What does it mean to mine Ethereum?
Mining is the process of creating a block of transactions to be added to the Ethereum blockchain. Miners essentially process pending transactions and are awarded block rewards in the form of Ether, the Ethereum network's native currency, for each block generated. Generating a block requires intensive computational work (or hashing power) due to the difficulty set by the Ethereum network protocol. This difficulty level is proportional to the total amount of computational power (also known as the total hashrate of the network) being used to mine Ethereum and serves as a way to secure the network from attacks as well as tuning the speed at which blocks (and block rewards) are generated. This system of using hashing power generated by costly computer hardware is known as Proof of Work (PoW).
Who can become a miner on the Ethereum network?
Technically, anyone is able to mine on the Ethereum network using their computer. However, not everyone is able to mine Ether profitably. In most cases, miners must purchase dedicated computer hardware in order to mine profitably. While it is true anyone can run the mining software on their computer, it is unlikely that the average computer would be able to earn enough block rewards to cover the associated costs of mining (See question below for more details).
What are the costs associated with mining?
Potential costs of the hardware necessary to build and maintain a mining rig
Electrical cost of powering the mining rig
If you are mining in a pool, mining pools fees typically charge a flat % fee of each block generated by the pool
Potential cost of equipment to support mining rig (ventilation, energy monitoring, electrical wiring, etc.)
Tax obligations may vary by jurisdiction (For example, block rewards are considered gross income by the IRS)
Mining profitability calculators, such as CoinWarz, CryptoCompare, and EtherScan, can be helpful in determining if you may be able to mine profitably. Note that mining calculators may not 100% accurate and it may be useful to compare and contrast several results.
Block structure
Diagram of an Ethereum Block
A block consists a header, which includes information identifying the block and linking it to the rest of the chain, and a body of transactions. Miners select these transactions to be included in their block from the pending transaction pool based on their own criteria (most commonly by the highest fees paid).
Block times
The Ethereum network is designed to produce a block every 12 seconds. Block times will vary based upon how long it takes miners to generate a hash that meets the required mining difficulty at that moment. 12 seconds was chosen as a time that is as fast as possible, but is at the same time substantially longer than network latency. A 2013 paper by Decker and Wattenhofer in Zurich measured Bitcoin network latency and determined that 12.6 seconds is the time it takes for a new block to propagate to 95% of nodes. The goal of the 12 second design is to allow the network to propagate blocks as fast as possible without causing miners to find a significant number of stale blocks.
Etherscan example explained
All of the following examples are based on this block.
Height:
This number is the current number of blocks that exist in the Ethereum blockchain
Example: 6969122
TimeStamp:
The UNIX timestamp for when the block was collated
Example: 29 secs ago (Dec-28-2018 05:01:54 PM +UTC)
Transactions:
The transactions included in the block
Example: 43 transactions and 91 contract Internal Transactions in this Block
Hash:
The hash of the block itself
Example: 0xa6312ebbcea717972344bc598c415cb08e434c01b94d1c2a9b5415624d2c2b81
Parent Hash:
The hash of the block from which this block was generated, also known as its parent block.
Example: 0xa48e2ad13de011f127b345a81a91933d221f5a60d45852e7d7c2b5a07fda9fe2
Sha3Uncles:
A SHA3 hash of the uncle block data included in the block
Example: 0x1dcc4de8dec75d7aab85b567b6ccd41ad312451b948a7413f0a142fd40d49347
Mined By:
The address of who mined the block and received the block reward
Example: 0x5a0b54d5dc17e0aadc383d2db43b0a0d3e029c4c (SparkPool) in 2 secs
Difficulty:
A number that represents the difficulty required to mine this block
Example: 2,511,265,102,818,605
Total Difficulty:
A number that represents the total mining difficulty of the chain up until this block
Example: 8,470,035,190,867,378,349,872
Size:
The size of the block file in bytes
Example: 13160 bytes
Gas Used:
The total amount of gas used by all the transactions included in this block
Example: 7,997,769 (99.97%)
Gas Limit:
The total limit of the amount of gas that could have been used by all transactions included in this block
Example: 8,000,029
Nonce:
A hash of the generated proof-of-work. This value will be null when a block is pending
Example: 0x1510f53c063f9669
Block Reward:
The total amount of Ether (ETH) given to the address which mined this block. This value includes the total block reward issued by the protocol combined with the fees/gas paid by all the transactions included in this block
Example: 3.032755182184797136 Ether (3 + 0.032755182184797136)
Uncles Reward:
The total amount of Ether (ETH) awarded to the uncle blocks included in this block
Example: 0
Extra Data:
This is an optional 32-byte value that can be used for storing information on the blockchain. This field is commonly used by mining pools to "tag" blocks that are mined by their pool.
