What Is Proof of Work (PoW) in Blockchain?

Proof of Work (PoW) is a consensus mechanism used in crypto and blockchain to verify transactions and secure the network. It works by having participants (known as miners) contribute computing power to solve complex mathematical puzzles.

The first miner to solve the puzzle earns the right to add the next block of transactions to the chain, and is rewarded with newly minted cryptocurrency plus transaction fees. The Bitcoin network is the most prominent example of PoW in practice.

Unlike PoS (Proof of Stake), this validation protocol is less scalable and far more energy-intensive. Those are precisely the factors that drove Ethereum’s Merge.