Advertisement
Published in:
2017 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
2. The Gold Rush: Mining Bitcoin
Authors : Vikram Dhillon, David Metcalf, Max Hooper
Published in: Blockchain Enabled Applications
Publisher: Apress
Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.
Select sections of text to find matching patents with Artificial Intelligence. powered by
Select sections of text to find additional relevant content using AI-assisted search. powered by
Abstract
Mining is a key operational concept in understanding how the Bitcoin protocol operates. It refers to a decentralized review process performed on each block of the blockchain to reach consensus without the need for a central authority to provide trust. In other words, mining is the computational equivalent of peer review in a decentralized environment where neither party involved trusts the other. Then, we integrate the concepts of block target values and network difficulty with mining and how mining has evolved to keep up with the increasing difficulty. This will lead us further into talking about the types of hardware mining that have recently been developed. We end the chapter with an analysis of startups that began selling dedicated hardware for mining, leading to the Bitcoin mining arms race and their eventual failure.