Not a must, but it's like the OG way. Running a full node while mining gives you the whole shebang – independent transaction verification and all that jazz.

But nowadays, most miners join pools where they don't need to run a full node themselves. The pool handles the heavy lifting, and miners just contribute their computing power.

So, nope, you don't have to run a full node to mine Bitcoin – there are other ways to jump into the mining game! 🎮⛏️