CCE Cryptocurrency Mining Principles 2

Question 1

What is the primary purpose of the 'nonce' field in a Bitcoin block header during mining?

Accepted Answer

To iterate through values until a valid hash is found

Answer

Miners repeatedly increment the nonce to produce different hash outputs until one meets the target difficulty.

Question 2

Which consensus mechanism does Ethereum use after 'The Merge' in September 2022?

Accepted Answer

Proof of Stake

Answer

Ethereum transitioned from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake via 'The Merge,' eliminating GPU mining.

Question 3

In Bitcoin mining, what happens to the block reward approximately every 210,000 blocks?

Accepted Answer

It halves

Answer

The Bitcoin halving event reduces the block subsidy by 50% roughly every four years.

Question 4

What does 'orphan block' (stale block) refer to in cryptocurrency mining?

Accepted Answer

A valid block that is not included in the longest chain

Answer

Orphan blocks are valid blocks discarded when another chain branch becomes the longest accepted chain.

Question 5

What is 'selfish mining' in the context of cryptocurrency networks?

Accepted Answer

Withholding discovered blocks to gain competitive advantage

Answer

Selfish mining is a strategy where miners hide newly found blocks to waste competing miners' resources.

(CCE) Certified Cryptocurrency Expert Practice Test