Painstaking , costly and sporadically rewarding , cryptocurrency - despite its flaws - is appealing to many investors due to miners being rewarded for their work with crypto tokens .

How is Bitcoin Mined ? Bitcoin mining is the process of new bitcoins entering into circulation ; it is critical to the maintenance and development of the blockchain ledger . The process is performed by using sophisticated computers that can solve complex computational maths problems .

So Miners get paid for their work as auditors ? Yes - miners verify the legitimacy of Bitcoin transactions . This process is meant to keep Bitcoin users honest . It was conceived by the founder of Bitcoin , Satoshi Nakamoto . By verifying transactions , miners can help to prevent the ‘ double-spending problem ’, whereby a Bitcon owner could illicitly spend the same Bitcoin twice . Once a miner has verified 1MB of Bitcoin transactions ( a block ), the miner is eligible to be rewarded with a quantity of bitcoin . However , this does not mean that everyone who verifies transactions will get paid .

So what conditions does a miner have to meet to get paid ? To earn bitcoins , miners need to meet two conditions :

• Verify 1MB worth of transactions

• Be the first miner to arrive at the right answer - or the closest answer - to a numeric problem ( proof of work )

� KOBOLD METALS Announcing plans to develop a new major nickel , copper and cobalt project with AIMlisted Bluejay Mining , the shares of Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates-backed venture KoBold Metals skyrocketed by 25.76 % at 11.7p per share .

� BATT MOBILE EQUIPMENT Batt Mobile Equipment ( BME ) has secured a AUS $ 4.5mn grant to ditch diesel and produce heavyduty battery-electric vehicles for underground mines .

� CHILE BILL The Chilean government is discussing a royalty bill that could close some mines in the country . The bill proposes a 3 % royalty on sales of copper that would also increase in line with rising copper prices . The National Mining Society says it would “ make private mining impossible ”.

� BHP GROUP LTD Union of workers at BHP Group Ltd ’ s Escondida copper mine in Chile have rejected the final labour contract offer . BHP has requested governmentmediated talks to avoid a strike .

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