Interactive guide to Bitcoin's proof of work

bennet.org

2 pointsarcane_node2 comments

Hello, author here. I built this to explain what Bitcoin miners are actually doing - not “solving complex equations” but repeatedly hashing block candidates in a lottery.

The main interactive component lets you simulate mining w/ adjustable difficulty, and shows how Bitcoin’s issuance schedule is enforced regardless of hash rate growth.

I built it with Astro. The mining simulator component runs client-side. Happy to answer any questions.

> The term “proof of work” is apt. The work is the proof. Finding a valid hash demonstrates that you did the computational work to find it.

This whole article equates Proof of Work with hashing.

But the term Proof of Work is more general than the particular instance used in Bitcoin (Hashcash).

Other forms of Proof of Work require finding a solution to a puzzle after fixing the header and nonce. For example, Cuckoo Cycle requires finding a 42-cycle in a huge bipartite graph.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com