Saga is a Layer 1 blockchain protocol that allows developers to design their own dedicated chains for running applications. Learn more in this article.

 universe right now is the lack of accessible tools for developers. Many people interested in designing new 

 projects struggle to find the right software developer kits (SDKs) for their projects. The Saga ecosystem aims to fix this issue by providing unparalleled support to app and game developers. 

Can the Saga ecosystem really become the premier chain for web3 development? Keep reading to learn how it works and see whether it's likely to attract new developers.

 blockchain protocol. It allows developers to design their own dedicated chains for running applications. People who work on Saga all share the same security, scaling solutions and SDKs, but they each get their own unique chain that they can customize to suit their needs.

 of technology, crypto and finance enthusiasts. CEO Rebecca Liao is a co-founder of the Skuchain project, the designer of the 

 and a former international corporate attorney. Other members of the founding team include former Tendermint executive Jin Kwon, Blocktech Ventures founder Bogdan Alexandrescu and 

. They realized that there was a major need for a development-focused blockchain specifically designed for game project development. Saga's mission has attracted many major investors, 

Saga aims to create a new system for web3 project developers. Currently, most developers have to choose between the ease of working on an established chain like 

 versus the convenience and customization of designing their own chain. The Saga team realized that the most effective option for game developers would actually be a combination of the two types of development environments.

Saga wants to let developers set up their own sovereign blockchain so they can decide how things like 

 and transaction fees work. However, Saga also aims to provide extensive support for developers in its ecosystem. Its underlying framework ensures that people still have excellent security and a reliable validator set, no matter what their gaming project is.

 ecosystem, whose interchain web development standard is a set of protocols that allows a broad variety of blockchains to communicate with each other. The Saga network uses the 

 and the shared security system of the Cosmos ecosystem to manage the network, and has created its own Layer 1 chain that runs the entire Saga ecosystem and can do things like automatically launching 

The Saga Mainnet handles each developer's compiled smart contract binary. However, it also runs parallel dedicated chains that function as virtual machine (VM) modules capable of handling a specific set of smart contracts. End users for blockchain games and other apps interact only with the dedicated blockchain, while the developer's system manages the fees and individual transactions on the Saga Mainnet.

All of the chains on Saga are validated through optimistic coordination, which requires every Saga validator to validate each chain in the Saga ecosystem via 

 validation, verifying transactions by temporarily locking Saga tokens.

The Saga network contains a lot more than just the basic features offered through the Cosmos SDK and ecosystem. In addition to the software development tools and helpful interface for Saga's validators and developers, the ecosystem also contains the following features.

The overall layout of the Saga ecosystem starts with the Saga Mainnet. Built on the Cosmos hub, this framework includes a full validator set and a dedicated blockchain for handling all smart contracts. The basic protocols are passed on to each child chain in the system, and information is relayed back and forth between the main chain and all of the secondary chains. Saga's validators stake tokens, and then check to make sure every element of the topology follows Saga’s regulations.

 are a method for creating a dedicated blockspace that a developer can manage. These chainlets function as virtual machines that can handle smart contracts and automatically launch Celestia rollups. Each chainlet is its own blockchain that handles nothing but a specific gaming project. Developers decide on the gas fees they'll charge users, and can add chainlets as their projects expand and require more throughput from the remaining validators.

Saga's shared security relies on both the Cosmos hub and its own set of validators to secure the network. Validators on Saga’s network are monitored by auditors who can catch potential issues with individual dedicated chains. If anyone in the validator set fails to properly confirm a smart contract, their staked tokens are automatically confiscated.

 is a publishing system for gaming developers who want to create their own blockchains with help from Saga. It offers infinite scalability, seamless 

 and transactions without gas fees. In addition to use of the Cosmos SDK, developers who choose to publish their game through Saga Origins receive access to a variety of helpful marketing and distribution tools.

 is an interconnected blend of all the developers and projects in the Saga system. Though each sovereign blockchain is fully independent of others, they all join together to offer users a variety of exciting web3 projects. People interested in checking out the latest blockchain designs can join the Multiverse and browse all the neat concepts built on Saga.

