Miner
role · mining
A proof-of-work participant that builds or searches candidate blocks and earns revenue when an accepted block is found.
- Also known as
- mining node
A miner participates in proof-of-work block production. Mining hardware searches for a block-header hash below the current target, while a miner or pool operator selects a parent, assembles valid transactions, constructs the coinbase transaction, and distributes work to hashers.
Finding a valid proof of work proposes a block; independently validating nodes decide whether it follows consensus. If valid blocks compete, nodes follow the branch with the most accumulated work, so a valid block can still become stale.
An accepted block can pay its miner the permitted subsidy and included transaction fees after coinbase maturity. Revenue also depends on asset price, hash rate, pool terms, uptime, energy and hardware costs, fee selection, and stale-block risk.
A mining pool coordinates work and reward accounting for many hashers. The hardware contributor, pool server, block-template builder, and reward recipient may be different parties, so statements about "a miner" should identify which role is relevant.
Related terms
Mining
→Proof-of-work block production in which miners build candidate blocks and search for a header hash below the network target.
mining · proof-of-work
Proof of Work (PoW)
→A consensus mechanism that makes block production require verifiable computational work.
mining · blockchain · consensus
Hash rate
→The number of proof-of-work hash attempts performed per second by mining hardware or an entire network.
mining · security
Mining Pool
→A service that coordinates proof-of-work from many hashers and distributes rewards under a payout scheme.
mining · infrastructure