What is bitcoin mining?

Bitcoin mining is the process by which new bitcoins are entered into circulation. It is also the way the network confirms new transactions and is a critical component of the blockchain ledger's maintenance and development. "Mining" is performed using sophisticated hardware that solves an extremely complex computational math problem.

Can you run a bitcoin miner on a mobile device?

Running a miner on a mobile device, even if it is part of a mining pool, will likely result in no earnings. Bitcoin "mining" serves a crucial function to validate and confirm new transactions to the blockchain and to prevent double-spending by bad actors. It is also the way that new bitcoins are introduced into the system.

What is a bitcoin network?

The Bitcoin network is a globally distributed public ledger consisting of a giant list of timestamped transactions. For example, one ledger entry might indicate that Person A sent 1 bitcoin to Person B at 10am on Monday. The ledger is updated approximately every 10 minutes by adding 'blocks' that contain a list of new transactions.

How do bitcoin miners work together?

For this reason, with such fierce competition, most Bitcoin miners work together as part of a mining pool. As part of the pool, they combine their hash rate with improving their odds of solving a block on Bitcoin’s blockchain. Was this article helpful?