Cycles through various values of a piece of data called a nonce to try to find a rare cryptographic hash value in a proof-of-work blockchain. Gathers and validates candidate transactions for a new block, adds a nonce, and executes a cryptographic hashing function. The nonce is varied, and the hashing continues. If miners “win” by finding a hash value that is very small, they receive a direct reward in newly minted cryptocurrency. The miner also earns an indirect reward, collecting fees for the transactions included in their block.