To help get the Saga validator system started, Saga released 

 to its community members. People were eligible for the 

 if they had participated in the staking program or played in tournaments to promote Saga ecosystem games. The airdrop eligibility period required remaining validators and other participants to be active between January and October of 2023. Once the airdrop began allowing people to claim tokens, it continued to run until Mar 27, 2024.

 consists of four separate phases. The company has already completed the Andromeda and Cassiopeia phases, which focused on designing the Mainnet and setting up the system of Saga validators. Currently, the Saga team is in the Pegasus phase, which is about releasing tokens and opening the Saga Mainnet to the public. Sometime in late 2022, Saga’s team hopes to reach their Mainnet V2 phase, which will prioritize a new version of the Saga Mainnet with more features and options for dedicated blockspace.

SAGA tokens are the primary method for paying fees on the Saga network. These tokens are also used for staking, and function as a method of confirming Saga transactions. There are a total of 

, of which around 90 million have thus far been released. Saga plans to distribute its tokens as follows:

SAGA is still in the early stages of its token launch. However, it’s already surprised investors, having debuted at $4.91 on Apr 9, 2024 before quickly surging to its ATH to date of $7.60. It then steadily declined over the next few days to its current price of $3.06 as of Apr 19, 2024.

 SAGA, with its experts believing SAGA’s price will reach $15.73 by 2025 and decrease in 2027 to $6.27, before rising again to $13.45 by 2030. This bullish sentiment is amplified by analysts at Changelly, 

 SAGA’s price will increase to $6.91 in 2025, $14.21 in 2027 and $44.36 in 2030.

Looking to trade Saga tokens? Bybit now offers SAGAUSDT Perpetual contracts. To get started, you’ll first need to 

, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the 

SAGA has done an extremely impressive job of attracting users, and seems poised to become the big coin debut of April 2024 with its high price.

However, it's hard to say whether SAGA can maintain its price in the long run. It's quite common for new startups to have a strong start and then drop in price once their project fails to take off. If the Saga ecosystem can’t attract new developers and continue to release impressive projects, investors could see some major SAGA losses in the future.

Since this coin is so volatile right now, investors need to 

. It has the potential for both big profits and big losses, so you’ll want to carefully consider how these price shifts might affect your portfolio. For best results, avoid investing more than you can afford to lose, make sure you diversify your investments — and 

By offering developers the chance to create their own dedicated chains, Saga offers a more convenient and scalable system for blockchain gaming. Its helpful features and low transaction fees have already attracted many people, and it's no surprise that many others are interested in the project. Furthermore, SAGA tokens have had a promising start with extremely impressive growth. If the Saga company can successfully capitalize on its early buzz, it has a bright future.

Intermediate

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Saga (SAGA): Catalyzing the Multiverse With Scalable Chains

Discover Masa, a platform empowering individuals to control and monetize their data, decentralizing AI storage and promoting ethical data sharing.

Few areas of the crypto industry are as popular these days as artificial intelligence (AI). AI-related tokens and projects experience some of the highest growth rates, with particular interest attached to generative AI technology and large language models (LLMs), all thanks to OpenAI's massively popular ChatGPT tool. This is no surprise, as blockchain technology has the potential to address many of the limitations of LLM algorithms, particularly those related to the issues of data and centralization of AI models.

The Masa network (MASA) is a new AI-focused crypto platform that brings a fresh paradigm to the world by allowing individuals to control and monetize their personal data. Its platform also contributes to the AI revolution by decentralizing the storage of both the user data and the LLMs utilizing it.

 (MASA) is a blockchain platform that provides access to user-consented, hyper-specific behavioral and personal data and decentralized LLM algorithms. 

The platform launched its operations on Apr 11, 2024. Masa operates as a subnet on the 

 (AVAX) blockchain. To enable cross-chain functionality, it has also integrated 

 technology. This lets Masa bridge assets, initially to two key blockchains, 

 (BSC), with additional chains to be added in the future.

