Certified Bitcoin Professional Practice Exam

What do Bitcoin miners receive for their work in maintaining the blockchain?

1. A fixed salary

2. Transaction fees

3. Newly minted Bitcoins

4. A combination of transaction fees and new coins

The correct answer is: A combination of transaction fees and new coins

Bitcoin miners play a crucial role in the network by validating transactions and maintaining the security of the blockchain. When miners successfully add a new block to the blockchain, they are rewarded with a combination of newly minted Bitcoins and transaction fees collected from the transactions included in that block. The issuance of new Bitcoins occurs as part of Bitcoin’s monetary policy, where a specified number of coins are created with each new block as an incentive to miners. This process is known as block rewards, and it is designed to decrease over time in order to control the inflation rate of Bitcoin. Alongside this block reward, miners also earn transaction fees from users who prioritize their transactions to be included in blocks. These fees serve as an incentive for miners to pick and prioritize transactions, especially during periods of high network usage. Thus, the answer reflects that miners receive both newly minted Bitcoins and transaction fees as their compensation for the intensive computational work required in the mining process. Together, these rewards ensure that the miners are incentivized to maintain the integrity and security of the Bitcoin network.