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Mining difficulty refers to how hard it is to discover the correct hash needed to add a new block to a blockchain. It serves as a key metric in the mining process—particularly for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin—indicating the level of computational effort required to solve the cryptographic puzzles that secure the network.
The difficulty level doesn’t stay constant; it adjusts periodically based on how many miners are active in the network. When more miners join and contribute higher computing power, the difficulty automatically rises to ensure that blocks are not generated too quickly. Conversely, if miners leave the network and total hash power drops, the difficulty decreases. This constant adjustment helps maintain a stable average block time.
Take Bitcoin as an example. As its popularity grew, so did the number of computers connected to its peer-to-peer network. These miners compete to solve mathematical puzzles and earn block rewards. The increase in participants and computing resources pushes the overall network hash rate higher.
Bitcoin’s target block time is roughly 10 minutes. To keep this consistent, the protocol adjusts the mining difficulty after every 2,016 blocks—roughly every two weeks. This ensures that regardless of how much computing power is added or removed from the network, blocks continue to be mined at a steady pace.
In Bitcoin’s early days, miners relied on CPUs to carry out computations. However, as the network expanded and competition intensified, GPUs proved to be more efficient. Later, specialized machines known as ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) were developed exclusively for mining, dramatically boosting efficiency and hash rates.
Today, many miners work collectively in mining pools, combining their computational power to improve their chances of solving blocks and earning rewards. This collaborative approach helps small miners remain competitive in an environment dominated by large-scale mining operations.
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