What is mining and how does it relate to cryptocurrency?

Mining is the process of verifying and collecting new cryptocurrency transactions into blocks in order to add them to the public blockchain. The miners, or people performing the mining process, are rewarded with newly created coins and transaction fees. Mining verifies transactions by solving mathematical puzzles with specialized computers, which requires a lot of computing power and energy. It is an important part of how most cryptocurrencies work, as it helps validate transactions and maintain the security of the blockchain.