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How mining works
Miners use computing power to add new blocks to the chain, and earn bitcoin for doing it.
- Miners bundle waiting transactions into a block.
- They race to solve a guessing puzzle. The winner adds the block and is paid.
- The reward today is 3.125 new BTC per block, plus the fees inside it.
The puzzle is simple to check but hard to solve. A modern mining machine makes hundreds of trillions of guesses a second, until one produces a result below a target number. This is called proof of work.
The work costs real electricity. That cost is what protects the chain. To rewrite past transactions, an attacker would have to redo all that work faster than the rest of the world combined.
Every 2,016 blocks, the puzzle gets harder or easier so that blocks keep arriving about every 10 minutes, no matter how many miners join or leave.
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Can I mine at home?
You can, but modern mining uses specialized machines and cheap power. Most home miners do it for the hobby, for heat in winter or to support the network, not for profit.
What is a mining pool?
A group of miners who combine their machines and split the rewards. It gives each member smaller but steadier payouts.
Does mining waste energy?
It is a real debate. Critics point to the power use. Supporters say the energy is what secures the money, and that miners often use stranded or surplus power that would otherwise go unused.
Is there a longer video on how it all fits together?
Yes. 3Blue1Brown's But how does bitcoin actually work? (25 minutes) builds Bitcoin up from scratch, with clear animations of signatures, blocks and proof of work.