Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of fraud or third party interference.

In order to run these applications, people need to use Ether, which is the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain. Ether can be mined just like other cryptocurrencies, but it requires a different mining approach than Bitcoin.

Here’s how to mine Ethereum on a Mac.

First, you’ll need to download and install Geth, which is a program that runs the Ethereum network on your computer. Then, you’ll need to create an Ethereum account, which will give you a place to store your Ether.

Once you have Geth and an account set up, you’re ready to start mining! There are two ways to mine Ethereum: solo mining and pool mining.

With solo mining, you are the only one working on solving the math problem needed to confirm transactions and earn Ether. This means that it will take longer to mine each block of transactions, but you’ll get all of the rewards for each one that you successfully mine.

Pool mining is where you work with a group of other miners to solve the math problem together. When a block is successfully mined, the rewards are shared among all of the miners in the pool according to their contribution.

This means that you’ll earn less Ether per block than if you were solo mining, but it will be mined much faster.

To start solo mining, open up your Geth program and type in “geth –mine –minerthreads=4” (without the quotation marks). This will start 4 threads working on solving the math problem needed to confirm transactions and earn Ether.

To start pool mining, sign up for an account with a pool such as Nanopool or ethermine.org.

Once you have an account set up, open up your Geth program and type in “geth –etherbase=YOUR_ETHER_ADDRESS –rpc –rpcapi=db,eth,net,web3 –rpccorsdomain=*” (without the quotation marks). This will connect your computer to the Nanopool or ethermine server so that you can start mining blocks and earning Ether!.