A program for generating (mining) cryptocurrency. Most cryptocurrencies are issued in a decentralized manner by creating new blocks of “money” according to certain rules. The generation of each new unit of currency requires considerable computational resources. Miners utilize resources to find new hash sums and earn cryptocurrency for their owners. Miners installed on a device without the consent of its owner is malware (see Trojan miner).
The name is sometimes applied to people who engage in mining.