Masa provides user-consented AI data that’s stored in a decentralized way. As of mid-April 2024, more than 40 million data points from over 1.4 million 

 user wallets are available via its permissionless data layer. Masa represents an entirely new decentralized AI paradigm: while most data providers use centralized storage solutions, its platform's data is always stored in a decentralized, blockchain-based format.

The data made available via Masa’s platform is user-consented for collection and privacy-protected using its Zero-Knowledge 

 (zkSBT) technology, which allows users to share their personal data securely and confidentially by storing this encrypted data on the blockchain. Thanks to the zkSBT, users can share fairly detailed personal data while protecting their identities and the specifics of their online activities.

This user-consented data is directly sourced from users through the Masa App and Masa Chrome browser extension with their consent. Users have complete control over their data, which is collected in a highly detailed, verified and ethical manner. 

As such, it's different from the typical user-aggregated data collected from the internet by companies. Compared to user-consented data, user-aggregated data tends to be less granular and, obviously, has ethical strings attached to it: in most cases, users don't consent to the collection of such data, or (at best) provide reluctant consent by clicking on annoying "Accept All Cookies" buttons.

While focusing mostly on user-consented data, the Masa platform also offers developers a way to access user-aggregated data for a richer data network. Using Masa's web data scraper, developers can extract data from websites, social media posts, blogs and online databases.

User-aggregated data is collected by data node workers via the Masa Oracle network and Masa Chrome extension and stored on the platform, benefiting from the 

In addition to datasets, Masa enables the decentralized execution of LLM algorithms, facilitated by the Oracle node workers, who leverage their surplus CPU and GPU computing power to run open-source LLMs for fine-tuning AI models.

The Masa project aspires to achieve goals crucial to the development of all data and AI industries. First, Masa allows individuals to completely control their own personal data by choosing what to share with the outside world while protecting their confidentiality. The blockchain-based storage mode also ensures the security of the stored data. Additionally, users can monetize access to their personal data, becoming a major beneficiary of its use.

All of these benefits are in stark contrast to the traditional way user data is collected, stored and used on Web 2.0 platforms. In this traditional mode, one is often unaware of what personal data is collected about them, as well as when and by whom. Although the data used for analytics purposes might be in an aggregated form, together with the details of other online users, individual users are still part of the "guinea pig" cohort whose details have been unceremoniously extracted and utilized without their knowledge or consent.

Moreover, when hit online with some fairly relevant advertising based on past search phrases, one begins to realize that data isn't always used in an aggregated format. In fact, its utilization can be quite personalized. And of course, in the traditional mode of data collection, we’re all rarely reimbursed for the data we share.

Another aim of the Masa project is to provide a secure and efficient decentralized infrastructure for running LLM algorithms. Traditional, centralized hosting solutions for AI models face challenges, such as technical capacity and security issues. For instance, many centrally hosted LLM-based solutions suffer from performance degradation when large numbers of users access them simultaneously. Masa's approach to leveraging decentralized resources for running open-source LLMs efficiently addresses these capacity limitations, providing enhanced scalability and reliability for AI applications.

Masa operates as a subnet on the Avalanche blockchain, using cross-chain communications supported by LayerZero to access other networks as well. Avalanche subnets are completely independent 

 networks with their own set of rules and functionalities. Subnets, including Masa, use Avalanche's validators, or a subset of validators, to secure the network and achieve consensus.

Besides the validators, the Masa network has another type of functional nodes — 

. These special Masa nodes play a critical role in providing structured data and advanced AI models while prioritizing data privacy.

The Masa Oracle network acts as a decentralized web scraper, gathering data from the internet and organizing it for AI training and development. This approach gives developers access to hyper-personalized training data to improve language model performance. It also supports the decentralization of LLMs, making them easily accessible without complex setup.

As mentioned above, users can manage access to and monetization of their personal data via Zero-Knowledge Soulbound Tokens (zkSBTs), which provide a secure way of providing access to users’ personal data without compromising their privacy.

 is the main gateway for users to interact with the Masa platform. It lets them provide access to personal data and earn crypto rewards by staking data in four different ways:

Masa’s native cryptocurrency, MASA, is a utility and 

 used to reward users for providing their data to the network. 

