[njiahderick]

[b]What are ‘Miners’?[/b]
[b]Mining[/b] is a way to create bitcoins. A core motivation to mine is the ability to stay anonymous. If you solve a block (a lot of computing power is necessary to achieve this, but once solved, you are remunerated with bitcoins) and use Tor (anonymous browser) it is possible to obtain bitcoins while remaining completely anonymous (Sterry, 2012).
Bitcoin can be simplified into three things: first, is the set of rules (protocol) that dictates how the network should be operated; second is the [b]software[/b] that actualizes the protocol; the third point is the large network of computers that run the software that enables the protocol. Essentially, this is a chain of computers that serve as the fundamental basis of the system. That activity of the third point is what is called mining. The process of mining involves verifying transactions, collecting transaction fees, preventing double-spending, and creating the currency supply. Mining is also a computational protection for the system since a large amount of processing power is being piled on top of past transactions. Miners [b]verify[/b] transactions by assessing them against previous transactions. Transactions cannot spend bitcoins that were spent before or do not exist. They must adhere to the rules defined by the protocol (Sterry, 2012).
Mining and blockchain are the keys that enable a cryptocurrency and both of these are just at the beginning stages.

---

COOL and simple to do