Mining

Mining is the process by which transactions are validated and added to a blockchain, ensuring the network's security and integrity. In the context of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, mining involves solving complex cryptographic puzzles to discover new blocks. Miners compete to solve these puzzles, and the first one to do so gets the right to add the new block to the blockchain, receiving a reward in the form of newly minted cryptocurrency. This reward incentivizes miners to contribute their computational power to the network, making it more secure and resistant to attacks.

The mining process is critical for maintaining the decentralized nature of blockchain networks. Each new block added to the blockchain is cryptographically linked to the previous one, creating a chain that is extremely difficult to alter. This ensures that the transaction history is immutable and trustworthy, as any attempt to change a block would require an enormous amount of computational power to redo all subsequent blocks. Mining also plays a key role in controlling the supply of new coins, as the issuance of new cryptocurrency is tied to the mining process, helping to manage inflation and ensure a predictable monetary policy.