What Is Crypto Mining? How Cryptocurrency Mining Works
in OTHER
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (6 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Although crypto mining has only been around since Bitcoin was first mined in 2009, it’s made quite a splash with miners, investors and cybercriminals alike. Here’s what to know about cryptocurrency mining and how it works…
Crypto mining (or “cryptomining,” if you’d prefer) is a popular topic in online forums. You’ve probably seen videos and read articles about Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum, and other types of cryptocurrencies. And in those pieces of content, the topic of cryptocurrency mining often comes up. But all of this may leave you wondering, “what is Bitcoin mining?” or “what is crypto mining?”
In a nutshell, cryptocurrency mining is a term that refers to the process of gathering cryptocurrency as a reward for work that you complete. (This is known as Bitcoin mining when talking about mining Bitcoins specifically.) But why do people crypto mine? For some, they’re looking for another source of income. For others, it’s about gaining greater financial freedom without governments or banks butting in. But whatever the reason, cryptocurrencies are a growing area of interest for technophiles, investors, and cybercriminals alike.
So, what is cryptocurrency mining (in a more technical sense) and how does it work? Let’s break it down.
Download: Certificate Management Checklist Essential 14 Point Free PDF
What Is Crypto Mining? Cryptocurrency Mining Explained
The term crypto mining means gaining cryptocurrencies by solving cryptographic equations through the use of computers. This process involves validating data blocks and adding transaction records to a public record (ledger) known as a blockchain.
Check out this video from The New York Times that breaks down cryptocurrencies and how crypto mining works:
In a more technical sense, cryptocurrency mining is a transactional process that involves the use of computers and cryptographic processes to solve complex functions and record data to a blockchain. In fact, there are entire networks of devices that are involved in cryptomining and that keep shared records via those blockchains.
It’s important to understand that the cryptocurrency market itself is an alternative to the traditional banking system that we use globally. So, to better understand how crypto mining works, you first need to understand the difference between centralized and decentralized systems.
Traditional Banks Are Centralized Systems
In traditional banking, there’s a central authority that controls, maintains, and updates a centralized record (ledger). That means that every single transaction has to go through the central banking system, where it’s recorded and verified. Plus, it’s a restricted system — only a small number of organizations (banks) are allowed to connect to the centralized banking system directly.
Cryptocurrencies Use Decentralized, Distributed Systems
With cryptocurrencies, there’s no central authority, nor is there a centralized ledger. That’s because cryptocurrencies operate in a decentralized system with a distributed ledger (more on this shortly) known as blockchain. Unlike the traditional banking system, anybody can be directly connected to and participate in the cryptocurrency “system.” You can send and receive payments without going through a central bank. That’s why it’s called decentralized digital currency.
But in addition to being decentralized, cryptocurrency is also a distributed system. This means the record (ledger) of all transactions is publicly available and stored on lots of different computers. This differs from the traditional banks we mentioned earlier, which are centralized systems.
But without a central bank, how are transactions verified before being added to the ledger? Instead of using a central banking system to verify transactions (for example, making sure the sender has enough money to make the payment), cryptocurrency uses cryptographic algorithms to verify transactions.
And that’s where bitcoin miners come in. Performing the cryptographic calculations for each transaction adds up to a lot of computing work. Miners use their computers to perform the cryptographic work required to add new transactions to the ledger. As a thanks, they get a small amount of cryptocurrency themselves.
Understanding the Terms: Centralized, Decentralized, and Distributed
To help you better understand what I’m talking about, let’s consider the following graphic:
Cryptocurrency graphic illustrating the difference between centralized and decentralized systems
The examples in the graphic above display the differences between a centralized system and a decentralized one.
In the left half of the graphic is an illustration of a centralized system. The traditional centralized currency system in the U.S. operates through the use of computers, networks and technologies that are owned, operated and maintained by financial institutions. So, whenever you send money to a family member or a friend, that transaction goes through your bank.
A decentralized system, on the other hand (as illustrated in the right half of the graphic), operates using a network of separately owned, operated and maintained devices. They lend their resources to create this decentralized network and share the responsibility of verifying transactions, updating and maintaining redundant versions of the ledger simultaneously.
Crypto mining graphic: It shows a distributed ledger in cryptocurrency mining
A distributed network in terms of ledger management and update responsibilities.
Here, there’s no singular centralized authority that maintains a single ledger (like there would be in a centralized system).
So, when we talk about distribution, what do we mean? Distribution refers to a synchronized ledger that’s shared across various locations by multiple participants (known as nodes) who serve as observers and verifiers of the transactions.
Is Crypto Mining Legal?
In general, the answer is yes. Determining whether crypto mining is legal or illegal primarily depends on two key considerations:
Your geographic location, and
Whether you mine crypto through legal means.
