Bitcoin Mining

Abstract

Cryptocurrency, a form of digital currency that has an open and decentralized system and uses cryptography to enhance security and control the creation of new units, is touted to be the next step from conventional monetary transactions. Many Cryptocurrencies exist today, with Bitcoin being the most prominent of them. Cryptocurrencies are generated by mining, as a fee for validating any transaction. The rate of generating hashes, which validate any transaction, has been increased by the use of specialized machine such as ASICs, running complex hashing algorithms like SHA-256, thereby leading to faster generation of Cryptocurrencies. With more people venturing into the world of virtual currency, generating hashes for this validation has become far more complex over the years, with miners having to invest huge sums of money on employing and maintaining multiple high performance ASICs. This paper throws light on the nuances of Cryptocurrency mining process, the issues of traditional mining machines and the implication of incorporating cloud technology to current mining infrastructure.