The act of “mining” cryptocurrency refers to computers solving complicated mathematical puzzles that confirm or deny transactions happening on the network. This keeps the blockchain consistent and up-to-date. Miners use their computing power to create a system that constantly checks itself, creating security within the network, in return for payment in whatever cryptocurrency they are mining. For most coins, the act of, “mining”, is how new units are placed into circulation. The mining process is what makes more of the coin, which incentivizes miners. Due to the the huge amount of computing power it takes to mine these coins, and the network inherently being rooted in the blockchain, crypto-coins cannot be printed or minted at will.