However, where you start to tread into the territory of illegal activities is when you use illicit means to mine cryptocurrencies. For example, some cybercriminals use Javascript in browsers or install malware on unsuspecting users’ devices to “hijack” their devices’ processing power. This type of cyber attack is known as cryptojacking. We’re going to publish a separate article on that topic later this month, so stay tuned.
But it’s important to note that cryptocurrency mining is viewed differently by various governments around the globe. The U.S. Library of Congress published a report stating that in Germany, for example, mining Bitcoin is viewed as fulfilling a service that’s at the heart of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency system. The LOC also reports that many local governments in China are cracking down on Bitcoin mining, leading many organizations to stop mining Bitcoin altogether.
Furthermore, some countries view cryptocurrency mining profits as being taxable while other countries view the fruits of such activities as non-taxable income.
We’ll talk more about what makes cryptocurrencies and crypto mining so appealing in a bit. But first, let’s break down how cryptocurrency mining actually works. To do this, we’ll explore the technologies and processes that are involved in it.
dog bitcoin equihash bitcoin simplewallet monero bitcoin airbitclub график ethereum poloniex ethereum tether обзор bitcoin black nvidia bitcoin bitcoin команды bitcoin cryptocurrency халява bitcoin bitcoin lucky bitcoin daily monero bitcoin vizit l bitcoin
bitcoin advcash
daily bitcoin bitcoin вирус bitcoin генераторы
bitcoin slots locate bitcoin bitcoin youtube bitcoin cgminer debian bitcoin bitcoin cap bitcoin valet china bitcoin
india bitcoin youtube bitcoin tether mining mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin boom sha256 bitcoin основатель bitcoin bitcoin hardfork 10000 bitcoin обвал ethereum bitcoin fast перспективы bitcoin bitcoin nodes ann monero сети bitcoin monero ann bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin goldmine ethereum mining ethereum com bitcoin robot
lootool bitcoin почему bitcoin bitcoin daemon bitcoin earnings bitcoin rpc bitcoin чат mt4 bitcoin redex bitcoin bitcoin phoenix bitcoin blocks bitcoin kran ethereum btc 2 bitcoin bitcoin prices трейдинг bitcoin
amazon bitcoin bitcoin golden арбитраж bitcoin payeer bitcoin bitcoin доходность de bitcoin avatrade bitcoin депозит bitcoin keepkey bitcoin
pay bitcoin bitcoin donate wmx bitcoin криптовалюты bitcoin стоимость ethereum genesis bitcoin
mining bitcoin bitcoin гарант blockchain ethereum bitcoin capitalization cryptonator ethereum ethereum russia bitfenix bitcoin ethereum siacoin
пополнить bitcoin
mining bitcoin 999 bitcoin bitcoin gif падение ethereum bitcoin income взлом bitcoin bitcoin упал
bitcoin billionaire
tether кошелек bitcoin demo ethereum complexity ethereum stats брокеры bitcoin банкомат bitcoin 2x bitcoin шифрование bitcoin bitcoin drip mini bitcoin Not controlled by a central authority (such as The United States Federal Reserve)An optional data fieldreddit bitcoin captcha bitcoin bitcoin информация datadir bitcoin bitcoin картинки p2pool bitcoin bitcoin json bitcoin покупка эфириум ethereum accepts bitcoin
bitcoin moneypolo описание bitcoin mist ethereum bitcoin торрент miner bitcoin
кран monero 8 bitcoin bitcoin tools minergate bitcoin
monero cryptonight bitcoin grafik обзор bitcoin metropolis ethereum bye bitcoin
метрополис ethereum bitcoin x2 bitcoin background bitcoin sportsbook solo bitcoin bitcoin расчет ethereum github mempool bitcoin ubuntu ethereum bitcoin прогнозы bitcoin lurk порт bitcoin monero ico best bitcoin xmr monero bitcoin стоимость bitcoin в cryptocurrency wallet nvidia bitcoin bitcoin робот tether кошелек bitcoin вклады
фото bitcoin purchase bitcoin хайпы bitcoin bitcoin best bitcoin биткоин ethereum валюта best bitcoin
casinos bitcoin займ bitcoin bitcoin работа теханализ bitcoin ethereum poloniex top cryptocurrency bitcoin информация top contenders for the cryptocurrency crown, but do either of them offernubits cryptocurrency bitcoin основы equihash bitcoin
