Why is Bitcoin Mining Even a Thing?

Bitcoin mining is both one of the coolest and most unique aspects of the Bitcoin system, and it's also one of the most deeply misunderstood parts of it.

In my effort to make this crazy thing make some amount of sense, I toss my hat into the ring to explaining why mining is actually one of the most profound, and fascinating parts of Bitcoin, that make it a truly revolutionary discovery. So... Why is Bitcoin mining even a thing?

Check out the BitKit wallet if you want a simple and intuitive wallet with on-chain and lightning built in, where you are in control of your own keys. If you are in the US, do NOT use a VPN set to Europe to make lightning work without any friction. That would not be advised to get a service like NordVPN, or Mullvad, and get around that very easily. But you should get a VPN anyway because it will help protect your privacy, but will also protect you from man-in-middle attacks and wifi spoofing attacks.

Bitkit.to

*Host Links*
⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney)
⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann)
Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann)
Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann)
Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann)
⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible)
The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

*If you are looking for resources and useful tools, I've collected some of my favorite and most asked for in the list below:*

Fold: This is the most used piece of my setup being on a Bitcoin standard. The best way to buy, use, and earn #Bitcoin on everything you do! Sats back on your debit card, gift cards, auto-buys, round-ups, you name it. I have an affiliate for them and you can get 20K sats for FREE using my referral link bitcoinaudible.com/fold

Trying to BUY BITCOIN?
River is the place i most often buy large sums of Bitcoin with. They are secure, they built their own backends and don't interoperate with a bunch of third parties, they've survived the worst of markets, they are bitcoin only, lightning enabled, and simple. (Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/river)

Learning Bitcoin?
HODL UP is the coolest bitcoin game I've ever played. So much so that i hate calling it "educational" because it immediately sounds un-fun, lol. But its super entertaining, the fact that you'll understand how Bitcoin works is just a cool side effect. Best way to orange pill people who dont care about Bitcoin. Get 10% off on HODL UP or any of the other great games from the Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1)

Custodial Protection
If you aren't ready to hold your own keys, but have significant funds you want to invest, I highly recommend custodial multisig. It's the best way to distribute trust across multiple institutions and jurisdictions to mitigate a big risk in protecting Bitcoin keys! OnRamp. (Link: BitcoinAudible.com/onramp)

Education & HomeSchooling
As a father myself trying to homeschool, I've found a number of really great resources to help, and will be adding more. If you want to teach your kids (or yourself) the economics that will actually help them understand how the world works, and won't propagandize them into repeating the pseudoscience garbage that the state pushes... Liberty Classroom is what you are looking for. (Link: BitcoinAudible.com/Liberty)