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What is crypto mining?
Mining is the process of using computer hardware to create new blocks under proof of work. Miners compete to solve a costly mathematical puzzle; the winner adds the block and collects newly created coins plus the transaction fees inside it.
What it means for you
Mining costs hardware, electricity and often pool fees, whether or not a block is found. Not every coin is mined: Ethereum switched mining off in 2022, so an offer of 'Ethereum mining' is not mining on Ethereum itself.
How it works
A miner assembles a candidate block, starting with a coinbase transaction that pays itself the block subsidy plus fees, then hashes the block header again and again, changing the nonce, until the result falls below the network's target. Any node can check the answer with a single hash. Every 2,016 blocks the target is recalculated from how long those blocks took, aiming at two weeks, so more computing power makes the puzzle harder rather than blocks faster. Coinbase outputs cannot be spent for 100 blocks, and pools combine members' work and share rewards for a fee.
Sources: bitcoin.org: Frequently Asked Questions, ethereum.org: Mining, Bitcoin developer guide: Block chain, Bitcoin whitepaper (PDF), Satoshi Nakamoto · checked 4 October 2026
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