What is Proof of Work?

If you're already feeling lost, don't worry - this is technical stuff, and you're not alone if it's going over your head. That's why we're going to explain what you need to know about proof of work.

Proof of work traces its roots to the early internet, and it blended with digital money concepts in 1999.Though it was initially called "Pricing via processing.," this idea was first dreamed up by computer scientists Cynthia Dwork and Moni Naor in 1993.

Proof of work hinges on using computers to find answers to problems that are extremely difficult to solve, but easy to confirm a correct answer.

He gets credit for bringing proof of work to digital money in 1999 - it was called the reusable proof of work token.

Bitcoin took proof of work into the big time - it was a practical way to defend the system.

The anonymous developer known as Satoshi Nakamoto unleashed Bitcoin in 2009, and it had proof of work baked into its core.

Proof of work solves the problem in which a lot of internet voting is not only free, but easy to do fraudulently.

The blockhash is like a receipt that represents work performed by the miner.

That's where the "Proof of work" name comes from.

There are other consensus mechanisms out there for other currencies, but proof of work is something like the original gangster of them all.