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

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

Imagine our cube consists of the term BUTTERFLY discussed earlier. In fact, the block could contain a listing of recent, unverified transactions, but lets keep it simple. In order for the block to be solved, bitcoin uses a simple test: If the HASH consequence of the block starts with a certain number of zeros, the block is considered confirmed.

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

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The problem: BUTTERFLY will return the same HASH, and it doesnt start with two zeros. So what we need is your next variable, a random number (called a NONCE). We take this number, combine it with BUTTERFLY, and HASH again. If it doesnt begin with two zeros, we change the number and try again, and because changing one little number changes the entire HASH outcome, there's absolutely no way to predict the number well need to solve this! .

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

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

This has caused the growth of ASIC computers constructed specifically for mining and also to an increase in cloud mining.

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CPU mining. In the first days of bitcoin, mining issue was reduced and not a lot of miners were competing for cubes and rewards. This made it worthwhile to utilize your computers own central processing unit (CPU) to mine bitcoin. However, that strategy was soon replaced by GPU mining.

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

FPGA mining. Next came mining with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). These greatly outperformed GPUs and CPUs in the mining process these details as FPGAs are processors which can be programmed to execute specific instructions and only those instructions (instead of being repurposed for mining, like GPUs were).

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

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Mining pools. To cancel the difficulty of mining a block, miners started organising in pools or cloud 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 provide potential miners the capability to purchase mining channels in a remote data centre location. There are many obvious advantages, the most obvious being: no energy expenses, no extra heat and nothing to sell 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 electronic 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 also connects to the network to track transactions.

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

Mobile wallets. Apps like Blockchain shop and encrypt your bitcoin keys so you can make payments using your cellular device.

Paper wallets. Some websites offer paper wallet services, generating a piece of paper using two QR codes on it. One code is your public address where you receive bitcoin and the other is your personal address you can use for spending.