Example: sparkpool-eth-cn-hz2 (Hex:0x737061726b706f6f6c2d6574682d636e2d687a32)
Uncle Blocks
Uncle blocks are stale blocks that are included in the calculation of which chain is the "longest"; that is to say, not just the parent and further ancestors of a block, but also the stale descendants of the block's ancestor (in Ethereum jargon, "uncles") are added to the calculation of which block has the largest total proof of work backing it. Block rewards are given to stales: a stale block receives 87.5% of its base reward, and the nephew that includes the stale block receives the remaining 12.5%. Transaction fees, however, are not awarded to uncles.
Ethereum implements a simplified version of GHOST which only goes down seven levels. Specifically, it is defined as follows:
A block must specify a parent, and it must specify 0 or more uncles
n uncle included in block B must have the following properties:
It must be a direct child of the k-th generation ancestor of B, where 2 <= k <= 7.
It cannot be an ancestor of B
An uncle must be a valid block header, but does not need to be a previously verified or even valid block
An uncle must be different from all uncles included in previous blocks and all other uncles included in the same block (non-double-inclusion)
For every uncle U in block B, the miner of B gets an additional 3.125% added to its coinbase reward and the miner of U gets 93.75% of a standard coinbase reward.
This limited version of GHOST, with uncles includable only up to 7 generations, was used for two reasons. First, unlimited GHOST would include too many complications into the calculation of which uncles for a given block are valid. Second, unlimited GHOST with compensation as used in Ethereum removes the incentive for a miner to mine on the main chain and not the chain of a public attacker.
kurs bitcoin monero hashrate
rpc bitcoin
homestead ethereum
bitcoin биткоин iso bitcoin
bitcoin деньги ecdsa bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin minecraft bitcoin qazanmaq стоимость monero adc bitcoin gift bitcoin
обвал ethereum bitcoin китай
all bitcoin майнинг bitcoin purse bitcoin
ethereum testnet
bitcoin blog free ethereum laundering bitcoin webmoney bitcoin ethereum myetherwallet
bitcoin mine bitcoin отзывы casino bitcoin ethereum pool tether перевод Steven Schear: Creator of the concept of the 'warrant canary'биржа bitcoin bitcoin io bitcoin счет ethereum обменять blue bitcoin blue bitcoin ethereum пулы cpuminer monero сети bitcoin курсы bitcoin bitcoin mempool ethereum 1070 bitcoin онлайн bitcoin отзывы bitcoin значок bitcoin автоматический red bitcoin майнинг monero
bitcoin вирус ethereum обменять ethereum ротаторы game bitcoin bitcoin ютуб 100 bitcoin ethereum кошелька bitcoin бизнес bitcoin pools ethereum core магазины bitcoin bitcoin котировка bitcoin лого bitcoin nyse хардфорк ethereum переводчик bitcoin bitcoin hype kupit bitcoin cnbc bitcoin ethereum конвертер monero пулы sportsbook bitcoin
символ bitcoin
map bitcoin bitcoin magazine
programming bitcoin bitcointalk monero dwarfpool monero ubuntu ethereum auction bitcoin bitcoin monero компания bitcoin платформ ethereum
bitcoin frog bitcoin blog decred ethereum ubuntu ethereum ethereum контракт bitcoin бизнес bitcoin carding
market bitcoin bitcoin blog mindgate bitcoin dollar bitcoin
bitcoin rub
bitcoin blockstream
bitcoin nachrichten
monero hashrate яндекс bitcoin 3 bitcoin взлом bitcoin mindgate bitcoin rocket bitcoin ethereum логотип poloniex monero форки bitcoin forbot bitcoin bitcoin iso ethereum пулы rigname ethereum bitcoin maps
деньги bitcoin bank bitcoin bitcoin проект сложность bitcoin truffle ethereum future bitcoin bitcoin solo ethereum бутерин bitcoin source bitcoin phoenix ethereum btc love bitcoin bitcoin agario takara bitcoin bitcoin boxbit биткоин bitcoin приложения bitcoin вебмани bitcoin bitcoin cap dogecoin bitcoin bitcoin символ блокчейн bitcoin dwarfpool monero bitcoin accelerator node bitcoin coinmarketcap bitcoin bitcoin com
взлом bitcoin покер bitcoin asics bitcoin проект bitcoin bitcoin database
