Proof of work

Okay kiddo, imagine you and your friends want to build a big tower with blocks, but you want to make sure everyone is working on it and that one person isn't doing all the work. This is what proof of work is for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

With Bitcoin, people use their computers to solve really complicated math problems. This is called mining. The first person or group to solve the problem gets to add a new block to the blockchain, which is like our tower of blocks.

Now, here's the tricky part. The math problems are so hard that it takes a lot of energy (or electricity) to solve them. That's why people who mine for Bitcoins need really powerful computers and energy sources, like power plants or solar panels.

But why would anyone spend so much time and money to mine for Bitcoins? Well, each time a new block is added to the blockchain, the person who solved the problem gets some Bitcoins as a reward. So, it's like a race to see who can add a block first and get the reward.

And why is it important that people are constantly mining for Bitcoins? It's because it keeps the Bitcoin network secure. Every block has a unique code that depends on the code of the previous block, and the next block depends on the current one. This means that it's really hard for someone to cheat and change the code of a previous block, because it would change all the codes of the blocks that come after it.

In summary, proof of work is like a race to see who can add a new block to the blockchain first by solving a really hard math problem. This helps keep the Bitcoin network secure and prevents cheating.