Still can't find answers to some basic questions.

marcovaldo

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Quote from: ahassoun on August 30, 2013, 07:32:07 AM

Q1: Since there is no central authority controlling Bitcoin, then, who is actually giving out Bitcoins for miners for securing the network?

When the miner solve the block (every 10 min on average), he is rewarded by 50 btc (25 btc now, and it will decrease over time). The blockchain contains all the transactions since the first block, and they know exactly which address has btc, and how much. So, you have a full historic. The bitcoins are directly credited to the miner's address

xxjs

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Quote from: ahassoun on August 30, 2013, 07:32:07 AM

Hello,

I had read really a lot about bitcoin here and around the web, still can't find answer to basic questions though.

Q1: Since there is no central authority controlling Bitcoin, then, who is actually giving out Bitcoins for miners for securing the network?

The protocol says that the miner can include a transaction of 25 BTC out, but nothing in, for each block found. Mining is like a competition, you don't know in advance who finds the next block, but the chances are better if you have a lot of hashing power.

Quote

Q2: Is the main point of Mining softwares to decode SHA-256 hashes? If not, what actually are the mining software doing?
If so. Then whoever knows how to decode/decrypt SHA-256 can make Bitcoins?

I will be updating this topic for more questions if any

Yes, anybody can be a miner. You need a computer that is good at good at hashing, and a piece of software that is available for anybody. Be prepared to shell out serious money for mining hardware, and do some calculations in advance to make sure you are able to recapture the cost.

xxjs

sr. member

Activity: 280

Merit: 250

Quote from: ahassoun on August 30, 2013, 07:42:50 AM

I am a web developer and have enough background in this field and as I know SHA-256 is a one-way algorithm that cannot be decrypted. Then what actually is mining and why it requires such huge resources?

The purpose is to hash the new blockheader. That takes only a few microseconds, but all hashes are not good. The hash result has to meet certain criteria. If you hash again the same block, you obviously get the same hash, but there is a number in the block, called a nonce, that means nothing but is included just so you can change it, and try again.

The criterium for the hash is that it has a certain number of leading zeroes.

ahassoun

newbie

Activity: 12

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I am a web developer and have enough background in this field and as I know SHA-256 is a one-way algorithm that cannot be decrypted. Then what actually is mining and why it requires such huge resources?

ahassoun

newbie

Activity: 12

Merit: 0

Hello,

I had read really a lot about bitcoin here and around the web, still can't find answer to basic questions though.

Q1: Since there is no central authority controlling Bitcoin, then, who is actually giving out Bitcoins for miners for securing the network?

Q2: Is the main point of Mining softwares to decode SHA-256 hashes? If not, what actually are the mining software doing?
If so. Then whoever knows how to decode/decrypt SHA-256 can make Bitcoins?

I will be updating this topic for more questions if any

Topic: Still can't find answers to some basic questions. (Read 425 times)