Mining

How blocks get made and why it costs real energy.

• Proof of work

  The energy-burning puzzle that makes rewriting Bitcoin's history practically impossible.

• Difficulty adjustment

  Bitcoin's thermostat: every two weeks it retunes so blocks keep taking ten minutes.

• Hashrate

  The network's total guessing speed — how much muscle protects Bitcoin's history.

• ASIC

  A chip built to do exactly one thing: mine Bitcoin, absurdly fast.

• Mining pool

  Miners teaming up to smooth out luck, splitting rewards by work contributed.

• Solo mining

  Mining alone: you keep whole block rewards, but may wait years to win one.

• Coinbase transaction

  The special first transaction in every block, where new bitcoin is born.

• Orphan & stale blocks

  Valid blocks that lost a tie race and fell off the chain.

• The energy debate

  Bitcoin buys security with electricity. Whether that's waste or worth it is the fight.