Coin Coach

What is mining?

As with gold or diamonds, if you want to discover new units of cryptocurrency, you have to roll up your sleeves and dig—albeit through virtual terrain. (Mining also refers to the process of verifying cryptocurrency transactions and adding them to the public ledger.) And instead of pickaxes, pans and shovels, the tools required for cryptocurrency mining include the appropriate computer setup, software and high-level math.

Different currencies call for different approaches, which can change over time. For example, as Bitcoin gained in popularity and value, mining it has required an increasing amount of computational and electrical power. While you once could’ve used a personal computer, now entire mining operations with networks of specialized hardware are on the job. Other currencies can still be mined on a smaller scale.