Bitcoin mining and nodes — courses on the network underneath
Most people use Bitcoin without understanding the engine. These courses fix that — and show you how to run your own piece of the network if you want.
What is mining & nodes?
Bitcoin's security comes from two roles: nodes and miners. Nodes verify the rules. Miners propose new blocks of transactions and compete for the right to add them. Together they make a network that works without any central authority — the most important property of the system.
Mining is the process of doing computational work to find a valid block. The miner who finds it first earns the block reward (newly minted sats) plus the transaction fees in the block. Mining is what secures Bitcoin against attacks, and it's what enforces the 21-million supply cap.
A node is something different — and more accessible. A node stores the full Bitcoin blockchain and verifies every transaction against the rules. Nodes don't earn rewards, but they're the entity that actually checks "is this Bitcoin?". Anyone can run one. Running one means you stop trusting third parties to tell you the truth about your own balance.
What you'll learn
- 1Explain the difference between miners and nodes in 30 seconds
- 2Walk through how proof-of-work secures Bitcoin without trusting anyone
- 3Read a block in any block explorer and understand what it contains
- 4Demolish the most common bad takes on Bitcoin's energy use
- 5Decide whether running your own node makes sense for you
- 6Set up a node yourself if you want to — step by step
- 7Argue the mining economics with anyone, with real numbers
Why it matters
You don't need to run a node to use Bitcoin. Most people don't. But understanding what a node does is the difference between trusting Bitcoin because someone told you to and trusting it because you understand why it works. That distinction matters a lot more in difficult moments — bull markets, crashes, regulatory shocks — when the people pushing back against your investment thesis sound informed and confident.
Mining matters too, even if you never plan to mine. The energy debate around Bitcoin is one of the most misunderstood arguments in the entire space. A short course on what miners actually do, what they consume, and what they secure cuts through more bad takes than any other piece of Bitcoin education.
For the technically curious, this is the topic that opens up everything else. Once you understand blocks, mempool, and difficulty adjustment, you understand why fees rise and fall, why confirmations matter, why Lightning was invented, and why so many proposed "improvements" to Bitcoin would actually break it. The whole system clicks into place.
Sample insight from our courses
“Don't trust. Verify. Running a node is what "verify" actually means.”Take the full mining & nodes course →
Earn Bitcoin while you learn
Every lesson ends with a quiz. Pass it, the sats land in your self-custody wallet automatically — your keys, your control. Subscribers also earn 50% sats-back on every payment, monthly. The only Bitcoin platform where the lessons pay you instead of the other way around.
How we teach mining & nodes
Diagrams first. Proof-of-work, block construction, and the longest-chain rule are all much easier to grasp visually than in prose. We use illustrated examples that build the picture step by step.
For the running-a-node lessons, we have screen-by-screen walkthroughs of the popular options — from one-click hardware (Umbrel, Start9) to running the reference client on a spare PC. We don't pretend it's for everyone, but if you want to do it, we make it as approachable as it can be.
The mining-economics lesson uses real numbers — energy prices, hash rates, hardware ASIC costs — so the abstract debates about Bitcoin's energy use become concrete. Most of the takes you hear are several years out of date.
For the kids version, we focus on the "how does the network agree?" puzzle. The proof-of-work lottery and the longest-chain rule are surprisingly easy to demonstrate with playground analogies (musical chairs, queueing for a slide). The deep technical bits come later.
Who this is for
Technical learner
You want to know how Bitcoin really works, not just how to use it. Start here.
Energy debate enthusiast
You're tired of half-informed takes about mining. Get the real numbers.
Future node-runner
You've heard "run your own node" and want a clear path from "what is a node" to "I have one running".
Frequently asked
Do I need to run a node to use Bitcoin?
No. Most users don't. But if you want to verify your transactions yourself rather than trusting an explorer or wallet provider, running a node is how you do it. We teach why and how, without pressuring you to.
Is mining still profitable?
For individuals with average electricity prices, no — industrial-scale operations dominate. The course covers why the economics shifted and what the current landscape looks like.
Doesn't Bitcoin mining waste a lot of energy?
It uses a lot. Whether that's "wasteful" depends on what you compare it to and what you think mining produces. The course presents the data — including the share of mining that uses stranded or renewable energy — and lets you draw your own conclusion.
What does running a node cost?
Hardware: £100-£300 one-off depending on the path. Electricity: a few pounds a month. Time: an evening of setup, then mostly hands-off. We have a course on the realistic cost-benefit.
Are these courses too technical for non-engineers?
No. The mining and nodes courses use real concepts but plain language. If you can follow how the postal system works, you can follow how Bitcoin's network works.
Related topics
Sign up free and start earning sats
Bitcoin in your wallet. Lessons that stick.
Get started →