Mapping out crypto mining

Despite the ongoing bear market, cryptocurrency mining is still a very lucrative business. In less than a decade, crypto mining has become a multi-billion-dollar industry creating entirely new businesses. In 2017 alone, Bitmain, the leading mining-hardware manufacturer, generated $2.5B in revenue.

The role of miners is often debated in the crypto community. Some believe that miners are the ones that determine the changes in a blockchain’s consensus protocol while others believe miners are effectively workers “hired” by a network to provide a service. While the role of miners can be debated in the community, there is one undebatable fact: miners provide a vital service for securing a blockchain network and its transactions.