Mining is the process of verifying and adding transactions to the public ledger of a cryptocurrency, known as the ‘blockchain.’ Cryptocurrency miners use specialized hardware and software to solve complex math problems in order to validate these transactions. When a problem is solved, one new block is added to the blockchain and the miner is rewarded with a certain amount of that cryptocurrency. Miners are an essential component of the cryptocurrency network, since they secure the network by verifying and validating transactions.