1/ Bitcoin mining is the lifeblood that keeps the Bitcoin network alive. It secures all transactions; it validates and endorses blocks, and it helps release newly minted BTC into circulation. But how does it work? Let's break down and step through it. 👇.
2/ They are supercomputers using these sophisticated machines to solve complex mathematical problems. This process is called Proof-of-Work (PoW), wherein it assures that the transactions get validated and appended to the blockchain. 🔗⚡.
3/ Whenever one miner has successfully solved a block, he has earned by obtaining a block reward (currently 6.25 BTC) + transaction fees. This reward halves every four years in an event called the Bitcoin halving. 📉.
4/ However, mining isn't just assigning a machine. There are several other considerations in the profitability of Bitcoin mining, such as electricity, hardware efficiency, calculate bitcoin mining and the relative cost of bitcoin. ⚖️.
5/ ASIC miners (like Antminer S19 XP) dominate the industry. The machines are essentially built just for mining, unlike conventional GPUs, hence presenting improved efficiency and higher hash rates. ⚙️🚀.
6/ Aligned with the number of miners at hand, difficulty adjustment is carried out on 2016 blocks (~2 weeks) for the mining of BTC blocks to be done every ~10 minutes. More miners = more difficulty, less miners = less difficulty. 📊.
7/ In particular, energy consumption is a huge area of contention. Some say that mining, in particular Bitcoin mining, is wasteful; however, there are more and more miners who adopt renewable energy sources for power supply, be it hydro, wind, or solar. 🌍♻️.
8/ The way forward for BTC mining lies in innovation - more efficient miners, better energy solutions - decentralization. As we come to the next halving (2024-2025), mining rewards will change to 3.125 BTC. 📆⏳.
9/ If you think you could end up doing some mining, always calculate the cost of Bitcoin mining against potential profit. Cloud mining & mining pools help smaller players associate without huge capital investments upfront. ☁️💸.
10/ There is much more to work in isolation sometimes, or even many of the changes of infrastructure that make it easy for one to work alone within a small group now, and the Internet is becoming more and more convenient like that.