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Title: Newbie question about mining Post by: pr0xyhacker on April 21, 2013, 04:15:28 PM I've been reading an unhealthy amount about bitcoin the past couple of days but there are still a few things I am trying to understand about mining.
What does mining actually do (besides circulating more coins) for the system? Would bitcoin work at all if there were no miners? Also, how long does it take for a bitcoin transaction go through and what is the difference between a confirmed and unconfirmed transaction? Thank you for any answers! Title: Re: Newbie question about mining Post by: Gabi on April 21, 2013, 04:30:26 PM Mining is for security. When someone make a transaction, that transaction is relayed to every node in the bitcoin network, wich takes only some seconds. But it is still an unconfirmed transaction. To become confirmed it must be put in a block by a miner. The blockchain is the backbone of the bitcoin system, it is where all transactions are recorded and it is how bitcoin make sure no one can counterfeit bitcoins or double spend them. Why? Because modifying the blockchain is almost impossible, due to how blocks are created. It takes a lot of computing power to find one wich follow the bitcoin rules, and that's what miners do, find blocks and put transactions into them, making the bitcoin network secure ;)
Title: Re: Newbie question about mining Post by: Gabi on April 21, 2013, 04:36:07 PM Moar info here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=181725.0
Title: Re: Newbie question about mining Post by: Aaron Abramson on April 21, 2013, 04:44:09 PM what is better to mine or to buy?
Title: Re: Newbie question about mining Post by: bitgolfer on April 21, 2013, 04:47:56 PM what is better to mine or to buy? For BTC, probably better to buy now instead of mine, unless you have spare PC/GPU and free electricity available. For LTC, may still be profitable for a few more months to mine. Title: Re: Newbie question about mining Post by: pr0xyhacker on April 21, 2013, 10:31:38 PM what is better to mine or to buy? For BTC, probably better to buy now instead of mine, unless you have spare PC/GPU and free electricity available. For LTC, may still be profitable for a few more months to mine. What is the difference between BTC and LTC? What does LTC stand for? Title: Re: Newbie question about mining Post by: RayFinkle on April 21, 2013, 10:33:56 PM what is better to mine or to buy? For BTC, probably better to buy now instead of mine, unless you have spare PC/GPU and free electricity available. For LTC, may still be profitable for a few more months to mine. Why do you think mining will only be good for a few more months? |