 MASA also earns you crypto rewards. Entities who wish to utilize data held by the network pay for access to it in MASA tokens. The token is also used to reward the Oracle nodes.

As a governance token, MASA lets you participate in votes on any changes and upgrades to the platform's rules or fee structure.

The token's supply economics doesn't specify a maximum cap. MASA's total supply is 1,588,866,523, which will be released gradually over a period of around four years starting in April 2024. Token supply allocation shares are per the table below.

The MASA token is available on Bybit via a 

. Bybit's Spot and Derivatives markets provide you with opportunities to trade hundreds of cryptocurrencies and crypto-based products. If you don’t have a Bybit account, you can easily 

 to access Bybit's range of crypto products and assets.

The Masa network is a refreshing addition to the data industry, whose user consent and privacy have been under attack for many years. The Masa platform puts data ownership in users' hands, allowing them to control access to their data and benefit from its monetization. As online privacy concerns and invasive Web 2.0 advertising shenanigans grow, more users will be attracted to Masa's unique data concept.

In addition to allowing individuals to control and monetize their data, Masa also contributes significantly to the development of 

, which is important because the decentralized mode of data and model storage championed by the platform has the potential to solve many technical limitations of LLMs and other types of AI algorithms. This is a network full of merit and promise; all it needs now is wider recognition and user adoption.

Advanced

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Masa (MASA): Powering AI With User-Centric Data Monetization

Today’s outperformer is LSK, which jumped 17.63% after Lisk partners with Velodrome to enhance blockchain access and drive ecosystem growth.

The SPX index is down 0.22% as the market anticipates less Federal Reserve rate cuts, considering the possibility of no cuts this year. The broader cryptocurrency market is up, with Bitcoin and Ether rising by 4.18% and 3.19%, respectively in the past 24 hours.

Lisk (LSK), launched on May 2016, is a cryptocurrency platform that enables developers to build decentralized applications (dapps) using JavaScript and TypeScript. It supports custom "sidechains" within its network, offering tools like a software development kit. Lisk has announced a partnership with Velodrome to support and expand its blockchain ecosystem. Lisk will purchase and lock $VELO tokens for voting, directing VELO emissions to key pairs on Lisk. This collaboration aims to support existing protocols on Lisk, attract new developers, and enhance blockchain accessibility and adoption in emerging markets. Velodrome will back Lisk's Layer 2 initiatives, aligning with the goal of creating a scalable, interoperable Ethereum future.

Check Out the Latest Prices, Charts, and Data of 

The Runes protocol is set to debut alongside Bitcoin's 2024 halving, heralding a new phase in Bitcoin's evolution by enabling the creation of fungible tokens directly on its network. This follows the impactful Ordinals protocol, which significantly expanded Bitcoin's functionalities. The Runes protocol will spark competition among developers to issue and acquire the first tokens, with global exchanges ready to support these tokens from day one. The halving event will also feature a race to mine a highly valuable "Epic" satoshi. As Bitcoin approaches this transformative era, extensive preparations and educational initiatives are underway to equip users for the forthcoming changes, marking a profound shift in Bitcoin's operational and cultural landscape.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs have yet another day of outflow, however, yesterday’s outflow was close to neutral. The market has seen fluctuating flows in these ETFs, with significant activity in some and none in others, reflecting mixed investor reactions. Recent substantial outflows echo trends from March, but analysts regard such fluctuations as typical for ETFs and not indicative of failure. Despite this volatility, the outlook for Bitcoin ETFs remains positive as they continue to draw institutional interest and shape market dynamics.

