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If you want to join in the bitcoin frenzy with no simply buying the digital currency at today's inflated prices, then bitcoin mining is another way to become involved. But, mining bitcoins does include expenses -- and risks -- of its own. And the more popular bitcoins become, the more difficult it is to mine profitably. .

Unlike paper currency, that is printed by governments and issued by banks, bitcoins do not come in any physical type. That creates a significant risk, as hackers can theoretically create bitcoins from nothing. Bitcoin mining is how the bitcoin network keeps its transactions secure.

Bitcoin transactions are secured by blockchains, which make up a public ledger of transactions. Because of how blockchain transactions are structured, they are extremely tough to alter or compromise, even by the top hackers. But in order to secure these transactions, someone needs to dedicate computing power to verifying the activity and packaging the details 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 successfully process. .

The bitcoin founders have set a limit of 21 million bitcoins offered for mining. Once that amount is reached, miners will still 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 the 21 million bitcoins have been mined.  Assuming that the bitcoin mining industry doesn't change radically, it seems like we won't reach on the 21 million-bitcoin restrict until the year 2140. .

During the first days of bitcoin mining, miners would often download a software bundle 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 hard for your average computer to manage.

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The bitcoin network is designed to make a certain number of new bitcoins each 10 minutes. If only a few people have been bitcoin mining at any given time, then the network will be generous and share bitcoins easily in order to reach the predetermined number. But now this bitcoin mining has become so prevalent, the network has become much stingier about handing out bitcoins to miners.

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

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

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While it's Your Domain Name fairly simple to set up and use a bitcoin mining rig, really making money on the process is something of a challenge. Because more and more people are signing up for mine bitcoins, the mining process continues to have more difficult and will probably keep doing so for a while.

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

When buying and maintaining your own mining gear doesn't appeal to you, then cloud mining might be the way to go. Cloud mining companies invest in enormous mining rigs, often filling entire information centers with the hardware, and then sell subscriptions to individuals interested in dipping a toe into bitcoin mining.

The biggest challenge facing cloud mining subscribers is avoiding fraud. The area is rife with pseudo-companies which 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 true cloud miner and not a scheme.

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