The network of miners scattered around the world and not connected by personal or professional ties, receives the latest transaction data. The data is operated through an encryption algorithm that creates a "hash" which is a string of numbers and letters that verifies the validity of the information but does not reveal the information itself. (In fact, this ideal vision of decentralized mining is no longer valid. Today, industrial-scale mining farms and powerful mining pools form an oligopoly - a monopoly of a small number of people-). Creating a hash alone won't work. The process is so fast and easy that bad actors can still send spam to the network and perhaps commit fake transactions a few blocks behind the chain if they provide enough computing power. Therefore, the Bitcoin protocol requires a "Proof of Work". The block on which it is traded will broadcast to the network to receive confirmations that take up to an hour (on average, though sometimes much longer to process). (It should be emphasized that this is a simplified illustration. The blocks are not fully validated and are divided into more efficient structures called Merkle Trees.)