{"id":10843,"date":"2023-02-23T05:49:27","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T05:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/?p=10843"},"modified":"2025-09-10T15:21:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T15:21:24","slug":"what-is-proof-of-work-the-bitcoin-consensus-protocol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-proof-of-work-the-bitcoin-consensus-protocol","title":{"rendered":"What is Proof Of Work? The Bitcoin consensus protocol"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Alternar tabla de contenidos\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-proof-of-work-the-bitcoin-consensus-protocol\/#what_is_proof_of_work_pow\" >What is Proof of Work (PoW)?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-proof-of-work-the-bitcoin-consensus-protocol\/#how_did_it_all_start_the_history_of_pow\" >How did it all start? The history of PoW<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-proof-of-work-the-bitcoin-consensus-protocol\/#how_does_it_work\" >How does it work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-proof-of-work-the-bitcoin-consensus-protocol\/#what_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages\" >What are the advantages and disadvantages?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-proof-of-work-the-bitcoin-consensus-protocol\/#advantages\" >Advantages<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-proof-of-work-the-bitcoin-consensus-protocol\/#disadvantages\" >Disadvantages<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 5<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutos<\/span><\/span><p>Before we go into the vast paths and trails we have planned for today, let\u2019s start by imagining that we were unwittingly introduced into<strong>\u00a0a SAW or \u201cFermat\u2019s Room\u201d type movie<\/strong>, where we are locked in a location with different people, both known and unknown to us.<\/p>\n<p>Given this,\u00a0<strong>we are presented with the premise that either we solve certain mathematical games\/puzzles in order to survive, or we will end up in a catastrophic ending.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Therefore, we must cooperate with each other, since by joining all the ideas or solutions we have about the challenges, we will be able to move forward to escape from a cruel destiny.<\/p>\n<p>In this situation, all the messages we are given game after game complement each other and give us more information, either about the other people around us or why we are there.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, all our efforts come together and, although some win some and others lose some,\u00a0<strong>we receive as an incentive to continue with our lives and corroborate the assumptions we have.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a similar way, but less bloody and terrifying, is how the Proof of Work system works,\u00a0<strong>so get ready, because in this article we will talk about mining, what this interesting mechanism consists of and its origin.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"what_is_proof_of_work_pow\"><\/span>What is Proof of Work (PoW)?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Proof of Work or Proof of Work, \u201cPoW\u201d for short,<strong>\u00a0is one of the most widely used consensus algorithms for cryptocurrency mining, as is Proof of Stake (PoS).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Its function is relatively simple: to\u00a0<strong>avoid double-spends<\/strong>\u00a0(double spending, better understood as duplication or use of the same currency in two or more different transactions)\u00a0<strong>by verifying and recording transactions securely.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To this end, it makes use of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-a-hash\/\">hash function<\/a>, which\u00a0<strong>is a type of cryptographic function that makes use of mathematical functions to encode the information exposed in<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-blockchain-and-how-does-it-work\/\">blockchain technology<\/a>, ensuring that it is authentic and unique, resulting in a valid hash.<\/p>\n<p>It is irreversible in nature and each hash of the block, encrypts the data of the previous block and so on throughout the blockchain.<\/p>\n<p>In short,\u00a0<strong>proof of work is achieved when certain computers or mining machines solve a complex mathematical problem and are rewarded by adding a block (with transactions inside) to the blockchain.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These mathematical problems have the particularity of not having an \u201cefficient\u201d way to be solved and that is why miners have to find the answer to the problem by trying combinations.<\/p>\n<p>To perform more calculations they need more powerful equipment and that is why you may have heard that energy-intensive mining rigs are needed.<\/p>\n<div id=\"image_1838138711\" class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\">\n<div class=\"img-inner dark\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work02.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work02.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work02-300x205.jpg 300w\" alt=\"Qu\u00e9 es Proof of Work Bitnovo\" width=\"768\" height=\"526\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work02.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work02-300x205.jpg 300w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work02.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_did_it_all_start_the_history_of_pow\"><\/span>How did it all start? The history of PoW<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s go back to the 1990s, where, although computers didn\u2019t have half the functions they have today,<strong>\u00a0they were a brutal technological revolution.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As early as this decade,\u00a0<strong>in 1992, we began to talk about both security and spam or malicious mail<\/strong>, and this was noted by computer scientists such as Cynthia Dwork and Moni Naor in their article \u201cpricing through processing or fighting spam\u201d, who argued that,\u00a0<strong>to deal with a wave of fraudulent e-mail and other associated problems, a user was required to calculate a moderately difficult, but not intractable, function.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Does this sound familiar? Yes, it does! It\u2019s like the example I was giving you of SAW and Fermat\u2019s room, where, to rectify suspicions about your roommates and clarify doubts (in this case, the concern is whether an email is fraudulent or is spam), we solve riddles.<\/p>\n<p>This is undoubtedly the whole basis of the proof-of-work system, since<strong>\u00a0its function is that one party, called \u201cthe prover\u201d or the demonstrator, proves to the others (verifiers) that a certain amount of specific computational effort has been expended.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Therefore, verifiers can confirm the expenditure with minimal effort on their part. This concept was invented by the aforementioned Dwork and Naor in 1993.<\/p>\n<p>However,\u00a0<strong>the term \u201cproof of work\u201d was only used and formalized in the 1999<\/strong>\u00a0article by Markus Jakobsson and Ari Juels, computer security researchers and writers.