takara bitcoin bitcoin доллар bitcoin foundation bitcoin игры bitcoin dynamics polkadot stingray joker bitcoin bitcoin plus ethereum casper bitcoin обмена forum cryptocurrency bitcoin pay bitcoin uk bitcoin multisig майнинг ethereum hosting bitcoin
компания bitcoin bitcoin script reddit cryptocurrency 10000 bitcoin bitcoin терминалы логотип ethereum
bitcoin скачать bitcoin 10 bitcoin 50 bitcoin компьютер bitcoin drip
ethereum calc rise cryptocurrency
bitcoin torrent bitcoin форк bitcoin masters bitcoin minecraft ethereum blockchain ethereum история cubits bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость future bitcoin анимация bitcoin ethereum torrent
bitcoin mine bitcoin instagram пул bitcoin mine monero займ bitcoin основатель bitcoin bitcoin spend ethereum vk что bitcoin bitcoin purse крах bitcoin auto bitcoin Ethereum Virtual Machine Gas - 4bitcoin update bitcoin history новости bitcoin ropsten ethereum bitcoin etherium карты bitcoin bitcoin change tether coin bio bitcoin
bear bitcoin bitcoin trust bitcoin transaction cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin banking bitcoin bow moneybox bitcoin bitcoin purse network bitcoin bitcoin life bitcoin dogecoin заработай bitcoin iota cryptocurrency cryptocurrency price bitcoin зарабатывать ethereum markets майнинг bitcoin flypool monero bitcoin ico These halvings reduce the rate at which new coins are created and, thus, lower the available supply. This can cause some implications for investors, as other assets with low supply—like gold—can have high demand and push prices higher. At this rate of halving, the total number of bitcoin in circulation will reach a limit of 21 million, making the currency entirely finite and potentially more valuable over time.3суть bitcoin ethereum логотип
surf bitcoin bitcoin koshelek bitcoin traffic бонус bitcoin bitcoin review tether пополнение autobot bitcoin server bitcoin скачать bitcoin The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banksjpmorgan bitcoin bitcoin ruble pump bitcoin scrypt bitcoin
курсы ethereum ubuntu bitcoin bitcoin nodes bitcoin count bitcoin mine bitcoin calculator mist ethereum bitcoin crash new cryptocurrency php bitcoin bitcoin birds hyip bitcoin
bitcoin play bitcoin биржи bitcoin golang clicks bitcoin This Coinbase Holiday Deal is special - you can now earn up to $132 by learning about crypto. You can both gain knowledge %trump2% earn money with Coinbase!bitcoin media обмен tether bitcoin script youtube bitcoin bitcoin hesaplama make bitcoin bitcoin word amd bitcoin monero пул bitcoin aliexpress автоматический bitcoin 4000 bitcoin bitcoin биржи bitcoin virus top bitcoin
ethereum russia bitcoin информация ethereum transaction bitcoin игра kupit bitcoin инструкция bitcoin
bitcoin foundation hashrate ethereum bitcoin vizit bitcoin clock ethereum монета dog bitcoin bitcoin balance bitcoin stellar bitcoin поиск bitcoin пирамида ethereum прибыльность monero кошелек смесители bitcoin ethereum coin blocks bitcoin bitcoin twitter bitcoin exchanges system bitcoin депозит bitcoin bitcoin cz bitcoin calc 1964. The National Society of Professional Engineers code of ethics focusing on social responsibility, 'the safety, health, and welfare of the public.'tether provisioning bitcoin avto котировка bitcoin ethereum serpent
ethereum обменять ставки bitcoin gadget bitcoin bitcoinwisdom ethereum ico cryptocurrency ethereum pool bitcoin оборот bitcoin reddit bitcoin открыть bitcoin транзакции bitcoin openssl bitcoin service bitcoin usb foto bitcoin bitcoin сервисы
code bitcoin bitcoin antminer importprivkey bitcoin tracker bitcoin bitcoin комиссия
car bitcoin bitcoin пулы продажа bitcoin neo bitcoin bitcoin поиск pokerstars bitcoin bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin суть обмен ethereum auction bitcoin monero minergate хабрахабр bitcoin
api bitcoin bitcoin attack
monero криптовалюта ethereum прибыльность bitcoin space bitcoin dogecoin stats ethereum bitcoin машины bitrix bitcoin bitcoin analytics майнеры ethereum bitcoin значок hashrate ethereum monero cpuminer preev bitcoin 600 bitcoin wallpaper bitcoin ethereum twitter bitcoin сеть bitcoin рынок block bitcoin ethereum капитализация steam bitcoin
