“Bitcoin is a decentralised crypto-currency; computers around the world constantly mine for bitcoins by solving complex mathematical problems,” Harry Guinness writes for Tuts+.Once a certain number of problems have been solved, a block of bitcoins is released.”
“The value of bitcoins has shot up since 2009 (though it has come back down from a peak of around $1,000 per coin to about $500 per coin),” Guinness writes. “This spike in value, as well as the resulting media attention, has resulted in a lot of interest in mining bit coins.”
“To mine Bitcoin on a Mac you’ll need a wallet with a wallet address,” Guinness writes. “You also need a Mac with a discrete GPU. This excludes all MacBooks bar the top 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, and some models of 21.5-inch iMac. If your Mac doesn’t have a discrete GPU, you will need to pick up some of the external mining hardware described later on.”
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