Book Image

Bitcoin Essentials

By : Albert Szmigielski
Book Image

Bitcoin Essentials

By: Albert Szmigielski

Overview of this book

Blockchain is being billed as the technology of the future. Bitcoin is the first application of that technology. Mining is what makes it all possible. Exploring mining from a practical perspective will help you make informed decisions about your mining setup. Understanding what the future may hold for blockchains, and therefore for mining, will help you position yourself to take advantage of the impending changes. This practical guide starts with an introduction to Bitcoin wallets, as well as mining hardware and software. You will move on to learn about different mining techniques using the CPU, GPU, FPGA, and ultimately the ASIC as an example. After this, you will gain an insight into solo mining and pool mining, and see the differences between the two. The book will then walk you through large-scale mining and the challenges faced during such operations. Finally, you will take a look into the future to see a world where blockchain-based applications are commonplace and mining is ubiquitous.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Bitcoin Essentials
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Summary


In this chapter, we explored LSM operations. We defined what it means to run a large scale mining operation. We presented and explained the challenges that such operations face today. Most likely, these challenges will evolve, some will become non-issues, and others will become dominant. We also looked into the operations of some of the most well-known miners who run industrial-sized mines. The field of large scale mining is relatively new and we expect lots of developments and perhaps the emergence of completely new players in the game. It is an exciting time to be watching and commentating on Bitcoin mining.

In the next chapter, we will look at what the future of mining may look like. We will examine the centralization of mining debate and consider if there is a chance that mining can become more decentralized than it is today.