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If you want to join in the bitcoin frenzy without simply buying the digital currency at today's inflated prices, then bitcoin mining is another way to get involved. But, mining bitcoins will include expenses -- and risks -- of its own. And the more popular bitcoins become, the harder it would be to mine profitably. .

Unlike paper currency, that is printed by both governments and issued by banks, bitcoins do not come in any physical form. This creates a major hazard, as hackers could theoretically create bitcoins from nothing. Bitcoin mining is the way the bitcoin network keeps its transactions secure.

Bitcoin transactions are secured with blockchains, which make up a public ledger of transactions. Because of the way blockchain transactions are structured, they're extremely tough to change or undermine, even from the best hackers. But in order to secure these transactions, someone needs to dedicate computing power to verifying the activity and packaging the facts in a block which goes into the bitcoin ledger.

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As a reward for doing the work to monitor and secure transactions, miners earn bitcoins for every block they effectively process. .

The bitcoin founders have put a limit of 21 million bitcoins offered for mining. Once that amount is reached, miners will continue to be able to benefit from transaction fees, but they won't be granted bitcoins as a reward for their job. As of mid-January 2018, roughly 16.8 million of those 21 million bitcoins have already been mined.  Assuming that the bitcoin mining industry doesn't change dramatically, it looks like we won't hit the 21 million-bitcoin restrict until the year 2140. .

During the first days of bitcoin mining, miners would often download a software package designed to allow their computers to process bitcoin transactions in the background. Unfortunately, that's no longer sensible, because solving bitcoin transactions is becoming too difficult for your average computer to manage.

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The bitcoin network is designed to produce a certain number of new bitcoins each 10 minutes. If only a couple men and women are bitcoin mining at any given time, then the network will be generous and discuss bitcoins easily in order to attain the predetermined number. But now that bitcoin mining has become so prevalent, the network has become much stingier about handing out bitcoins to miners.

These days, in order to have a chance at being rewarding, miners need to adopt one of two strategies: 1) buy specialized hardware (aka a bitcoin mining rig) or 2) join a cloud mining pool. .

To begin with your own mining rig, you buy hardware designed for mining bitcoin (or some other virtual currency), set it up, and let it run 24/7 solving bitcoin transactions. Ideally, this will result in a continuous stream of payments without your needing to get involved.

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While it's fairly easy to set up and utilize a bitcoin mining rig, actually making money on the course of action is something of a challenge. Since more and more people are signing up for mine bitcoins, the mining procedure continues to get more difficult and will likely keep doing so for some time.

And since bitcoin mining rigs aren't cheap -- expect to pay at least $1,000 for the hardware, or even several times that for a top-quality rig -- having to replace it every year or two takes a massive bite out of any gains you earn from mining. Plus, most mining rigs consume enormous amounts of power, so you also have to subtract that expense in the bitcoins you earn to determine your own profits. .

If buying and maintaining your own mining gear doesn't appeal to you, then cloud mining may be the way to go. Cloud mining companies invest in huge mining channels, often filling entire data centers together with the hardware, and then sell subscriptions to individuals interested in dipping a toe into bitcoin mining.

The largest challenge facing cloud mining subscribers is avoiding fraud. The area is rife with pseudo-companies that sell thousands of multiyear subscriptions, cover for a couple of months, and then disappear into the sunset. If you choose to try cloud mining, do your homework in advance and confirm that the company you're dealing with is a real cloud miner and not a strategy.

Avoid companies with anonymous domain registration (you can look up their registration info at Network Solutions), in addition to any mining company that"guarantees" profits or offers enormous incentives for referring new customers; anything above a 10% referral commission is deeply suspicious, because valid mining pools just don't generate find more a high enough profit margin to pay big commissions. .