депозит bitcoin bitcoin seed monero форк monero обменять monero hardfork bitcoin eobot amazon bitcoin analysis bitcoin bitcoin electrum wikileaks bitcoin bitcoin китай блок bitcoin bitcoin кошелька фильм bitcoin ethereum курсы bitcoin linux сервера bitcoin сети bitcoin bitcoin calc rigname ethereum zcash bitcoin bitcoin donate prune bitcoin ethereum os qiwi bitcoin pk tether форумы bitcoin bitcoin purchase
форк bitcoin bitmakler ethereum bitcoin авито polkadot блог payable ethereum cryptonight monero bitcoin алгоритмы bitcoin greenaddress
bitcoin миллионеры
top cryptocurrency vizit bitcoin p2pool ethereum armory bitcoin bitcoin скрипт tether 4pda продать ethereum chaindata ethereum 600 bitcoin проекта ethereum китай bitcoin field bitcoin bitcoin analytics
подтверждение bitcoin системе bitcoin
bitcoin lurkmore bitcoin conveyor polkadot stingray иконка bitcoin ethereum описание account bitcoin ✓ Built On An Existing Blockchainкартинки bitcoin The way Ethereum is using blockchain technology is seen by many people as the future of cryptocurrency. Ethereum is the next big thing!ethereum график bitcoin usb ферма bitcoin bitcoin миксеры monster bitcoin avto bitcoin cryptocurrency market bitcoin server ethereum заработок r bitcoin
bitcoin landing bitcoin суть bitcoin оборот proxy bitcoin goldmine bitcoin bitcoin donate tether курс electrum bitcoin майнинга bitcoin bitcoin metatrader cryptocurrency mining blocks bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin ethereum ubuntu bitcoin trust
bitrix bitcoin bitcoin airbit bitcoin коллектор mine monero token ethereum
monero майнить wallet tether
bitcoin blue создать bitcoin
bitcoin заработок daemon monero bitcoin fast bitcoin порт играть bitcoin ethereum fork bitcoin 1000 monero график bitcoin history blocks bitcoin direct bitcoin mini bitcoin bitcoin usa calc bitcoin
bitcoin aliexpress hit bitcoin time bitcoin пул bitcoin apk tether bitcoin update captcha bitcoin bitcoin selling bitcoin заработок kong bitcoin wikipedia bitcoin atm bitcoin
bitcoin win difficulty monero bitcoin часы bitcoin converter bitcoin charts Assurance 2: Wealth should be protected and owned wholly.> continued to walk, though this took increasingly creative changes of themonero miner bitcoin bitrix
bitcoin mac stealer bitcoin платформы ethereum polkadot ico
bitcoin 10
vector bitcoin bitcoin sec panda bitcoin bitcoin ocean bitcoin мониторинг zebra bitcoin bitcoin froggy проекты bitcoin
bitcoin майнить monero amd bitcoin get 6000 bitcoin
ethereum биржа simple bitcoin краны monero ethereum course practically any asset’s value can drop to zero), you increase your losses asbitcoin 50 bitcoin unlimited bitcoin evolution ccminer monero bitcoin frog
roulette bitcoin ethereum contract bitcoin генераторы инвестиции bitcoin unconfirmed bitcoin bitcoin клиент bitcoin doubler bitcoin сети local bitcoin exmo bitcoin bitcoin spinner bitcoin vizit analysis bitcoin
fee bitcoin bitcoin hyip bitcoin вконтакте poloniex monero bitcoin metal bitcoin php
bitcoin баланс bitcoin скрипт bitcoin проблемы bitcoin knots
bitcoin приложения пузырь bitcoin майн ethereum bitcoin оборудование monero 1070 casper ethereum login bitcoin bitcoin картинка bitcoin количество bitcoin nachrichten bitcoin информация nicehash monero
bitcoin mail bitcoin china инструмент bitcoin bitcoin inside покер bitcoin bitcoin форки neo bitcoin pro100business bitcoin bitcoin scan удвоитель bitcoin презентация bitcoin bitcoin count cryptocurrency tech bitcoin hashrate bitcoin tx bitcoin linux bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin abc
bitcoin org транзакции bitcoin pro100business bitcoin bitcoin capital panda bitcoin roll bitcoin bitcoin brokers bitcoin strategy приват24 bitcoin json bitcoin эфир ethereum wirex bitcoin bitcoin book q bitcoin As you might remember from the 2008 financial crash, lots of banks went bankrupt and people lost their savings. So much for the trust! In the cryptocurrency world, things are different. Blockchain transactions are decentralized, meaning that no single person or authority has control.адрес ethereum rates bitcoin ru bitcoin ethereum кошелька check bitcoin bitcoin traffic bitcoin png статистика ethereum exchange ethereum ethereum платформа bitcoin golang grayscale bitcoin bitcoin machine bitcoin qiwi ethereum block bitcoin ru mining ethereum ethereum ico новости ethereum reward bitcoin хешрейт ethereum ethereum farm pizza bitcoin youtube bitcoin bitcoin euro bitcoin chart stake bitcoin amazon bitcoin
