+ Hi, Pablo here +
+ ++
Bitcoin mining is like adding the final piece to a puzzle
++ Bitcoin mining is one of those terribly explained topics that everyone and their mother has kind of + heard about at some point, but no one really feels comfortable explaining. +
+
+ + Truth is, there are great explanations out + there for those who really want to dive into it (there are also terrible ones). +
++ But I understand people are busy and would rather do other stuff than dive into it. For those, this is + the usual metaphor I give away. I'm sharing it here (1) in case it helps other fellow orange pillers in + doing the Lord's work, and (2) to make sure I say something completely opposite to that terrible "miners + solve highly complex mathematical problems" that sloppy journalists from big media gift to us so we can + confirm they don't understand a thing about what they are reporting. +
++ So, what is mining then? +
++ Imagine I give you a puzzle to finish. One of those beautiful, 3,000 pieces ones. I'm going to give you + the puzzle almost complete: it is actually only missing one piece. Should we be playing with only the + pieces that came in the puzzle's box, your job would be easy: you would look for the missing gap, get + the only unplaced piece, and put it there. +
++ But instead, along with the 2,999 pieces stitched together, I come with a 40ft truck container[1] full of puzzle pieces. They are all different, and only one fits in + the last hole of the puzzle. +
++ What could you do to finish the puzzle? Oh well, the only obvius and tedious thing: you need to go check + the pieces one by one. Pull piece, check hole. Fits? Bingo. Doesn't? Move on to the next. It would be + boring and tedious, but it would surely work. You might get lucky and pull the right piece early, or you + might have to work a lot more.
++ Eventually, you will find the missing piece, and the puzzle will be complete. Anyone can see that the + piece is the right one (verifying is easy), even if finding it was a nightmare of work (mining is hard). +
++ Alright, Bitcoin mining, as an activity, is roughly like the work I just described. Only instead of + looking for a fitting puzzle piece, we're looking for a random number. This number is searched at + random, with no intelligence, by brute force. Hence why I (and anyone who knows a thing or two) gets + disappointed when the journalists and snake oil salesmen talk about the "complex mathematical problems" + that miners solve. +
++ In case you're curious, and in order to help you further understand, here are some corresponding + analogues between real mining and + the puzzle metaphor. If you don't understand things, don't worry, just remember the puzzle story: +
+| Puzzle metaphor | +Real mining | +
|---|---|
| The almost complete puzzle. | +A candidate block, which is a bunch of Bitcoin transactions, along with some other metadata. + | +
| The container full of pieces. | +All the numbers between 0 and ~One hundred fifteen quintillion (2^256). | +
| Getting a piece, checking if it fits | +Generating a random number, hashing it with the candidate block and checking if its hash is + correct | +
| Checking that the puzzle is complete | +Checking that the block hash is below the difficulty threshold | +
[1] The container is a simplification. It would actually be 10^65 + containers.
++ +