Mining is an integral part of the narrative of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. However, the process of discovery, validation and addition of new blocks (mining) to the chain has the potential to do more than increase the money supply of a particular cryptocurrency.
Moving Past Cryptocurrency Mining
In addition to being responsible for creating new tokens in a cryptocurrency blockchain that uses proof-of-work (PoW), mining also serves to protect the network. This function is perhaps also the most relevant for any examination of the positive elements of the mining process for the DLT (distributed ledger technology) structure.
Essentially, miners act as guardians to help keep the blockchain running smoothly. On the blockchain, all transactions are linked to each other via blocks. When another transaction or block is added, the chain lengthens.
To extract the blockchain, users who lend their computing power (called miners) are presented with a puzzle to solve. Once the puzzle is solved and confirmed, the miner is rewarded with a payment (typically, some cryptocurrency or token) and a new block is added to the chain, in addition to transaction fees.
While mining blockchain has typically been associated with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, this is just a small example of how mining can be used within decentralized technology. Let's take a closer look at the mining blockchain and the benefits it provides to miners and society as a whole.
Democratization of data
When Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin, and with it, the first successful implementation of the DLT framework, the stage seemed set for the emergence of a completely decentralized digital space. The democratization of data or the return of control over user data to users themselves is a cause that has attracted the attention of many in recent times.
In theory, public blockchains are decentralized, which means that data ownership is not domiciled in any central server as with traditional Internet. Every day we spend in our digital world means we are creating data. We may not think about it consciously, but the data we generate is used by many companies to improve their systems, as well as their profits.
Often, however, we have no idea what we are doing with our data until there are scandals and we usually do not see the value that can be created using this data. Those in the blockchain world fought for the democratization of data, but up to this point, there He has not was a platform created for this purpose in mind.
Mining Blockchain for positive social impact
Mining can be used to drive positive social engineering in the digital space. Projects such as Lambda have even started to look at similar use cases that use the transaction validation process over the creation of new cryptocurrency tokens.
using Lambda as a case study, mining node activities may cause positive changes in the overall business process. Recently, Ethereum World News reported Lambda launched the first open source blockchain space-time test protocol (PoST) on GitHub. The miners manage the data and, as far as the blockchain is concerned, these data are equivalent to a huge volume.
Almost all industries can benefit significantly from the extraction of blockchains, especially if they are used as a solid foundation for the development of services and products. So far, we have seen that the extraction of blockchains in a decentralized environment leads to progress in the health, education and finance sectors, to name a few.
If done correctly, mining on the blockchain can also lead to considerable profits for the miners. For some, mining has even become a full-time career. Furthermore, it is relatively easy to start the extraction. All that a user requires to become a miner is a home computer and an Internet connection.
Overall, mining offers a new way to earn money by participating in a real blockchain project where the user holds the tokens and a way to return to the community they participate in by verifying information, as well as help to push so many industries forward by extracting data for further information.
Many consider investments in the blockchain as exclusively a financial effort. However, with all the advantages miners bring to the world of cryptocurrency, mining can provide a higher return than purely financial investments in decentralized technology. Are you ready to start taking advantage of blockchain mining?
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.