What Exactly Goes into Bitcoin Mining?

[marcusbrown]

Although miners already extracted over 17 million Bitcoin (BTC), it’s not too late to get in the game and make a daily income.

[CryptoBlockWire]

Mining is the original way to profit from cryptocurrency. Before it’s officially added to the blockchain, every transaction in proof-of-work is just a “block”. Miners help add the block to the blockchain by doing work, or using “hashpower” to solve the encryption.

Miners will only add the block after verification of the encrypted hash. Many miners compete to solve the hash first, and the winner receives portions of a new coin as a reward. Miners use this method to “mint” coins and release it into the network.

[AndrejWarhola]

Bitcoin mining is the process by which transactions are verified and added to the public ledger, known as the block chain, and also the means through which new bitcoin are released. Anyone with access to the internet and suitable hardware can participate in mining.

[AndrejWarhola]

Where do bitcoins come from? With paper money, a government decides when to print and distribute money. Bitcoin doesn't have a central government.

With Bitcoin, miners use special software to solve math problems and are issued a certain number of bitcoins in exchange. This provides a smart way to issue the currency and also creates an incentive for more people to mine.