What is a cryptocurrency ?
Cryptocurrencies can be simply described as virtual currency that has no physical form. That is, cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that do not have a metal base, and their value is determined primarily by free market mechanisms – the principles of supply and demand.
Each cryptocurrency unit has a unique code containing information that prevents it from being copied or reused. They are based on a data encryption technique (cryptography) that is used to verify transactions and create new units, called coins.
Cryptocurrencies operate autonomously, outside of traditional banking and government systems. To do this, they use the blockchain system, a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) network, in an open-source environment. They have high security because they are protected by algorithms built into the field of cryptography.
What is gold mining? cryptocurrencies?
Mining cryptocurrencies is not about finding, discovering or creating new coins, but rather about the set of processes required to validate and process cryptocurrency transactions.
Mining consists of validating and recording transactions in the blockchain. To do this, all nodes in the network participate in successfully solving the puzzle that involves finding the block, where, taking into account a random number and applying a cryptographic function, a hash is found that meets a characteristic: it has a certain number of zeros on the left.
This work requires effort and computing power, which ensures that it is difficult to write new transaction blocks to the ledger and thus prevent an attacker from generating a fake block and adding it to the network or modifying an existing block.
What does it take to mine cryptocurrency ?
