re: Bitcoin Casinos Release 2012 Earnings

quote:

---

What's the end game though?

---

What the miners are actually doing is processing transactions. The calculations they perform help ensure the integrity of the ledger.

Right now, mining a block pays 25 bitcoins (called a block reward). However, it also includes any transaction fees that were included in the transactions in that block. So in total, a miner might get 27.xx or more, depending of the transactions fees included.

As the block reward becomes less and less (it halves every four years), the incentive for the miners to continue to process transactions will be the transaction fees. And as the bitcoin economy grows, more transactions will occur, thus more transaction fees can be collected.


But to put it simply, the mining calculations just ensure the integrity of the ledger by utilizing cryptographic technology.



Also, FWIW, transaction fees right now are not required, and when they do occur, they typically are equivalent to 1 US penny or less.