This article was submitted by a Guest Contributor. If you would like to submit an essay, email [email protected]! The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the Guest Author/Contributor. They do not purport to reflect the views or opinions of the Financial Horse Team.  In the early days of Bitcoin, anyone with a laptop had enough processing power to mine and earn thousands of BTC as a reward. But as it grew in popularity, more miners wanted in, setting off an arms race to amass computing power. It started when a few crafty miners realised graphic cards typically used for video games were a more effective for mining. Soon, the rest of the pack caught up, leading miners to devise new ways to gain an edge. The game today is so sophisticated that you need a specialised computer – whose sole function is to mine bitcoin – to stand a chance of...