Mining, Blockchains, Value and Further Understanding Cryptocurrency

In Making Sense of Cryptocurrency I posted links for both Bitcoin and Dogecoin which showed How to:

• Get a Wallet
• Get coins
• Spend coins

Now that the basics have been touched on we can focus on learning more starting with coin mining. Mining is not for everyone, it takes particular hardware specifications and may cost more in electricity than you can mine and there are also multiple ways to mine. I've included a link to a Beginner's Guide to Mining Bitcoins which will pick up where my first post ended. This is a link to a Dogecoin Mining Guide which also shows you how to build a Dogecoin mining rig. Now that you (should) have a wallet the linked post will explain how to get a client, the author of the bitcoin Mining Guide does a pretty decent job of explaining why he recommends joining a pool as opposed to using the basic software to make coins. "...The reason is that bitcoins are mined in blocks of 50. You can’t mine just 1 at a time. So unless you have a massive mining machine, the odds of you actually discovering a block at the current difficulty is extremely low. It actually might never happen. That being said, it can still be done, but it would be an extraordinary lucky occurrence. In a pool, you are working together to discover a block and you will receive a lot of smaller payouts with much more consistency." Another resource you should consult when deciding if mining bitcoins is the best course of action for you is the Bitcoin Mining Profitability Calculator. Assuming you have your hardware up to par and your wallet, the next step would be acquiring mining software.
 
What are blockchains? The blockchain is a public ledger of all transactions in the coin network. Blockchain.info allows you to navigate the bitcoin blockchain and also operates Bitcoin's largest and most secure wallet service. Dogechain is branded "the official dogecoin blockchain".


What's it worth? That varies, Here is a converter for Dogecoin/bitcoin value.

Hopefully between the two posts you can see how to get started with digital currency. If mining is not for you than you can always purchase from the previous link provided or if you operate a business than you can accept Bitcoin/Dogecoin as a form of payment. There is also the option of receiving cryptocurrency from tips, something that I will get into more in tomorrow's Dogecoin feature.