Frequently Asked Questions About Bitcoin Mining

 Frequently Asked Questions 

Why Do Bitcoins Need to Be Mined?

Because they are entirely digital records, there is a risk of copying, counterfeiting, or double-spending the same coin more than once. Mining solves these problems by making it extremely expensive and resource-intensive to try to do one of these things or otherwise "hack" the network. Indeed, it is far more cost-effective to join the network as a miner than to try to undermine it.

How Does Mining Confirm Transactions?

In addition to introducing new BTC into circulation, mining serves the crucial role of confirming and validating new transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. This is important because there is no central authority such as a bank, court, government, or anything else determining which transactions are valid and which are not. Instead, the mining process achieves a decentralized consensus through proof of work (PoW).

Why Does Mining Use So Much Electricity?

In the early days of Bitcoin, anybody could simply run a mining program from their PC or laptop. But as the network got larger and more people became interested in mining, the mining algorithm became more difficult. This is because the code for Bitcoin targets finding a new block once every 10 minutes, on average.1 If more miners are involved, the chances that somebody will solve the right hash quicker increases, and so the difficulty increases to restore that 10-minute goal. Now imagine if thousands, or even millions more times that mining power joins the network. That's a lot of new machines consuming energy.

Is Bitcoin Mining Legal?

The legality of Bitcoin mining depends entirely on your geographic location. The concept of Bitcoin can threaten the dominance of fiat currencies and government control over the financial markets. For this reason, Bitcoin is completely illegal in certain places.

Bitcoin ownership and mining are legal in more countries than not. Some examples of places where it was illegal according to a 2018 report were Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nepal, and Pakistan.8 Since 2018, other countries have banned Bitcoin mining including Bangladesh, China, Dominican Republic, North Macedonia, Qatar, and Vietnam.9101112 Overall, Bitcoin use and mining remain legal across much of the globe.

Does Crypto Mining Damage Your GPU/Computer?

Because blockchain mining is very resource-intensive, it can put a large strain on your GPU or other mining hardware. In fact, it is not unheard of for GPUs to blow out, or for mining rigs to burst into flames.13 However, keeping your rigs running at a moderate pace and with sufficient power supplied, it is generally safe.

Can You Mine Bitcoin on Your iPhone?

No. Bitcoin mining today requires vast amounts of computing power and electricity to be competitive. Running a miner on a mobile device, even if it is part of a mining pool, will likely result in no earnings.

The Bottom Line

Bitcoin "mining" serves a crucial function to validate and confirm new transactions to the blockchain and to prevent double-spending by bad actors. It is also the way that new bitcoins are introduced into the system. Based on a complex puzzle, the task involves producing proof of work (PoW), which is inherently energy-intensive. This energy, however, is embodied in the value of bitcoins and the Bitcoin system and keeps this decentralized system stable, secure, and trustworthy.