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Legitimate miners and buyers need to incur substantial production and energy expenses, or have to pay the going exchange rates for bitcoins.

Criminal miners pay nearly nothing for its production of new coins, outsourcing the job to hapless victim machines the world over. Criminal bitcoin thieves don't incur the exchange rate cost for acquisition of bitcoins. They simply rely on hacking and malware to siphon bitcoin pockets from law-abiding owners.

What we've got here, then, is a commodity (I hesitate to call it a currency) with a current value, is free of regulation (for the moment), allows for completely anonymous ownership, and is both highly rewarding and almost free to produce (if you are willing to break the law).

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There's no doubt that bitcoin has staying power, but if that is only among criminals (and those who wish to traffic with them, such as the Silk Road drug sellers and clients ), or whether it will become a valuable trading commodity for the rest of us remains unclear.

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My information to law enforcement is easy: follow the bitcoin. There is no doubt that more and more criminals will be using bitcoin to generate profit as well as pay their tracks. Whenever you find a stash of bitcoin and possess judicial permission to follow the footprints, do so.

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While bitcoin usage is not limited to criminals, there is an undeniably high correlation between bitcoin ownership and criminal activity. Notably since bitcoins are becoming every more rewarding to criminal malware seeders and botnet operators while concurrently becoming less profitable for legitimate traders.

Here's the key take-away: bitcoins are becoming the most"national currency" of criminals the world over and are becoming an increasingly inadequate investment for valid miners.

Cryptocurrency mining is painstaking, expensive, and only sporadically rewarding. Nonetheless, mining has a magnetic draw for many investors interested in cryptocurrency. This may be because entrepreneurial types see mining click now as pennies from heaven, like California gold prospectors in 1848. And If You're technologically inclined, why not do it

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Before you invest time and equipment, browse this explainer to see whether mining is really for you. We will focus primarily on Bitcoin. (Connected: How Bitcoin Works and our useful infographic, What's Bitcoin)

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By mining, you can earn cryptocurrency without having to put down money to it. That said, you certainly don't have to become a miner to own crypto.   You can also purchase crypto using fiat currency (USD, EUR, JPY, etc); you can exchange it on an exchange such as Bitstamp using other crypto (example: Using Ethereum or NEO to purchase Bitcoin); you even can earn it by playing video games or even by publishing blogposts on platforms that cover its users in crypto.

In addition to lining the pockets of miners, mining serves a second and vital purpose: it's the only way to discharge new cryptocurrency into circulation. In other words, miners are essentially"minting" currency. For instance, at the time of writing this piece, there were approximately 17 million Bitcoin in circulation.

In the absence of miners, Bitcoin would still exist and be usable, but there might never be any additional Bitcoin. There will come a time when Bitcoin mining ends; per the Bitcoin Protocol, the number of Bitcoin is going to likely be capped at 21 million. (Associated reading: What Happens Bitcoin After All 21 Million are Mined).

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Besides the short-term Bitcoin payoff, being a miner can provide you"voting" electricity when changes are proposed in the Bitcoin protocol. In other words, a successful miner has influence on the decision-making process on these issues as  forking.

Bitcoin are mined in units called"blocks." At the time of writing, the reward for completing a block is 12.5 Bitcoin. At today's cost of about $10,000 each Bitcoin, this means you'd earn (12.5 x 10,000)$125,000.

When Bitcoin was mined in 2009, mining one block could earn you 50 BTC. In 2012, this was halved to 25 BTC. In 2016, this was halved to the current level of 12.5 BTC. In 2020 or so, the reward size will be halved again to 6.25 BTC.

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If you want to keep track of exactly when these halvings will happen, then you can consult with the Bitcoin Clock, which upgrades this information in real time.

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Miners are getting paid for their work as auditors. They are doing the work of verifying previous Bitcoin transactions. This convention is meant to keep Bitcoin users honest, and has been conceived by Bitcoin's founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. By verifying transactions, miners are helping prevent the"double-spending issue."