What is Mining?
Competing to add the next block to a proof-of-work blockchain by expending computing power, rewarded with new coins and fees. It's how Bitcoin issues supply and secures itself.
Mining is proof-of-work in action: specialised computers race to solve a cryptographic puzzle, the winner adds the next block and collects newly issued coins plus transaction fees. It's simultaneously Bitcoin's issuance schedule, its security budget, and its clock — every ~10 minutes, another block, with the reward halving every four years.
Modern Bitcoin mining is industrial: warehouse-scale operations chasing cheap electricity, a world away from laptops in 2010. That professionalisation is the point of the design — attacking the network means out-spending its entire honest hashpower, and the energy cost that critics cite is precisely what makes history expensive to rewrite. For Australians the participation route is effectively owning the coin or the miners' shares; home mining hasn't been economic here for years, and any "cloud mining" pitch to retail should be presumed a scam until proven otherwise.
See it in practice
Related terms: Proof of work · Halving · Bitcoin · full glossary
FAQ
Can I mine Bitcoin at home in Australia?
Technically yes; economically no — residential power prices lose to industrial operations by a wide margin. Ethereum ended mining entirely in 2022. The realistic exposure is owning coins, not hardware.
What happens to mining when all 21 million bitcoins exist?
Issuance ends (~2140) and miners are paid purely by transaction fees. Whether fees alone sustain the security budget is a genuine long-term open question Bitcoin researchers debate seriously.
General information only, not financial advice. Definitions are maintained in our fact database and reviewed with the daily rebuild.