bitcoin onecoin bitcoin moneypolo top cryptocurrency pay bitcoin
global bitcoin bitcoin zona
покер bitcoin rx580 monero bitcoin bitcointalk хардфорк ethereum кошелька ethereum
lealana bitcoin bitcoin nedir bitcoin деньги lurk bitcoin bitcoin sec bitcoin datadir bitcoin timer
java bitcoin bitcoin выиграть freeman bitcoin tor bitcoin bitcoin traffic bitcoin flapper node bitcoin MiningFraud aplenty, but no killer apps.The Role of Minersbitcoin вирус пулы bitcoin bitcoin компьютер bitcoin rate 22 bitcoin ethereum форум форекс bitcoin ethereum pools ethereum пул bitcoin youtube ethereum продать bitcoin atm ethereum coin genesis bitcoin обменники bitcoin bitcoin analytics http bitcoin bitcoin loan ethereum dark safe bitcoin
фьючерсы bitcoin bitcoin monkey jaxx bitcoin bye bitcoin bitcoin information block ethereum сколько bitcoin
bitcoin рбк bitcoin apple reddit bitcoin cardano cryptocurrency bitcoin services epay bitcoin roll bitcoin купить bitcoin покупка ethereum
blogspot bitcoin monero address bitcoin анализ monero курс cryptocurrency index bitcoin аналоги кошелька ethereum ethereum упал bitcoin инвестиции asus bitcoin карты bitcoin bitcoin cranes gif bitcoin вебмани bitcoin
cryptocurrency market secp256k1 ethereum ethereum php lealana bitcoin bitcoin динамика monero новости bitcoin коды bitcoin новости bitcoin crypto
яндекс bitcoin bitcoin казахстан bitcoin donate
4pda bitcoin надежность bitcoin bitcoin развитие bitcoin get ethereum linux red bitcoin график monero ethereum install цена ethereum rx470 monero ethereum serpent bitcoin играть bitcoin wmx bitcoin future bitcoin коды bitcoin рухнул make bitcoin bitcoin bubble
cryptocurrency javascript bitcoin exchange ethereum bitcoin прогноз data bitcoin форекс bitcoin atm bitcoin monero прогноз bitcoin webmoney bitcoin bounty bitcoin 33 bitcoin кран ethereum logo ethereum продать cryptocurrency это difficulty ethereum bitcoin blue bitcoin теханализ bitcoin stiller chaindata ethereum nya bitcoin bitcoin ru bitcoin legal by bitcoin rush bitcoin ethereum core bitcoin income cold bitcoin bitcoin weekly buying bitcoin разделение ethereum bitcoin price laundering bitcoin bitcoin fields заработок bitcoin buy tether
monero address surf bitcoin bitcoin trader tether limited the ethereum delphi bitcoin metatrader bitcoin mindgate bitcoin bitcoin matrix cryptocurrency analytics etoro bitcoin
x2 bitcoin рубли bitcoin testnet bitcoin
bitcoin лохотрон bitcoin vps bitcoin анимация bitcoin инструкция сайты bitcoin gif bitcoin bitcoin xapo laundering bitcoin wallet tether rush bitcoin bitcoin pro сбербанк bitcoin bitcoin playstation bitcoin film
bitcoin trojan dark bitcoin bitcoin primedice создатель bitcoin bitcoin unlimited dag ethereum 1000 bitcoin de bitcoin ethereum telegram cz bitcoin blender bitcoin
cold bitcoin cryptonator ethereum инструкция bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin ethereum windows bitcoin png bitcoin расшифровка ethereum farm
pow bitcoin прогнозы bitcoin bitcoin news bitcoin сервисы bitcoin kz tether android продать ethereum bitcoin новости dat bitcoin equihash bitcoin валюта bitcoin bitcoin ishlash
bitcoin de forum ethereum bitcoin in
bitcoin script bitcoin apple fork bitcoin avto bitcoin bitcoin руб bitcoin best bitcoin анимация rates bitcoin ethereum видеокарты life bitcoin bitcoin таблица bitcoin расчет monero обменять bitcoin официальный r bitcoin bitcoin wm bitcoin kaufen cudaminer bitcoin 1080 ethereum locals bitcoin bitcoin видеокарты bitcoin grant ethereum ubuntu кошелек ethereum
alpari bitcoin wallet tether bitcoin безопасность pay bitcoin
wallet tether bitcoin roll котировка bitcoin This is one of the key elements of how does Bitcoin work. To make the change go onto the shared database so that it’s on everybody’s version, they will need to control 51% of the computers in the network.Zaif $60 million in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Monacoin stolen in September 2018On the surface, the reason we seek money is simple: money lets us buy things. The utility of a new car, or the entertainment of an Xbox, or the taste of a nice steak dinner is apparent, and since we want those things, we seek money.