Bitcoin mining, in and of itself, is not harmful and involves using a computer to solve difficult mathematical equations for the user to earn bitcoin. The user earns bitcoin by verifying transactions on the blockchain, which is a digital ledger—similar to a bankbook—that keeps track of all the transactions of a given cryptocurrency. Each time a hash is solved, the user who solves it earns bitcoin.

Bitcoin mining uses malware. Hackers have written malware with the ability to access your computer and use its resources to mine bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. For the hacker to earn cryptocurrencies, they have to verify transactions on a blockchain. Cryptocurrencies depend on this to maintain solvency.

Each transaction generates an ID labelled with a hash. On the bitcoin blockchain, a hash is a 256-bit encryption, which is essentially a password. Each computer on the network tries to figure out the 256-bit password, and if it gets even one character wrong, the hash is not solved. Other computers work to verify the authenticity of the solutions the “winning” computer came up with. All of this work is rewarded with cryptocurrencies; in this case, bitcoin.

In some cryptocurrency ecosystems, users also get voting rights in the system’s governance structure. This means they get to cast a vote regarding the decisions the development team makes about the future of the currency, its token, and how they will be used.