So, in April 2024, there was a Bitcoin halving event, which is said to occur approximately every 4 years.
If you're into puzzles, this is for you. Because if you like solving complex math puzzles, you could be a Bitcoin miner. In the Bitcoin network, as a miner, not a minor, you get rewarded with newly-created Bitcoins when transactions are verified and added. For every block that gets mined, there's a set amount of Bitcoins rewarded. So, if it were 12.5 bitcoins per block, it'd be halved to 6.25 bitcoins per block.
Still not in with the jargon? There's a public ledger called Blockchain, which you may have heard of. And Bitcoin mining is how transactions are verified and added to this ledger. If there's a transaction on the Bitcoin network, Bitcoin gets transferred from one user's digital wallet to another. Miners are said to collect these individual transactions from the network and organize them into a block. This means verifying each transaction to make sure the sender has the authority to transfer them. And by forming a block, multiple transactions could be simultaneously processed efficiently. And if you're able to tell Pat you can solve the puzzle, you get rewarded with newly minted Bitcoins.
Think of a Reddit moderator overseeing individual subreddits, making sure the content posted adheres to rules and guidelines, validating posts and comments, removing spam and more. But, imagine every time they did so effectively, they got a gold coin. That's cool.