Cryptocurrency owners keep their money in virtual “wallets,” which are securely encrypted with private keys. In a transaction, the transfer of funds between the owners of two digital wallets requires that a record of this exchange be entered into the decentralized public digital ledger. Special computers collect data from the latest Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency transactions about every 10 minutes and turn them into a mathematical puzzle. There, the transaction-within-a-puzzle awaits confirmation.
Confirmation only happens when members of another category of participants, called miners, independently solve the complex mathematical puzzles that prove the transaction’s legitimacy, thereby completing the transaction from the owner of one wallet to another. Typically, an army of miners toils away on the puzzle simultaneously in a race to be the first with the puzzle proof that authenticates the transaction.
Confirmation only happens when members of another category of participants, called miners, independently solve the complex mathematical puzzles that prove the transaction’s legitimacy, thereby completing the transaction from the owner of one wallet to another. Typically, an army of miners toils away on the puzzle simultaneously in a race to be the first with the puzzle proof that authenticates the transaction.