Having problem understanding how bitcoin works

[Jammy01]

I have been trying to understand how bitcoin works because I have zero knowledge about it, after reading some recommendations on the forum i found this https://learnmeabitcoin.com/beginners/how-does-bitcoin-work/

I am a bit confused on the part talking about how nodes mine transactions


What if different nodes mine a conflicting transaction at the same time (everyone has the transaction in their memory pool and no one as mined it) one node is meant to mine and kick conflicting transactions and updates it file which is sent to other nodes whereby other nodes kick conflicting transactions in there memory pool too

But what if two nodes mistakenly mine a conflicting transaction at the same time
I just want to know if that is possible


I'm a newbie I'm just trying to wrap my head around bitcoin, the write up may look somehow

[hmbdofficial]

Your question has been answered in so may thread on the board. Just a quick search can help you out, however it’s possible that two miners can find valid blocks almost the sametime and those block can actually contain conflicting transactions. And it’s one of the situations bitcoin is designed to handle.
Just how that bitcoin doesn’t try to stop this from happening. The node follows the chain with the most cumulative proof of work. As more blocks are minded on one branch, that branch eventually wins, and others become stale. And the transaction in that branch will not be confirmed. Therefore two conflicting transactions can effectively be mined at the same time but only one get confirmed, the consensus mechanism is what usually resolves the temporary disagreement

[Donneski]

This your your topic I think should've been better made in the Bitcoin discussion board but since there are some technicalities in your question, maybe the moderators will leave it here.

Now to your question, I'd have loved to intensively explain how nodes work, however, I think it'll be better I refer you to few threads that had extensively discussed them in the forum, in them, you'll also find the contributions of very experienced members which will give you a better insight of what you really want to know.
First among them is this thread by @Fivestar4everMVP titled Understanding Bitcoin Nodes, Its Types, Functions and Benefits.

You can also check these threads below
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5500955.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5484089.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5523879.0

I hope you get the clarity you seek after reading through the threads.

[Cookdata]

I am a bit confused on the part talking about how nodes mine transactions

I get your question but nodes does not mine Bitcoin transactions, miners does. The node helps validate transactions and update the ledger after transactions are mined.

But what if two nodes mistakenly mine a conflicting transaction at the same time
I just want to know if that is possible

Two miners, not nodes can mine a conflicting transaction but we can't have two block height on the network, one with the longest chain as proof of work is going to be the valid block and the other one will become a stale block.

PS: Miners are nodes but not all nodes are miners. If you continue to use node, people will assume you are referring to ordinary nodes but the context of your questions points to miners.
Read: https://learnmeabitcoin.com/technical/blockchain/chain-reorganization/

[Mia Chloe]

~snip

I can't vividly remember but I think I made a few replies concerning this in another post someone here has left a link to some posts that actually discuss these stuff about conflicting transactions. First off understand every miner has his own mempool it's after they confirm that it kinda becomes like a general one.

If a conflict like that ever happens the miner that has the heaviest transaction volume will be accepted against the other conflicting confirmation almost similar to the chain with more validations becoming the valid one.

[Stalker22]

~
But what if two nodes mistakenly mine a conflicting transaction at the same time
I just want to know if that is possible

Yes, it is possible.  I dont know exactly how common it is these days, but in the early days, it happened more often because propagation was slow, leading to frequent temporary splits.  And just as hmbdofficial and Cookdata explained, the longer chain wins, and all transactions from the discarded block return to the mempool.  Any conflicting double-spend transaction is rejected by the network because because its source UTXO no longer exists on the main chain.

[Mia Chloe]

PS: Miners are nodes but not all nodes are miners. If you continue to use node, people will assume you are referring to ordinary nodes but the context of your questions points to miners.
Read: https://learnmeabitcoin.com/technical/blockchain/chain-reorganization/

This is actually valid because nodes don't really interact directly in stuff like these they just share and store what the chain records more like public ledger. The catch for this conflict is most times the miner with a more efficient propagation and hashrate will most likely win the fees.

Ordinary nodes can't do anything because based on the conflict the node will accept the one that gets propagated to it first and if the issue is solved it kinda resyncs back to meet the normal conditions.

[Upgrade00]

I have been trying to understand how bitcoin works because I have zero knowledge about it, after reading some recommendations on the forum i found this https://learnmeabitcoin.com/beginners/how-does-bitcoin-work/

https://learnmeabitcoin.com/beginners/guide/mining/
The above section in the link you shared on mining is probably the part that led you to use nodes for miners interchangeably, cause that's how they used it on the page. All miners are nodes, they need a copy of the blockchain/mempool to attempt to "confirm" transactions, which is the mining process.
For clarity, the process of confirming blocks is mining, and those who attempt to do so are miners.

Individual miners may choose not to run a node if they're connecting to a mining pool that already runs one or several.

[goldkingcoiner]

I have been trying to understand how bitcoin works because I have zero knowledge about it, after reading some recommendations on the forum i found this https://learnmeabitcoin.com/beginners/how-does-bitcoin-work/

I am a bit confused on the part talking about how nodes mine transactions

What if different nodes mine a conflicting transaction at the same time (everyone has the transaction in their memory pool and no one as mined it) one node is meant to mine and kick conflicting transactions and updates it file which is sent to other nodes whereby other nodes kick conflicting transactions in there memory pool too

But what if two nodes mistakenly mine a conflicting transaction at the same time
I just want to know if that is possible


I'm a newbie I'm just trying to wrap my head around bitcoin, the write up may look somehow

Nodes do not mine transactions. And Bitcoin deliberately allows temporary disagreement between nodes and has a way to resolve it.

Miners mine blocks containing transactions. Just because a transaction is in the mempool does not mean it has been permanently accepted into the blockchain. That is why people talk about "confirmations". The more confirmations the less likely a competing chain will replace it.

Mempool: "Here are the transactions that I know of and consider valid."
Mining: "I am making a block candidate and trying to find proof-of-work by using some of these transactions"
Blockchain: "Here is the history of what the network has agreed on."

[Jammy01]

I am a bit confused on the part talking about how nodes mine transactions

I get your question but nodes does not mine Bitcoin transactions, miners does. The node helps validate transactions and update the ledger after transactions are mined.

But what if two nodes mistakenly mine a conflicting transaction at the same time
I just want to know if that is possible

Two miners, not nodes can mine a conflicting transaction but we can't have two block height on the network, one with the longest chain as proof of work is going to be the valid block and the other one will become a stale block.

PS: Miners are nodes but not all nodes are miners. If you continue to use node, people will assume you are referring to ordinary nodes but the context of your questions points to miners.
Read: https://learnmeabitcoin.com/technical/blockchain/chain-reorganization/

Thank you I get it now