When people say that they "mine Bitcoin" what this actually means is that the protocol will show them a number on the screen once they solve a hash combination. Literally, they spend energy to get just numbers on the screen. Number that count nothing. It's crazy how dumb this is.
there's even more madness to the story if one is willing to hear it all. once they get the numbers on their screen, they sell those numbers to someone else. so they can get real money...