Avail, a blockchain data-availability protocol developed using Polygon’s SDK, has announced an airdrop of 600 million AVAIL tokens, marking its one-year anniversary since spinning off from Polygon Labs. The "Unification Drop" aims to bring together various blockchain communities by rewarding developers, governance contributors, educators, rollup users, stakers, and others who have significantly contributed to the ecosystem. Avail's infrastructure includes three segments: Nexus for cross-chain transactions, Fusion for liquid staking on chains like Ethereum and Bitcoin, and DA for scaling rollups through technologies like KZG commitments. The airdrop will distribute tokens to 354,605 wallet addresses and includes significant allocations for various roles across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Cosmos, and more, emphasizing a unified Web3 environment.

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Runes Protocol Revolutionizes Bitcoin with New Token Capabilities Ahead of 2024 Halving

Nolus is a decentralized finance lending protocol with cross-chain capabilities. Learn more about how it works in this article.

One of the big advantages of decentralized finance (

) is that it provides more options for users. People who cannot get traditional loans because a typical bank deems them "high-risk" can turn to the DeFi sector to borrow crypto assets. The Nolus Protocol is a new DeFi lender that offers users all sorts of exciting opportunities. To see how this intriguing project works, explore this guide to learn all about Nolus.

 is a DeFi lending protocol. It has cross-chain capabilities that let people choose the most favorable rates possible and avoid the need to save up funds for liquidity.

Nolus was founded by Ivan Kostov and Kamen Trendafilov. Kostov worked in traditional finance, while Trendafilov has a background in marketing and business. During their time in these sectors, Nolus's founders realized that blockchain networks had the potential to revolutionize banking. They decided to join together and create a new leasing system that makes the most of DeFi products instead of just trying to mimic past banking methods.

Nolus started work on its plans in 2022 and officially launched its mainnet in 2023, having successfully completed several investing rounds and receiving 

 Token Metrics, Autonomy Capital, Everstake and more.

Nolus aims to tackle three problems common in crypto lending markets:

 software developer kit (SDK). Its code is entirely open sourced, and is updated and changed only when all stakeholders in the Nolus community vote to do so. According to the Nolus white paper, its ecosystem’s goal is “to build a novel user experience–driven automated money market” that facilitates direct interactions between lenders and borrowers without involving any other users.

The Nolus lending method starts with lenders choosing to supply 

 to the system. Any borrower who submits a down payment can get a loan from this supply of stablecoins. Both the coins and the down payment are 

, and interest is determined based on the value of the items. There’s no fixed repayment schedule, but the smart contracts ensure that interest is automatically removed from the collateral, and then paid to the lender at regular intervals. Once the user decides to repay the lease, the original assets are released from the smart contract.

Nolus's lending protocol includes many ways for customers to profit and enjoy convenient services. Here are the main DeFi products you can access through Nolus.

DeFi leasing on Nolus is designed to be as convenient as possible. Customers don’t have to go through a lengthy application or pay a lot of fees to other users. You just enter your collateral and get a loan of up to three times the value of the initial investment. Interest rates vary between 11% and 18%, based on the market value of the digital assets. The 

 allow the loan to be repaid on your own schedule. However, keep in mind that you pay more interest if you wait a longer amount of time to repay the loan.

If you want to earn money based on your existing crypto, you can join one of the many 

 on Nolus by submitting stablecoins in exchange for interest-bearing Nolus crypto. When you're ready to withdraw your funds and stop participating in DeFi leasing, you can cash out your Nolus tokens to receive your initial asset, plus any additional interest or network fees you’ve earned.

Nolus's system of money markets isn't the only thing they provide. Users who decide to 

 a crypto asset on Nolus can earn more money. The Nolus ecosystem offers the option of staking NLS tokens in exchange for various incentives. Lenders receive higher amounts of rewards for lending stablecoins, and borrowers get a lower interest rate.

Nolus has had some impressive growth since its launch in 2023. In just six months, the lending protocol has assisted with thousands of loans, collectively worth $8.6 million in total. Its team calculates that they've managed to achieve an average 

Nolus hopes to expand on this momentum in 2024. Its main plan is to continue marketing the lending protocol heavily, attracting more users who want to do their own research and find the best possible loans. To further attract users from the DeFi sector, Nolus aims to add more support for other crypto tokens and increase network liquidity. Nolus stands for community-led governance, so they don't have a long-term road map in place. Instead, they plan to evolve and adjust to suit whatever community needs arise in the future.

