Which term refers to the blocks in a blockchain containing cryptographic proof of work?

• A. Miners
• B. Mined blocks
• C. Nonces
• D. Hash pointers

Answer: (B)

Blocks that have completed the mining process and thus carry the cryptographic proof of work are called mined blocks. In a proof-of-work system, miners search for a nonce that makes the block’s hash meet the network’s difficulty target. Once such a valid hash is found, the block is mined and added to the chain, and everyone can quickly verify the included proof of work. The miners themselves are the participants who perform the work, not the blocks; the nonce is the specific value found to satisfy the proof of work, and hash pointers are the links to the previous block, not the blocks themselves.