why is there a need to "SOLVE" a bitcoin block

[paigeannecarter]

Hi There.

I hope somebody can help me with this question.  I am a writer doing some write-ups on bitcoin as a whole for my employer.
I found that "solving a block" generates 25 BTC (currently).
Aside from the monetary gain, are there any other reasons why a block should be 'solved'?  I just had this theory that since it is a decentralize system, there must be more to 'solving a block' and why people were given a reward when they solved one...
I hope somebody can help.
Thanks in advance!

[CIYAM]

The blockchain is the key to solving the problem of "double-spends" and this is done through what is called Proof of Work - without this you simply could not have Bitcoin (so it really is an *essential* thing).

With no PoW (Proof of Work) you could simply broadcast 2 transactions using the same "coins" going to 2 destination addresses - and deciding which one is the "right transaction" would be impossible.

[Malawi]

Hi There.

I hope somebody can help me with this question.  I am a writer doing some write-ups on bitcoin as a whole for my employer.
I found that "solving a block" generates 25 BTC (currently).
Aside from the monetary gain, are there any other reasons why a block should be 'solved'?  I just had this theory that since it is a decentralize system, there must be more to 'solving a block' and why people were given a reward when they solved one...
I hope somebody can help.
Thanks in advance!

It is to be able to distribute the currency fairly evenly according to computing power across the network. This way the person who have invested $10.000 in mining rigs gets more than the person with an old laptop.

The rate of distribution is set, but the difficulty of the blocks are dynamic. If for some reason 90% of the mining power went away, the difficulty would also be reduced so that the rate of new coins would remain constant.