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

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

Imagine our cube consists of the word BUTTERFLY discussed previously. In fact, the block would 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 confirmed.

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

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The difficulty: BUTTERFLY will return the same HASH, and it doesnt start with two zeros. So what we need is the next factor, a random number (known as a NONCE). We carry this number, combine it with BUTTERFLY, and HASH again. If it doesnt begin with two zeros, we change the number and try again, and since changing one little number changes the whole HASH result, there's absolutely no method to forecast the number well need to address this! .

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

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 tougher it gets. At November 2017, a regular 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 into mine one block. .

This has led to the rise of ASIC computers constructed specifically for mining and to an increase in cloud mining.

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

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

FPGA mining. Next came mining with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). These significantly 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, like GPUs were).

ASIC mining. Comparable to FPGAs, application-specific integrated circuits are processors designed for a specific function, in our case mining bitcoin, and nothing else. ASICs for bitcoin were introduced in 2013 and, as of November 2017, they're the best processors available for mining bitcoin and they outperform FPGAs in electricity consumption. .

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Mining pools. To offset the difficulty 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 swimming pool (even though you personally never solved the mystery ). .

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 beingno electricity expenses, no extra heat and nothing to sell when you decide to hang your virtual pickaxe.

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

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Desktop wallets. Software like Bitcoin Core lets you send and store bitcoin addresses and also connects to the network to monitor transactions.

Online wallets. Bitcoin keys are saved online by exchange programs 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 cellular device.

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