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with the idea in mind of what Cynthia Dwork and Moni Naor were commenting on in their article, there was an essentially important mechanism that was presented many years before the Bitcoin white paper, known as Hascash.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-hashcash\/\">Hascash<\/a>\u00a0is a type of proof-of-work system that was proposed in 1997 by Adam Back\u00a0<\/strong>and, more formally described in the article \u201cHashcash: a denial-of-service countermeasure\u201d by the same author in 2002.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put,\u00a0<strong>in e-mails<\/strong>, a textual encoding was added to the header of an e-mail to show that a certain amount of time was spent in generating it, so its sender\u00a0<strong>was not a spammer.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This mechanism, for the first time,\u00a0<strong>demonstrated that a proof of work worked quite well in reality and opened the door to the development of PoW systems in other scenarios.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Later, in 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto made the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-bitcoin\/\">Bitcoin<\/a>\u00a0protocol public in an article, where he\u00a0<strong>established Proof of Work as a key aspect of its functionality<\/strong>, which eventually made the PoW algorithm very popular.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, several projects such as\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-bitcoin-cash-bch\/\">Bitcoin Cash<\/a>, Bitcoin,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-ethereum-eth-and-how-does-it-work\/\">Ethereum<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-litecoin\/\">Litecoin<\/a>\u00a0and other cryptocurrencies use proof-of-work, mainly for its contribution to competitive mining.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"image_1291350412\" class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\">\n<div class=\"img-inner dark\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work-300x205.jpg 300w\" alt=\"Qu\u00e9 es Proof of Work Bitnovo\" width=\"768\" height=\"526\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work-300x205.jpg 300w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Que-es-Proof-of-Work.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_does_it_work\"><\/span>How does it work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To understand how the proof of work works, I will break it down into five phases:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The participants of the network or node establish a connection with the network,\u00a0<strong>who assigns them a computationally complete task or puzzle, which must be solved in order to receive an incentive (reward in cryptocurrencies)<\/strong>. In the case of SAW, it is the test presented to us that we must solve in order to survive when we encounter Jigsaw.<\/li>\n<li><strong>We begin to solve the horror movie riddle or mathematical problem,\u00a0<\/strong>which, actually, must be solved by certain computer equipment (varies according to the cryptocurrency) characterized by a certain power.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Once finished, the miner or participant shares his or her result<\/strong>.What in SAW is the call to action to get out of some machine or situation.<\/li>\n<li>Subsequently,\u00a0<strong>the solution is checked to ensure that it meets the system requirements and if it does<\/strong>, access is granted. If it does not, access is denied and the solution is rejected, which, in movies, leads to a complicated outcome.\u00a0<strong>Double-spending protection<\/strong>\u00a0is also checked here.<\/li>\n<li>Once it is confirmed that the problem was successfully cracked,\u00a0<strong>the user or miner accesses the network resources and receives their incentive which would be cryptocurrencies<\/strong>\u00a0or, in our thrillers, the completion of a horrible experience. At this point, one particular hash can be obtained that encodes the whole process.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"what_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages\"><\/span>What are the advantages and disadvantages?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"advantages\"><\/span>Advantages<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>From everything we have reviewed, we have observed that it is a very secure process.\u00a0<strong>Miners receive the bounty in exchange for contributing their computing power to the blockchain network. This makes it more difficult and costly for someone to attack these blockchains.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In addition, PoW generally provides greater decentralization to any network.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, it has\u00a0<strong>a good defense against DoS<\/strong>\u00a0(Denial of Service) attacks, so it would not start rejecting requests due to the \u201clow capacity\u201d of response that it could present in the face of all the demand.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"disadvantages\"><\/span>Disadvantages<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Because of the increasing difficulty of the puzzles presented by the readjustments that the system may have when considering the response times of the puzzles,\u00a0<strong>more and more powerful and highly specialized hardware is needed.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Additionally, they\u00a0<strong>consume a lot of power and are vulnerable to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-a-51-blockchain-attack\/\">51% attacks<\/a>, or wholesale attacks<\/strong>, on small proof-of-work chains, meaning that one user or a group of users have enough power to control what happens inside the network.<\/p>\n<p>Glad to see you made it this far!<\/p>\n<p>I know this has been an information-packed article, but we hope it has been very useful to understand a little more about how the wonderful crypto ecosystem works.<\/p>\n<p>But\u2026oh\u2026wait, you were left wanting more?<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t worry! At Bitnovo, we are working hard so that you not only have the best information at your fingertips and in less time than a rooster crows on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/\">our blog<\/a>, but we also have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/en\/buy\/bitcoin\/\">our own website<\/a>\u00a0where we bring you closer to the world of cryptos in an easy, fast and secure way.<\/p>\n<p>Are you ready to take action? Perfect, see you on Bitnovo and on the blog in a new post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 5<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutos<\/span><\/span>Before we go into the vast paths and trails we have planned for today, let\u2019s start by imagining that we were unwittingly introduced into\u00a0a SAW or \u201cFermat\u2019s Room\u201d type movie, where we are locked in a location with different people, both known and unknown to us. Given this,\u00a0we are presented with the premise that either [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blockchain-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10843"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24611,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10843\/revisions\/24611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}