What is Bitcoin mining really? Get the latest insights with Misha Lederman
What is Bitcoin mining really? Bitcoin Mining is the process of validating transactions on the Bitcoin network, which also ensures security against any possible malicious actors and enables the predictable creation of new Bitcoin, given out to miners as a reward for their work.
Bitcoin mining is done by advanced computing machines, using energy to solve encrypted mathematical equations at an incredibly rapid speed.
By solving these encrypted math puzzles, the miners on the Bitcoin blockchain jointly validate immutable transactions on the open and public ledger, and new BTC are created in the process and paid out to miners.
There are today over 11,700 Bitcoin nodes, or computer points, operating the Bitcoin network, making it the world’s largest decentralized network and most powerful distributed supercomputer.
In contrast to banks, which confirm transactions through a central entity, Bitcoin transactions are instead approved by the entire network as a whole, in a process called Proof-Of-Work.
Bitcoin mining today has grown to become one of the most profitable business ventures in the world, with more than $50 million being paid out to miners daily.
The high energy usage of Bitcoin miners is actually an essential feature of the Bitcoin network to ensure security and mitigate against hostile takeovers, and with the increasing usage of green and sustainable energy sources, Bitcoin mining as an industry is set to continue to grow exponentially over the coming years, while powering the most important invention in monetary history.