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If you want to join in the bitcoin frenzy with no simply buying the digital currency in the inflated prices, then bitcoin mining is another way to get involved. But, mining bitcoins does come with expenses -- and dangers -- of its own. And also the more popular bitcoins become, the harder it is to mine them profitably. .

Unlike paper currency, that is printed by governments and issued by banks, bitcoins do not arrive in any physical form. This makes a major hazard, as hackers could theoretically create bitcoins from nothing. Bitcoin mining is the way the bitcoin network keeps its transactions secure.

Bitcoin transactions are secured with blockchains, which make up a public ledger of transactions. Because of the way blockchain transactions are structured, they are extremely difficult to change or compromise, even by the best hackers. However, in order to secure these transactions, someone needs to dedicate computing power to verifying the activity and packaging the facts in a block which goes into the bitcoin ledger.

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As a reward for doing the job to track and secure transactions, miners earn bitcoins for every block that they successfully process. .

The bitcoin founders have put a limit of 21 million bitcoins available for mining. Once that total is reached, miners will continue to have the ability to benefit from transaction fees, however they won't be granted bitcoins as a reward for their work. As of mid-January 2018, approximately 16.8 million of those 21 million bitcoins have been mined.  Assuming the bitcoin mining industry doesn't change radically, it seems like we won't hit the 21 million-bitcoin restrict until the year 2140. .

During the first days of bitcoin mining, miners would often download a software bundle designed to allow their computers to process bitcoin transactions in the background. Unfortunately, that's no longer sensible, because solving bitcoin transactions has become too difficult for your computer to manage.

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The bitcoin network is designed to produce a certain number of new bitcoins every 10 minutes. If only a few men and women are bitcoin mining at any given time, then the network will probably be generous and share bitcoins readily in order to reach the predetermined number. But now this bitcoin mining has become so widespread, the network has become much stingier about handing out bitcoins into miners.

These days, in order to have a chance at being profitable, miners need to adopt one of two strategies: 1) purchase technical hardware (aka a bitcoin mining rig) or 2) join a cloud mining pool. .

To get started with your own mining rig, you buy hardware designed check that for mining bitcoin (or any other virtual currency), set it up, and let it run 24/7 solving bitcoin transactions. Ideally, this will result in a steady stream of payments without your needing to get involved.

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As soon as it's fairly easy to establish and use a bitcoin mining rig, really making money on the process is something of a challenge. Since more and more people are signing up to mine bitcoins, the mining procedure continues to get more difficult and will probably keep doing so for a while.

And because bitcoin mining rigs aren't cheap -- expect to pay at least $1,000 for your hardware, or several times that for a top-quality rig -- having to replace it every year or 2 takes a massive bite out of any gains you earn from mining. Plus, most mining channels consume enormous amounts of electricity, which means you also have to subtract that expense in the bitcoins you earn to determine your own profits. .

If buying and maintaining your own mining gear doesn't attract you, then cloud mining might be the way to go. Cloud mining companies invest in huge mining rigs, often filling entire information centers together with the hardware, and then sell subscriptions to individuals interested in dipping a toe into bitcoin mining.

The biggest challenge facing cloud mining subscribers is avoiding fraud. The field is rife with pseudo-companies that sell thousands of multiyear subscriptions, cover for a couple of months, and then disappear into the sunset. If you choose to try cloud mining, do your homework in advance and confirm that the company that you're dealing with is a real cloud miner and not a scheme.

Avoid companies with anonymous domain registration (you can look up their registration info at Network Solutions), in addition to any mining company that"guarantees" gains or offers enormous incentives YOURURL.com for referring new clients; anything over a 10% referral commission is deeply suspicious, because legitimate mining pools simply don't generate a large enough profit margin to pay huge commissions. .