What is Bitcoin mining?

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What is Bitcoin mining?
Bitcoin operates as a peer to peer network. This
means that everyone who uses Bitcoin is a tiny
fraction of the bank of Bitcoin. But where do
Bitcoins come from? With paper money, a
government decides when to print and distribute
money.
Bitcoin doesn't have a central government. With
Bitcoin, miners use special software to solve
math problems. And are issued a certain number a
Bitcoins in exchange. This provides a smart way
to issue the currency. And also creates an
incentive for more people to mine. Since miners
are required to approve Bitcoin transactions more
miners mean a more secure network.
The Bitcoin network automatically changes the
difficulty of the math problems depending on how
fast they are being solved. In the early days,
Bitcoin miners solved these math problems with
the processors and their computers. Soon miners
discovered that graphics cards used for gaming
were much better suited to this kind of working.
Graphics cards are faster, they use more
electricity and generate a lot of heat.
The first commercial Bitcoin mining products
included chips that were reprogrammed for mining
Bitcoin. These chips were faster but still
power-hungry. ASIC, or Application Specific
Integrated Circuit, chips are designed
specifically for Bitcoin mining. ASIC technology
has made Bitcoin mining even faster while using
less power.
As the popularity of Bitcoin increases, more
miners join the network making it more difficult
for individuals to solve the math problems. To
overcome this, miners have developed a way to
work together in pools. Pools of miners find
solutions faster than their individual members
and each miner is rewarded proportionately to
the amount of work he or she provides.
Mining is an important and integral part of
Bitcoin that ensures fairness while keeping the
Bitcoin network stable, safe and secure.