Lesson 3: What exactly does mining do?

What exactly does mining do?

The specifics of mining differ depending on each cryptocurrency.

Let's learn about Bitcoin mining as a representative example.

In order to form each block of the blockchain, mining involves specific computational tasks.

This calculation process involves finding a certain number.

This number is called the nonse, and if you can find the nonse, you have successfully mined.

The details will be covered in the blockchain curriculum, so for now, just remember that mining is a calculation process to find nonse.

The computer that does the computational work to find the nonse is called a node.

This node is the miner.

Generally speaking, the person who uses this node to do the mining is called a miner.

The early bird gets the worm in mining

We have learned the cause-and-effect relationship that cryptocurrencies operate on a blockchain, that the blockchain is a series of blocks, and that mining is necessary to form each block.

In fact, there is a limit of one miner per block that can form each block.

In short, there are miners who cannot mine.

To be precise, there are miners who can mine but do not receive any reward.

Miners start mining on a first-come-first-served basis, and only those miners who succeed in mining will receive the reward.

Once the mining is finished, they start mining again to form the next block, and so on, performing a series of simple tasks.

In this way, by giving all miners the possibility to receive rewards, a large number of miners are created, creating a decentralized environment.

If the number of miners is small, someone's arbitrariness will have an impact and the system will not be decentralized.