What Is Proof of Work (PoW) in Blockchain?

Adekunle Joshua

Proof of Work is a consensus mechanism used to secure and validate transactions on a blockchain network

It was introduced by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto as a fundamental building block of Bitcoin

At its core, PoW requires participants, known as miners, to solve complex mathematical puzzles in order to add new blocks of transactions to the blockchain

Miners compete against each other to solve these puzzles by making multiple attempts, using significant computational power

The first miner to find a valid solution gets the right to add the next block and receives a reward in the form of cryptocurrency

The difficulty of the mathematical puzzles is designed to ensure that, on average, only one block is added to the blockchain every 10 minutes

This mechanism helps maintain a consistent pace for transaction confirmation and prevents double-spending

Proof of Work has proven to be a robust consensus mechanism and remains widely used in various cryptocurrencies.

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