If you want to mine bitcoin, you know just how long the process can be for you. There are many things you have to keep in mind. If you miss one of them, then there is a huge chance that you cannot be a bitcoin miner. While buying bitcoin is not bad, it costs a lot of money, and its value keeps increasing. It would make sense if you chose to mine it instead.
Here are some of the requirements and warnings regarding bitcoin mining
What Is Bitcoin Mining?
In simple terms, bitcoin mining is validating a bitcoin transaction and ensuring it stays secure. Once you do that, you incorporate this blockchain into the main network. The mining process is done by miners who form the backbone of the entire process.
It is believed that there are about 21,000,000 bitcoins left to be mined, and the entire process will be completed by 2140. It goes to show just how potential bitcoin holds and will keep holding as time goes by.
How Do Miners Work on Bitcoin?
When bitcoin was first released, many people were afraid to use their money to buy cryptocurrency. Most people did not want to risk their money on something they did not believe in.
However, mining was introduced as a way to earn bitcoin without having to spend money. It is a long process and needs more time, but the miners would still get bitcoin in the end. There would be a hashing puzzle, a 64 digit hexadecimal code that miners would need to solve. The only way you can make money from this puzzle is by being the first to solve it.
Requirements for One to Solve the Decimal
While the puzzle might seem like a simple thing to solve, it is not as easy as people make it seem. There are a couple of things to keep in mind to ensure that you can properly mine the bitcoin. Here are the main requirements.
- You need to process at least 1MB of bitcoin transactions. The rule has remained this way since it was put in place by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.
- You need to be the first person to solve the puzzle and provide proof of your work.
Other than the requirements, you have to prove that you can mine. Another important thing you need to look at is the quality of your computer. You will need to have a good computer with a fast processing speed to ensure that you can mine without overheating. These are the recommended specifications when it comes to bitcoin mining using your computer:
- 350 GB disk space
- 1 GB RAM
- Upload 5GB/daily
- Download 500MB/daily
- Operate on Mac, Windows 7/8/10, Linux
You can also mine bitcoin on your phone, but you need to ensure that it is Android. Apple banned all bitcoin apps on their site because of the high power consumption. However, you can find a couple of bitcoin mining apps on the Google play store.
Warnings When It Comes To Mining Bitcoin
Before you get started on bitcoin mining, you need to keep a couple of things in mind. By considering them, you ensure that you mine bitcoin without any issues. Here are the major concerns.
Legality
Not all countries permit the mining of bitcoin. Before you get to it, ensure your government approves the practice because it can be costly regarding lawsuits.
Bandwidth limits
Mining bitcoin will take a lot of bandwidth. Therefore, keep that in mind. Ensure that your internet service provider is okay with the charges before you get started on mining it.
You risk having your internet shut down and being charged extra if you do not know your bandwidth limits.
Computer virus attacks
Even though bitcoin is safe, some people have put computer viruses in some blockchains. It is common with computers using Microsoft Windows, so be on the lookout for that as well.
According to predictions, bitcoin will one day be a leading cryptocurrency in the world. If you want to get on the train and be a part of the revolution, you should try mining. You get to learn and interact more with the currency as it grows.
Author name– Layla Griffin
Bridget is a writer and editor, currently living in Melbourne. She is a copywriter for Newpath Web and loves working with words of all shapes and sizes. When not playing around with punctuation and grammar, she enjoys travelling and curating her Spotify playlists.