Bitcoin mining is the process of adding transactions to the blockchain and confirming those transactions to the rest of the network. Bitcoin miners verify transactions, keeping the bitcoin network secure and functional. The primary purpose of mining is twofold. First, mining allows bitcoin nodes (any computer that is running the bitcoin program) to reach a secure, tamper-resistant consensus. Second, mining is the process in which new bitcoins are introduced into the system. By achieving these two primary goals, miners are paid fees for verifying transactions as well as for created any new coins. Historically, bitcoin mining was a relatively profitable practice but unfortunately it came with diminishing returns. The computational power required to create new bitcoins becomes exponentially more difficult as more and more are introduced into the system. Currently, bitcoin mining is widely considered to no longer be a profitable means of acquiring bitcoin because the cost of purchasing expensive computational hardware combined with the cost of the electricity required to operate the hardware is so high that even breaking even, let alone making a profit, is for the most part unrealistic.