. It allows users to adjust their interest rates, and it's also a 

. People with NLS tokens can vote on how the platform is run and help implement new changes for the platform. The NLS token has a total supply of 1 billion. Nolus’s plan is to gradually mint tokens over a ten-year period, and implement a token buyback program to help maintain value. NLS token distribution will be as follows:

When the NLS token was released in the summer of 2023, Nolus prices were fairly stable. However, now that investors can sell their NLS tokens, prices have become more volatile. Starting in December 2023, NLS prices 

, and although the token currently seems to be dropping from its all-time high of $0.10, more price increases seem likely in the future.

Not only is the market for the NLS token quite bullish right now, but the Nolus lending protocol is also attracting a lot of positive attention in the crypto space. If the network can maintain its positive attention and attract more users, prices seem likely to rise even further. CoinCodex predicts Nolus prices will stay in the $0.04 to $0.19 range for 2025, and hit 

. This attitude is backed up by crypto influencers such as Crypto Revolution, 

 an underrated crypto with a lot of potential for growth.

The Nolus project is a well-thought-out crypto protocol that offers users significant advantages. Its innovative approach to lending could potentially attract a lot of users from the DeFi space. In addition to having a reliable system backed with effective technology and a detailed white paper, NLS digital assets have also experienced some promising growth patterns. The crypto asset has had a slow yet steady climb in price, and now that it's trending in crypto news, it seems poised to take off.

However, keep in mind that it's still important to 

 on digital assets. Some crypto investors might find it concerning that the Nolus project is mostly backed by marketers, instead of blockchain enthusiasts. There have also been some tech issues, such as the 

 that led to some unnecessary margin calls. Subsequent issues could limit price appreciation of its crypto assets. Therefore, it's necessary to approach Nolus with caution and not overextend your finances.

Nolus's DeFi lease system allows people to obtain easy access to crypto. Its innovative approach provides investors with significant advantages. Unlike traditional finance, there's no lengthy application process, and in contrast to many other blockchain networks Nolus doesn't have frequent margin calls or high network fees. As long as Nolus doesn't run into any technological issues or financial problems, its network is likely to have a lot of success in the DeFi space.

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Nolus (NLS): Crafting Liquidity's Future With Leading DeFi Leases

Crypto

Crypto mining refers to the process of contributing your computer’s processing resources to securing the network consensus on a blockchain.

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As crypto ownership increases internationally, more people are exploring ways to buy, earn and trade cryptocurrency. Buying crypto on 

 like Bybit is currently the predominant way of obtaining cryptocurrency. 

However, in addition to buying cryptocurrency, you might also earn it in several ways. One popular way to earn crypto is mining.

Cryptocurrency mining refers to the process of contributing your computer’s processing resources to securing the network consensus on a

By participating in crypto mining, you can help a blockchain platform keep its operations free from hostile takeovers, spam, and attempts to centralize the operational control in the hands of a small number of network agents.

Best of all, you can earn significant crypto rewards from participation in the mining activity while contributing your resources to these noble goals.

Although crypto mining is a very competitive process, its potential rewards are nothing to sneeze at. For instance, the current reward for mining a block on the 

 (BTC) blockchain is 6.25 BTC (over $140,000 at the coin’s current market price). The reward is designed to be halved approximately every four years, although BTC’s increase in monetary value over time helps compensate for the reduced award.

Bitcoin’s block rewards and halving dates

To become a crypto miner on a blockchain platform, you’ll need to have the requisite mining hardware. By now, given the competitive nature of crypto mining, the standard hardware required is usually an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) machine, a powerful computer specifically designed for mining purposes. On some chains, powerful GPUs on a PC might also be used.

There are two main blockchain types based on the method of transaction verification used, either 

 (PoS) verification. Mining is an activity associated with transaction verification on PoW blockchains.

