What Is Mining Bitcoin

Bitcoin is generated through a process called mining and there is a finite amount of coins available at any one time, but what is mining Bitcoin?

It is completely decentralized and operates on a blockchain, which is a public ledger of all transactions across a peer-to-peer network. No private company or central bank controls the Bitcoin blockchain.

Cryptocurrency mining is the process of verifying transactions that are entered into the Blockchain digital ledger. A block is simply an individual entry in this grand ledger of transaction records.

A miner is someone who devotes computing power, electricity, and time to solving complex mathematical problems in order to add transaction records to bitcoin's public ledger or blockchain. Once the mathematical problem has been solved and the transaction has been verified, the miner is rewarded with a Bitcoin. They are then free to do what they like with it, buy more and sell what they generated, etc.

Mining is open source and there are no restrictions based on geographic location. Anyone can mine any amount of coins at any time if he or she has the resources. In order to start mining Bitcoin, you need a Bitcoin wallet, hardware to hash or mine the coins, and a mining pool to join .

However, the computing power required to mine Bitcoin means that mining is out of the reach for most people, who can't afford it. Instead, many people invest in mining operations that are designed to mine multiple cryptocurrencies at once.

If you earned Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies and are curious to see if MortgageQuote.com can use them as assets for proof of down payment on your new home, then let us know your questions.