Could someone give me the plain English version of what it is EXACTLY that we are "mining" for ?
I understand we are processing " transactions" but what is it that we find that " solves " a block and finishes it. ?
That is the part of this I dont understand.
People talk about the " height " of the blockchain, what the hell is that supposed to mean.
I've watch Antonopolis or what ever his name is and he just throws out all these fancy terms that most people dont understand but they
all sit there and nod as he babbles on.
I would like to know what we are looking for ?
Bob
I think you will find a reasonable explanation here
http://www.coindesk.com/information/how-bitcoin-mining-works/ . However the short answer is that we are coding a block into a hash (a string of letters and numbers), once we have coded the entire block into a hash the pool gets a reward and we get a share of that reward. A block is a list of bitcoin transactions over a period of time.
So in a sense we are not looking for anything (as we are just coding); but you could say we are looking for unsolved blocks and as these unsolved blocks represent 25 bitcoins you could say we are looking for bitcoins.
Unless you want to get really technical I would suggest that you consider that we are digging in the earth looking for little clumps of bitcoins, in just the same way as some people dig in the earth and pan for gold. This isn't at all accurate but it does paint a nice picture in your mind, just imagine all your little asics with pick axes digging through the ground.