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If you want to join in the bitcoin frenzy without simply buying the digital currency in the inflated prices, then bitcoin mining is another way to get involved. However, mining bitcoins does include expenses -- and dangers -- of its own. And the more popular bitcoins become, the more difficult it is to mine them profitably. .

Unlike paper currency, that is printed by governments and issued by banks, bitcoins do not come in any physical form. This creates a major hazard, as hackers can theoretically create bitcoins from nothing. Bitcoin mining is the way the bitcoin network retains its transactions secure.

Bitcoin transactions are secured with blockchains, which compose a public ledger of transactions. Because of the way blockchain transactions are structured, they are extremely difficult to change or undermine, even by the top hackers. However, in order to protect those transactions, someone needs to dedicate computing power to verifying the action and packaging the facts in a block that goes into the bitcoin ledger.

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As a reward for doing the work to track and secure transactions, miners earn bitcoins for each block that they successfully procedure. .

The bitcoin founders have put a limit of 21 million bitcoins offered for mining. Once that total is reached, miners will still be able to benefit from transaction fees, but they won't be granted bitcoins as a reward for their job. As of mid-January 2018, approximately 16.8 million of the 21 million bitcoins have been mined.  Assuming that the bitcoin mining industry doesn't change dramatically, it looks like we won't reach the 21 million-bitcoin limit until the year 2140. .

During the early days of bitcoin mining, miners would often download a software bundle designed to allow their computers to process bitcoin transactions in the background. Unfortunately, that's no longer practical, because solving bitcoin transactions has become too hard for your average computer to manage.

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The bitcoin network is designed to produce a certain number of new bitcoins every 10 minutes. If only a couple people have been bitcoin mining at any given time, then the network will probably be generous and discuss bitcoins readily in order to reach the predetermined number. However, now this bitcoin mining has become so prevalent, the network has become much stingier about handing out bitcoins into miners.

Nowadays, in order to have a chance at being profitable, miners need to adopt one of two strategies: 1) purchase specialized hardware (aka a bitcoin mining rig) or 2) join a cloud mining pool. .

To get started with your own mining rig, you buy hardware designed for mining bitcoin (or any other digital currency), set it up, and let it run 24/7 solving bitcoin transactions. Ideally, this will result in a steady flow of payments without your needing to get involved.

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While it's fairly easy to establish and use a bitcoin mining rig, actually making money on the process is something of a challenge. Because more and more people are signing up to mine bitcoins, the mining process continues to have more difficult and will probably keep doing this for a while.

And since bitcoin mining rigs aren't cheap -- expect to pay at least $1,000 for your hardware, or even several times that for a top-quality rig -- having to replace it every year or two takes a huge bite from any profits you make from mining. Plus, most mining channels consume enormous amounts of power, so you also have to subtract that expense in the bitcoins you earn to determine your own profits. .

When buying and maintaining your own mining hardware doesn't appeal to you, then cloud mining may be the way to go. Cloud mining companies invest in huge mining rigs, often filling entire data centers with the hardware, and then market subscriptions to individuals interested in dipping a toe into bitcoin mining.

The largest challenge facing cloud mining subscribers is avoiding fraud. The field is rife with pseudo-companies that sell thousands additional hints of multiyear subscriptions, pay out for a few months, and then vanish into the sunset. In case you decide to try cloud mining, do your More Help homework in advance and confirm that the company that you're dealing with is a true cloud miner and not a scheme.

Avoid companies with anonymous domain registration (you can look up their registration info Network Solutions), in addition to any mining company that"guarantees" gains or offers huge incentives for referring new clients; anything over a 10% referral commission is profoundly suspicious, because valid mining pools simply don't generate a large enough profit margin to pay big commissions. .