So, I am already aware of a few things with the BitCoin. Block chain seems simple enough. Get paid for finishing "work" got it! Foreign, not a US based situation. OKIE DOKIE!!!

Can someone explain the "work" to me. I have been pondering this for days and it is driving me up the wall. Best I can tell is it is an encryption breaking system that they let out into the wild to see if they could market such technology... I think it has done quite well, given all the secrecy surrounding it. I have heard that it preforms crazy mathematical equations and the only reason that I see it as necessary, actually functional in anyway, is encryption mining. Can someone explain in detail how it is not being used in this way? What maths is it being used to figure out and why is it necessary to get everyone on board with this new system? Given it's ability to conceal data within itself (that would be, as I understand it, the very nature of the beast) keeping a log of everything that passes through it. I hear that it is encrypted itself so I am really just curious. Is BitCoin/block-chain really just a front for encryption mining? Can this new tech be used in a way that is not outwardly apparent? I myself have ran some miners in the past and they do consume loads of power, so they are obviously doing something.