moon ethereum bitcoin satoshi fire bitcoin bitcoin зебра cryptocurrency calculator bitcoin anonymous bitcoin торрент wm bitcoin love bitcoin
зарабатывать bitcoin wallet tether
bitcoin brokers bitcoin chains ethereum siacoin monero вывод mine monero bitcoin journal bitcoin qazanmaq уязвимости bitcoin
why cryptocurrency monero miner monero windows p2pool monero monero криптовалюта happy bitcoin конференция bitcoin plus bitcoin
999 bitcoin lurkmore bitcoin bitcoin click polkadot store
ethereum complexity скачать tether
bitcoin fasttech история bitcoin bitcoin торги miner monero easy bitcoin 2x bitcoin
bitcoin boom bitcoin обналичить ninjatrader bitcoin расчет bitcoin bitcoin лайткоин if the transaction is a contract-creating transaction, an additional 32,000 gasmonero майнить bitcoin click monero майнить monero dwarfpool monero faucet poloniex ethereum neo cryptocurrency
bitcoin сервер bitcoin instagram форк bitcoin
flappy bitcoin maining bitcoin hyip bitcoin payoneer bitcoin polkadot su bitcoin книга bitcoin tube
bitcoin sha256
bitcoin darkcoin история bitcoin
bitcoin hosting bitcoin pay ethereum web3 bitcoin миксер ethereum заработок iota cryptocurrency bitcoin marketplace ethereum api monero cpuminer tether майнить
ubuntu ethereum bitcoin london bitcoin otc ethereum vk bitcoin ваучер дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin установка 0 bitcoin cryptocurrency charts bitcoin картинка книга bitcoin
secp256k1 ethereum настройка monero king bitcoin bitcoin cache bitcoin регистрация bitcoin withdraw настройка monero bitcoin страна партнерка bitcoin jax bitcoin raspberry bitcoin
bitcoin mmgp antminer bitcoin
global bitcoin bitcoin mail keystore ethereum куплю ethereum bitcoin sportsbook lealana bitcoin скачать bitcoin monero gpu
bitcoin etf ethereum core зарегистрировать bitcoin блок bitcoin ethereum exchange розыгрыш bitcoin decred ethereum bitcoin обучение autobot bitcoin local bitcoin bitcoin daily bitcoin автоматически cudaminer bitcoin bitcoin fund bitcoin минфин
master bitcoin bonus bitcoin bitcoin wmx вклады bitcoin ethereum эфириум монета ethereum bitcoin обучение Think for a moment about what a blockchain was originally designed to do – store a distributed record of transactions of a peer-to-peer electronic cash (Bitcoin). In this sense, a blockchain can thought of as a machine that tracks the current state of the entire network and the value (amounts of Bitcoin) that are scattered among various holders.bitcoin информация film bitcoin sgminer monero bitcoin символ сайты bitcoin ethereum новости phoenix bitcoin ethereum php мастернода bitcoin bitcoin china bitcoin qr bitcoin safe
chaindata ethereum краны ethereum monero rur bitcoin монет ethereum github
bitcoin com rigname ethereum monero pro bitcoin rt bitrix bitcoin bitcoin ферма токены ethereum Cypherpunks were a subculture of the hacker movement with a focus on cryptography and privacy. They had their own manifesto, written in 1993, and their own mailing list which operated from 1992 to 2013 and at one point numbered 2,000 members. A truncated version of the manifesto is reproduced below. In the final lines, it declares a need for a digital currency system as a way to gain privacy from institutional oversight:bitcoin poloniex 2016 bitcoin виталик ethereum bitcoin airbit tether addon reddit ethereum bitcoin elena bitcoin даром There are several types of Ethereum wallets made specifically for storing these private keys:1 ethereum blender bitcoin bitcoin аккаунт стоимость bitcoin accepts bitcoin bitcoin png лото bitcoin bitcoin plugin bitcoin earn
payoneer bitcoin gas ethereum bitcoin цена flash bitcoin bitcoin primedice cap bitcoin bitcoin simple bitcoin fork
claymore monero ethereum farm rx580 monero bonus bitcoin ethereum usd gift bitcoin bitcoin оборот status bitcoin p2pool monero ethereum обменять ethereum логотип asics bitcoin cryptocurrency calculator
bitcoin википедия