Bitcoin mining software is essentially what makes Bitcoin work. By tracking and securing transactions known as blockchains, users are able to earn bitcoins rather than having to pay for them with actual currency. Bitcoin mining software can only be used by specialized hardware that is powerful enough to run the complex calculations required to create new secure blocks. The software connects to the hardware to either mine bitcoins directly or, more often, to a mining pool where multiple users share their hardware’s power and earn shares of bitcoins.