The PoW chains employing the mining procedure include, among others, the world’s two leading networks – Bitcoin and 

PoW is a computational procedure used to validate and add blocks of transactions to a blockchain’s permanent ledger of records. On blockchains using the PoW method, special network nodes called miners package transactions into batches/blocks, and then use their computers’ 

to try to “solve” a computational puzzle that will “validate” the block. The validated block is then added permanently to the blockchain.

PoW’s short description does sound like a concept from a rocket science textbook, doesn’t it? While PoW is indeed a rather technical process, it can be easily understood when you look at its execution step by step. For our step-by-step description, we'll show how Bitcoin mining works, though the overall principle applies to all PoW chains.

Step 1 — A new (unconfirmed) transaction is initiated on the network.

Initially, all Bitcoin transactions receive an unconfirmed transaction status. When two users transact on the blockchain, e.g., one sends some crypto funds to the other, a new unconfirmed transaction is generated on the network. The transaction contains the key records, such as the sender address, the receiver address and the amount sent. The transaction is broadcast across the entire network.

Step 2 — The unconfirmed transaction enters the waiting area(s) called a mempool(s).

Bitcoin miners continually monitor the network for new activity. Each miner has a temporary area on their machine where unconfirmed transactions pop up after appearing on the network per Step 1. This temporary area is called a 

Contrary to popular belief, there is no single mempool on the network. Each miner has their own mempool. Two miners’ mempools may differ slightly, as each node is built differently and receives the unconfirmed transactions at a different time, though by default the mempool size cannot exceed 300 MB.

Step 3 — Miners package transactions into candidate blocks.

Miners regularly pick transactions from their mempools and package them into so-called “candidate blocks.” On Bitcoin, the average candidate block is 

, which fits approximately 2,000 transactions.

Since miners may have somewhat different mempool contents, the composition of the candidate blocks between different miners also differs.

Step 4 — Miners race to solve a computational puzzle to make their candidate block the winner.

The actual PoW process starts at step 4. After packaging up their candidate blocks, each miner uses their machine to repeatedly add a small number, called a 

, to a different number generated by the network’s software. The resulting number is then run through the hashing algorithm used by Bitcoin, called 

The hashing algorithm is designed to modify the input cryptographically and provide a modified output value. This output value must equal or be less than a certain system-generated 

, which is continually updated by the blockchain’s code. If that happens, the candidate block is said to have been “solved,” i.e., its status moves from candidate to fully verified block.

The verified block is then added to the blockchain as the next record in the ledger. The miner who has solved the block receives their reward, which for Bitcoin is currently 6.25 BTC.

Each miner races to be the first one to find a match for the target value and make their candidate block the winner. To do so, miners, or rather their computers, repeat the process of adding the nonce value a massive number of times, and try to do it as fast as possible.

The more nonce substitutions (hashes) you can make per second, the higher your statistical chance of winning the race. Modern powerful ASIC computers (see above) are capable of adding hundreds of trillions of hashes per second.

This race to solve the next block on the chain is repeated on Bitcoin every 10 minutes. When a winning block emerges, miners promptly drop their attempts to solve their current candidate block, update their mempools to remove the now confirmed transactions, package another candidate block from the available unconfirmed transactions, and restart their race to be the first miner to add the next block to the chain.

The computational battle among miners to solve new blocks on the chain is an extremely energy-intensive process. It also slows down the processing capacity of the network significantly. You might be wondering why the network is subjected to this seemingly pointless and laborious procedure.

The key rationale behind using PoW is to protect the network from spam transactions and, importantly, from attempts to take over the network, i.e., to violate its decentralized nature.

On the scale of the entire blockchain, PoW requires so much energy and hash power expenditure that no single entity, person or group can realistically solve all or most blocks on the network.

Thus, PoW is the key element to ensuring that blockchains remain decentralized and free from the control of a small number of actors.

Among the popular blockchains based on PoW are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Monero (XMR).

