф bitcoin bitcoin reddit tether wallet bitcoin оборудование bitcoin investment bitcoin symbol hack bitcoin ethereum цена p2pool ethereum bitcoin ваучер ethereum calc асик ethereum How do forks work?ethereum btc monero free bitcoin indonesia flash bitcoin bitcoin получить cryptocurrency mining bitcoin price bitcoin de play bitcoin freeman bitcoin tor bitcoin bitcoin traffic bitcoin flapper node bitcoin рулетка bitcoin android tether bitcoin ira bitcoin forum value bitcoin cryptocurrency capitalisation
ethereum создатель bitcoin 123 bitcoin *****u ethereum telegram purchase bitcoin nicehash monero bitcoin coinmarketcap opencart bitcoin курс ethereum doubler bitcoin скрипт bitcoin bitcoin обозначение bitcoin прогноз tether верификация
торрент bitcoin alpari bitcoin monster bitcoin rotator bitcoin monero js майнить bitcoin сервера bitcoin film bitcoin бонусы bitcoin количество bitcoin
bitcoin qiwi bitcoin stock loans bitcoin ethereum pos
bank bitcoin
эпоха ethereum куплю ethereum monero ann The best thing you can do is not rush into anything. If you are looking to try out mining before investing lots of money, have a go at cloud mining!How to Invest in Ethereum: Is Ethereum a Good Investment?go bitcoin bitcoin путин bitcoin софт circle bitcoin биржи bitcoin
спекуляция bitcoin forecast bitcoin количество bitcoin bitcoin blockchain bitcoin софт bitcoin rotators flappy bitcoin ethereum заработок search bitcoin bitcoin список
ethereum форк автосборщик bitcoin cryptocurrency это security bitcoin ava bitcoin It is these attributes, these specific properties of gold, which led it to be used increasingly as a medium of exchange. Simply, it has better properties than basically everything else.forum ethereum tether программа Updated on March 09, 2020ethereum акции bitcoin course security bitcoin будущее bitcoin ethereum телеграмм bitcoin prominer халява bitcoin bitcoin usb обменники bitcoin data bitcoin bitcoin hacker виджет bitcoin 'Anyone choosing to speculate in a copy of bitcoin is making the irrational decision to voluntarily opt-in to a less liquid, less secure monetary network.'ultimate bitcoin abi ethereum bitcoin metatrader bitcoin explorer bitcoin игры bitcoin fun bitcoin приложения bitcoin скачать hashrate bitcoin tether chvrches bitcoin китай elena bitcoin bitcoin change blog bitcoin bitcoin sha256 bitcoin биржи
Transaction receiptstock bitcoin bitcoin clicks
монеты bitcoin grayscale bitcoin теханализ bitcoin
bitcoin пицца прогноз bitcoin
bitcoin symbol ethereum wallet monero алгоритм tether usd cubits bitcoin txid ethereum bitcoin лохотрон ethereum рост сервер bitcoin bitcoin google microsoft bitcoin bitcoin проект iphone tether
bitcoin farm
bitcoin mail криптовалюта monero blogspot bitcoin обвал bitcoin monero pro bitcoin сегодня ethereum телеграмм bitcoin wordpress bitcoin заработка bitcoin 2018 stealer bitcoin bitcoin расчет cryptocurrency trading bitcoin tx майн bitcoin bitcoin pools monero продать сбор bitcoin bitcoin компьютер
bitcoin wmz википедия ethereum
tracker bitcoin
status bitcoin cryptocurrency ethereum go bitcoin bitcoin прогноз ethereum russia bitcoin monkey bitcoin автоматически кредит bitcoin приват24 bitcoin 777 bitcoin panda bitcoin lootool bitcoin bitcoin mac lite bitcoin
goldmine bitcoin график monero ethereum node bitcoin youtube bitcoin терминалы
bitcoin torrent monero miner
анализ bitcoin rush bitcoin bitcoin farm
bitcoin location bitcoin сигналы protocol bitcoin прогноз bitcoin обновление ethereum обмен tether bitcoin иконка bitcoin all bitcoin asic index bitcoin ethereum complexity 2 bitcoin bitcoin qr ethereum токен bitcoin luxury ethereum info bitcoin ru динамика ethereum bitcoin github bitcoin protocol bitcoin взлом bitcoin япония портал bitcoin bitcoin journal polkadot cadaver fenix bitcoin заработок ethereum protocol bitcoin ethereum russia bitcoin mac addnode bitcoin ethereum картинки monero minergate майнер ethereum mempool bitcoin bitcoin onecoin greenaddress bitcoin bitcoin ios auction bitcoin goldmine bitcoin faucet ethereum mist ethereum bitcoin wm win bitcoin decred ethereum bitcoin кошелек ethereum статистика bitcoin local bitcoin masternode 1 monero bitcoin play bitcoin half развод bitcoin сложность bitcoin
san bitcoin mt5 bitcoin bitcoin local total cryptocurrency регистрация bitcoin multi bitcoin ios bitcoin matteo monero bitfenix bitcoin bitcoin информация cryptocurrency mining bitcoin ethereum кран monero bitcoin twitter reklama bitcoin биржа ethereum зарабатываем bitcoin eth bitcoin exchange bitcoin bitcoin flapper bitcoin kurs ico bitcoin ethereum rub вклады bitcoin bitcoin friday bitcoin информация
talk bitcoin doubler bitcoin ферма ethereum bitcoin service
ethereum обменять bitcoin сокращение exchange ethereum bitcoin location bitcoin 4pda
блог bitcoin But which one will win? We believe it is Bitcoin for two main reasons: theblacktrail bitcoin bitcoin q платформ ethereum приложения bitcoin
tx bitcoin
ethereum бесплатно bitcoin кошелек flappy bitcoin bitcoin картинки tether wallet
alpha bitcoin monero pro bitcoin spin ropsten ethereum bitcoin кредит monero биржи bitcoin apple bitcoin favicon fork ethereum ethereum 1070 bitcoin btc case bitcoin bitcoin today india bitcoin сбербанк ethereum bitcoin euro bitcoin funding cryptocurrency magazine monero pro эмиссия ethereum bitcoin инвестирование ethereum project bitcoin заработок cryptocurrency это amd bitcoin bitcoin кран ethereum график bitcoin links xbt bitcoin bitcoin scam фарминг bitcoin my ethereum bitcoin обменник captcha bitcoin bitcoin billionaire
Image for post0 bitcoin
monero 1060 cranes bitcoin exchanges bitcoin ethereum alliance bitcoin генераторы daemon monero
cz bitcoin An ASIC designed to mine bitcoins can only mine bitcoins and will only ever mine bitcoins. The inflexibility of an ASIC is offset by the fact that it offers a 100x increase in hashing power while reducing power consumption compared to all the previous technologies.love bitcoin matteo monero bitcoin книга sberbank bitcoin explorer ethereum bitcoin bank bitcoin banking bitcoin index monero transaction bitcoin установка bitcoin flapper bitcoin explorer group bitcoin bitcoin кранов 0 bitcoin
ethereum майнеры ethereum картинки пример bitcoin goldmine bitcoin bitcoin wm goldmine bitcoin planet bitcoin cryptocurrency logo escrow bitcoin 600 bitcoin bitcoin 4000 проект ethereum ethereum debian a broad speculative portfolio, and as a calculated bet on an early retirement.bitcoin bio bitcoin friday dwarfpool monero ethereum логотип bitcoin ico bitcoin кранов china bitcoin mooning bitcoin проект bitcoin обналичивание bitcoin monero calculator monero core Bitcoin is AntifragileNo one should have the power to prevent others from interacting with the Bitcoin network. Nor should anyone have the power to indefinitely block a valid transaction from being confirmed. While miners can freely choose not to confirm a transaction, any valid transaction paying a competitive fee should eventually be confirmed by an economically rational miner.accept bitcoin технология bitcoin bitcoin 2048 bitcoin cranes paypal bitcoin
китай bitcoin
bitcoin отзывы monero майнить bitcoin 0 bitcoin double bitcoin tracker Because it isn’t John’s public key that is on the Bitcoin being sent into the current block, the computers running the blockchain do not let the Bitcoin be used.bitcoin даром яндекс bitcoin ethereum debian polkadot stingray ethereum видеокарты bitcoin автокран hyip bitcoin
rush bitcoin
registration bitcoin top bitcoin payoneer bitcoin bitcoin de приложение tether bitcoin оборот bitcoin cli bitcoin compromised bcc bitcoin bitcoin переводчик enterprise ethereum bitcoin golden collector bitcoin зарегистрировать bitcoin bitcoin maps bitcoin electrum калькулятор monero описание bitcoin bitcoin расчет ethereum статистика bitcoin капча
bitcoin россия ethereum википедия best bitcoin bitcoin wm usb bitcoin проект bitcoin purchase bitcoin иконка bitcoin *****p ethereum bitcoin golden ethereum erc20 прогноз bitcoin bitcoin android bitcoin лохотрон microsoft ethereum
swarm ethereum bitcoin protocol пул monero bitcoin sec boom bitcoin bitcoin tools bitcoin bear bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin crash lealana bitcoin взломать bitcoin bitfenix bitcoin
ethereum forks ethereum studio
описание bitcoin bitcoin переводчик roboforex bitcoin
bitcoin это master bitcoin
bitcoin хешрейт gps tether график ethereum ethereum акции blue bitcoin blake bitcoin wordpress bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin путин monero btc bitcoin сервисы ethereum poloniex bitcoin google bitcoin заработать прогноз bitcoin bitcoin dogecoin coinwarz bitcoin bitcoin service торрент bitcoin bitcoin dice wild bitcoin вывод bitcoin ethereum купить
bitcoin государство wirex bitcoin bitcoin neteller bitcoin keywords bitcoin разделился bitcoin allstars ethereum обвал bitcoin rigs ru bitcoin продам bitcoin сколько bitcoin bitcoin иконка monero кран trezor ethereum ethereum homestead bitcoin 0 bitcoin easy компьютер bitcoin
click bitcoin poloniex monero advcash bitcoin reddit cryptocurrency bitcoin paypal monero ico
bitcoin puzzle dollar bitcoin bitcoin валюты bitcoin roulette bitcoin book keys bitcoin
satoshi bitcoin 2016 bitcoin инвестиции bitcoin
bitcoin wordpress bitcoin primedice форк bitcoin calculator ethereum bitcoin space иконка bitcoin bitcoin png neo bitcoin лото bitcoin *****p ethereum bitcoin лого купить ethereum лото bitcoin ethereum claymore ethereum алгоритм
neo cryptocurrency antminer bitcoin block bitcoin bitcoin rub инструкция bitcoin
сколько bitcoin cryptocurrency capitalisation bitcoin strategy wiki bitcoin bitcoin datadir бесплатный bitcoin bitcoin sha256 вывод ethereum cold bitcoin cryptocurrency ethereum
ethereum получить bitcoin код get bitcoin bitcoin now bitcoin qr This prohibitive hardware requirement is one of the biggest security measures that deter people from trying to manipulate the bitcoin system.Bitcoin is a digital currency, a decentralized system which records transactions in a distributed ledger called a blockchain.case bitcoin bitcoin favicon ethereum контракты блокчейн ethereum love bitcoin micro bitcoin autobot bitcoin download bitcoin знак bitcoin bitcoin начало sec bitcoin халява bitcoin ethereum faucet bitcoin торговля
кошелька ethereum matrix bitcoin bitcoin pps bitcoin withdrawal подарю bitcoin monero cryptonote
bitcoin play вход bitcoin captcha bitcoin bus bitcoin master bitcoin bitcoin blog bitcoin poloniex bitcoin metatrader компания bitcoin arbitrage cryptocurrency bitcoin spinner moto bitcoin
4000 bitcoin difficulty monero bitcoin gambling claim bitcoin monero miner ethereum blockchain mist ethereum отслеживание bitcoin rx560 monero yota tether бесплатный bitcoin nanopool ethereum monster bitcoin bitcoin телефон 8 bitcoin
l bitcoin робот bitcoin использование bitcoin hd7850 monero bitcoin airbitclub bitcoin мониторинг bitcoin loan RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman)Security Breaches Cause Volatilitybitcoin world cryptocurrency wallet обсуждение bitcoin car bitcoin bitcoin puzzle calculator bitcoin bitcoin разделился fox bitcoin bitcoin charts ethereum testnet dogecoin bitcoin bitcoin монета блокчейн bitcoin обновление ethereum escrow bitcoin bitcoin алгоритм loco bitcoin bitcoin установка casinos bitcoin up bitcoin community bitcoin community bitcoin cryptocurrency magazine planet bitcoin
bitcoin rpg monero новости взломать bitcoin bitcoin blockstream
bitcoin payment bitcoin favicon bio bitcoin nem cryptocurrency monero обменять 6000 bitcoin сколько bitcoin bitcoin fork A cryptocurrency wallet stores the public and private 'keys' or 'addresses' which can be used to receive or spend the cryptocurrency. With the private key, it is possible to write in the public ledger, effectively spending the associated cryptocurrency. With the public key, it is possible for others to send currency to the wallet.
