What is Mining?
Mining is the process of grouping transactions, hashing the block header with different nonces, and broadcasting the first block whose hash meets the difficulty target. Successful miners earn the block reward and transaction fees.
Why Mining matters
Understanding Mining is part of building a solid mental model of how Bitcoin, blockchain and Web3 systems actually work. Concepts in the Bitcoin category sit at the foundation of the broader stack — get them right and the rest is far easier.
Learn this interactively
Reading the definition is a start. ZeroToBlock teaches concepts like Mining through hands-on, browser-based simulations. Build the mental model by actually using it:
- Bitcoin 101 — interactive fundamentals course
- Bitcoin Proof of Work — mining, hashing and consensus
- Browse all interactive blockchain courses
Related terms
- Proof of Work — A consensus mechanism that requires computational work to add blocks.
- Block Reward — New coins paid to the miner of a block.
- Difficulty — A parameter that controls how hard it is to mine a block.
- Hash Rate — The total computational power securing the network.
More bitcoin terms
- Address (Bitcoin / Crypto Address) — A public destination for receiving cryptocurrency.
- Block Header — The metadata at the top of each block.
- Double Spend — Attempting to spend the same coin twice.
- Halving — The scheduled 50% cut in Bitcoin's block subsidy.
- Nakamoto Consensus — Bitcoin's consensus rule: follow the chain with the most work.
- Nonce — The number miners change while searching for a valid hash.
- Confirmation — A block built on top of the block containing a transaction.
- SPV (Simplified Payment Verification) — A way to verify Bitcoin transactions without downloading the full chain.
Keep exploring
Continue with the full blockchain glossary — 136 terms in total — or read the developer blog and FAQ for deeper context.