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For instance, the SHA-256 of this term BUTTERFLY (origin ) is 8c62ace4f9ef8ccd08ca6fb992a8524bb7dbdc0530654bd254c9da07a660949a (HASH). This seemingly random string of letters and numbers contains three important properties:

Bitcoin mining involves three factors: the block, the mining difficulty and a random number. Heres how it all comes together:

Imagine our cube consists of the word BUTTERFLY discussed previously. In reality, the block would contain a list of recent, unverified transactions, but lets keep it simple. In order for the block to be solved, bitcoin uses a deceptively simple test: If the HASH result of the block starts with a certain number of zeros, then the cube is considered confirmed.

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For our example, lets say that we have a mining difficulty of just two, ie, our HASH should start with two zeros. .

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The problem: BUTTERFLY will always return the same HASH, and it doesnt begin with two zeros. So what we need is the third factor, a random number (known as a NONCE). We take this number, combine it with BUTTERFLY, and HASH again. If it doesnt start with two zeros, we change the number and try again, and because changing one small number changes the entire HASH result, there's absolutely no method to predict the number well need to solve this! .

We repeat this procedure over and over until we find a number that, when combined with BUTTERFLY, gives us a HASH that begins with two zeros. That number is the solution to the block. Here are some tries:

This arduous procedure of randomly trying to find a number that gives the solution is what creates bitcoin mining such a computationally expensive process, and as more miners join the network, the harder it gets. As of November 2017, a normal home computer working alone, ie, not an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and not part of a cloud mining network, would require 2.7 million years to mine one block. .

This has site web caused the rise of ASIC computers built specifically for mining and to an increase in cloud news mining.

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CPU mining. In the early days of bitcoin, mining issue was reduced and not a great deal of miners were competing for blocks and rewards. This made it rewarding to utilize your computers own central processing unit (CPU) to mine bitcoin. However, that approach was soon replaced by GPU mining.

GPU mining. An graphics processing unit (GPU) is a potent processor whose sole objective is to help your computers graphics card in rendering 3D graphics. GPUs are not built for executive decisions (such as CPUs) however to be very great labourers, hence GPUs can execute over 800 times more instructions in the exact same amount of time as a CPU.

FPGA mining. Next came mining using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). These greatly outperformed GPUs and CPUs in the mining process as FPGAs are chips that can be programmed to execute certain instructions and only those instructions (instead of being repurposed for mining, such as GPUs were).

ASIC mining. Similar to FPGAs, application-specific integrated circuits are processors designed for a particular function, in our situation mining bitcoin, and nothing else. ASICs for bitcoin were introduced in 2013 and, as of November 2017, they are the best processors out there for mining bitcoin and they outperform FPGAs in electricity consumption. .

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Mining pools. To cancel the problem of mining a block, miners started organising in cloud or pools mining networks. Whenever a miner in one of those pools solves a block, the reward is shared with everyone in the swimming pool in a ratio representative of just how much work you put into the pool (even though you personally never solved the puzzle). .

Cloud mining. Clouds offer prospective miners the ability to purchase mining rigs in a remote data centre location. There are many obvious advantages, the most obvious being: no energy expenses, no extra heat and nothing to market when you decide to hang up your virtual pickaxe.

Once miners get bitcoin, they are given a virtual key to the bitcoin addresses. You can use this digital key to access and validate or approve transactions.

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Desktop wallets. Software such as Bitcoin Core lets you send and save bitcoin addresses and connects to the network to monitor transactions.

Online wallets. Bitcoin keys are saved online by exchange programs like Coinbase or Circle and can be accessed from anywhere.

Mobile wallets. Programs like Blockchain store and encrypt your own bitcoin keys so that you can make payments using your cellular device.

Paper wallets. Some websites offer paper wallet solutions, generating a bit of paper with just two QR codes on it. One code is your public address at which you get bitcoin and the other one is the personal address you can use for spending.