WHAT IS ASIC MINING?

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MUD BY JIE YEE ONG – SOURCE: MAKEUSEOF.COM TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED

You cannot mine Bitcoin with your CPU. For that, you’ll need an ASIC miner. Here’s why.

Bitcoin does not appear out of thin air. Cryptocurrency may be a digital entity made out of zeros and ones, but a lot of behind-the-scenes hardware work actually takes place when it comes to producing them.

To obtain a single Bitcoin, you have to mine for them using specialized hardware, known as an ASIC miner.

ASIC MINING AND BLOCKCHAIN

Before you get into ASIC mining, you first need to understand blockchain technology. In very simple terms, blockchain is a technology that generates a hash that is not repeatable or replaceable.

These hashes are then cryptographically linked and “stacked” on one another (hence “block”) to ensure that nothing is repeated, creating a chain (hence “chain”) of codes that guarantee uniqueness and security. Our article on how blockchain technology works explains the entire process in more detail.

All cryptocurrencies, including NFTs and Bitcoins, are built on blockchain technology. So, “mining” for cryptos actually refers to creating blocks and blocks of codes. Therefore, creating blockchains means mining for cryptos, and for that, you need ASIC miners.