The top 5 proof-of-work cryptocurrencies by market cap (in billions of USD) as of August 4, 2022:

PoS is the main alternative to PoW for validating transactions on a blockchain. With the PoS model, there is no computationally intensive race to solve transaction blocks. Each new unprocessed block on the network is allocated to a validator node, who verifies it and adds the block to the chain.

Under the most basic PoS model, this allocation to a validator node is random, and the validator’s probability of getting the next block to process is directly dependent on the share of the chain’s native cryptocurrency held or staked by that node.

For example, if you hold 3% of all the crypto funds on the network, you’ll get the chance to validate around 3% of all the blocks.

Unlike PoW, PoS neither requires significant energy expenditure nor appreciably slows down the network’s operations. Some of the popular blockchains using PoS include Binance Chain (BNB), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Tron (TRX) and Avalanche (AVAX).

The world’s second-largest chain, Ethereum, is planning to move from its current PoW version to the new PoS platform, 

The top 5 proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies by market cap (in billions of USD) as of August 4, 2022:

There are three principal methods of mining cryptocurrency to validate transactions and earn crypto rewards in the process:

Solo mining is just what its name implies: You purchase the necessary mining hardware, join a blockchain network as a node, download the requisite software and attempt to mine blocks on your own. If you manage to mine a block, you’ll receive the mining reward without having to share it with any other network participant.

While (theoretically) you can use your PC’s CPU or GPU to mine crypto, this is no longer practical or profitable, given the intense competition between miners on most popular PoW chains. For profitable mining, your realistic choice is limited to ASIC machines.

On popular chains like Bitcoin, solo mining — even with a powerful ASIC machine — could be challenging due to the competition from mining pools. These are groups of network participants who pool resources from many individual miners in order to dominate mining activity.

) can help you estimate the mining difficulty and profitability for various networks. These websites allow you to enter the specifications of your ASIC rig, your electricity rates, the chain on which you’d like to mine and other relevant parameters. They then produce profitability estimates.

A mining pool refers to a large group of individual miners who pool their computing resources together to increase the chance of solving the next block on the chain. Large mining pools can have many thousands of individuals contributing their hash power to the joint operation.

The distribution of Bitcoin mining activity by pools — 30 days to August 4, 2022

When a block is solved by any member of the pool, the mining reward is split between all the pool participants proportional to their hash power contribution. Due to the resource pooling from a large number of computers, mining pools have a significantly higher chance of solving blocks than solo miners.

If you’re considering mining Bitcoin or other popular cryptos like 

 and Litecoin, it’s highly recommended that you join a sufficiently large online crypto mining pool rather than try to go solo. A good pool can make your Bitcoin mining profitable even if you don’t own the most powerful mining rig on the network. While your rewards will trickle in in smaller amounts, at least they’ll arrive with some degree of consistency.

Conversely, if you mine solo, your rewards might become very infrequent or not materialize at all, given the fierce competition on the leading PoW chains.

Solo mining and pooled mining both require you to own mining hardware. Instead of buying the hardware, you could also participate by joining a 

platform. Cloud mining platforms charge users a monthly or yearly fee for the opportunity to rent their internal mining hardware resources.

In exchange for the fee, the cloud platform runs the mining operations on your behalf on a blockchain network. Any rewards obtained from the mining activity are shared with you. The higher the fee you pay, the more hash power you can rent, and, therefore, the higher your rewards are likely to be.

The cloud mining model looks very attractive since it frees you from the requirement of owning a mining rig. However, before committing to it, carefully research the fees and reputation of the cloud mining providers on the market. Finding a reliable long-term provider with low fees might be a challenging task in this niche.

The biggest advantage of crypto mining is, undoubtedly, the potential to 

. Mining crypto might be an energy-intensive process, but it’s usually done in a hands-off way, i.e., you don’t need to be actively monitoring what’s going on on the network.

In a practical sense, you simply keep your rig functioning on autopilot. As such, mining could be a great way to earn a passive income.

Another benefit of mining is more of an altruistic nature — you get the chance to

 contribute to keeping the network decentralized 

What Is Crypto Mining and How Does It Work?

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards