Bitcoin mining is the process of unlocking new bitcoin through solving highly computational puzzles. Bitcoin mining is important because it verifies all transactions on the Bitcoin network, which is central to Bitcoin’s security.
Bitcoin miners compete and race to complete mathematical puzzles, proposing blocks that make up the Bitcoin proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain.
Proof-of-Work (PoW)
Proof-of-work (PoW), like hashcash (a system created by Blockstream’s CEO and co-founder, Dr. Adam Back) uses hashes to measure which maintains the integrity of the blockchain.
Proof-of-work is a system that secures the Bitcoin blockchain, processes transactions, facilitates consensus and mints new Bitcoin.
The "work" is done by bitcoin miners, which use computing systems with specialized chips. Bitcoin miners compete and use hash functions to solve a block containing the latest bitcoin transaction data. The "proof" or finding the "block" is the solution to the cryptographic puzzle. The first bitcoin miner to solve the block is rewarded with bitcoin and wins the right to update the blockchain, enabling the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Why Use Proof-of-Work?
It is a consensus mechanism to help ensure users are honest with transactions. It is used to prevent fraud and cheating (such as double-spending). It is difficult to undermine because it requires a significant amount of energy, hardware and computing power to propose a new group of translations - called a block - to the ledger.