How to Find out If Employees Are Mining Cryptocurrency in the Office
Once Upon a Time, Cryptocurrency Lived in the Dark Corners of the Internet. These Days, Crypto Has Gone Mainstream: Everyone and Their Grandmother Is Starting...
Once upon a time, cryptocurrency lived in the dark corners of the internet. These days, crypto has gone mainstream: everyone and their grandmother is starting to invest. While most people will be happy to stop at crypto, there is a subset of people who recognize the immense potential of mining instead.
But what exactly is cryptocurrency mining? And why should you be worried about your employees doing it in the office?
What is Cryptocurrency Mining?
Cryptocurrency mining is the process by which new coins enter circulation. Mining is necessary to maintain blockchain technology because it monitors and legitimizes transactions.
By solving complex mathematical problems, cryptocurrency mining helps develop the overall blockchain ledger. The first crypto miners who discover solutions to these math problems are rewarded for their contribution.
Miners work to find a “hash” or unique 64-digit hexadecimal number. A hash includes a block header and the summary of the block. Block summaries include information like the block version, previous block hash, transactions blocked together, and metadata such as the time mined.
For successful crypto mining, prospective miners need a high hash rate. To solve these problems, miners often use a lot of power from computers.
How Much Can Crypto Miners Earn?
Depending on the coin mined, the exact value of crypto mining varies. Often, these values are decided on the technology behind it and the current market value of the coin.
For Bitcoin miners, the rewards for successfully mining are halved every four years. In the first year of Bitcoin mining in 2009, each block was worth 50BTC. In 2020, Bitcoin mining rewards hovered at 6.25 BTC. Historically, BTC prices have gone up significantly during a halving.
Crypto miners are rewarded with crypto tokens that can be kept or traded on exchanges. To learn more about real-time information on the different rates for each type of coin, you can visit Blockchain.
James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.
