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

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

Imagine our cube consists of the term BUTTERFLY discussed previously. In fact, the block could contain a list of recent, unverified transactions, but lets keep it simple. In order for the block to be solved, bitcoin utilizes a deceptively simple test: If the HASH result of the block begins with a certain number of zeros, then the block is considered verified.

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

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The difficulty: BUTTERFLY will always return the same HASH, and it doesnt begin with two zeros. So what we need is your next variable, a random number (known as 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 small number changes the whole HASH result, there's absolutely no way to predict the number well need to address 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 your solution to the block. Here are some tries:

This arduous procedure of randomly trying to find a number that gives the solution is the thing that 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 led to the growth of ASIC computers constructed particularly for mining and to an increase in cloud mining.

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

GPU mining. A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a powerful processor whose sole objective is to assist your computers graphics card in rendering 3D graphics. GPUs are not built for executive decisions (like CPUs) however to be very good labourers, hence GPUs are able to execute Home Page over 800 times more instructions in 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 as FPGAs are processors which can be programmed to perform certain instructions and only those instructions (instead of being repurposed for mining, such as GPUs were).

ASIC mining. Comparable to FPGAs, application-specific integrated circuits are chips 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 power consumption. .

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

Cloud mining. Clouds provide prospective miners the ability to purchase mining rigs in a remote data centre location. There are many obvious advantages, the most obvious beingno electricity expenses, no excess heat and nothing to sell when you decide to hang your virtual pickaxe.

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

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

Online wallets. Bitcoin keys are saved online by exchange platforms such as Coinbase or Circle and can be retrieved from anywhere.

Mobile wallets. Apps like Blockchain store and encrypt your bitcoin keys so that you can make payments using your mobile 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 at which you receive bitcoin and the other is your private address you can use for spending.