Mining and Computational Economics
Summary
This chapter examines the real-world economics of blockchain mining — the process that secures proof-of-work networks. Students will learn how miners compete, how difficulty adjusts to maintain block times, and critically, how computational costs and energy consumption translate into quantifiable expenses. Understanding these costs is essential for the skeptic's toolkit when evaluating blockchain proposals against traditional alternatives.
Concepts Covered
This chapter covers the following 8 concepts from the learning graph:
- Mining
- Miner
- Mining Reward
- Difficulty Adjustment
- Computational Cost
- Energy Consumption
- Transaction Cost
- Gas and Fees
Prerequisites
This chapter builds on concepts from:
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