Vires on Nostr: In Bitcoin mining, *hashrate* measures the computational power used to solve ...
In Bitcoin mining, *hashrate* measures the computational power used to solve cryptographic puzzles, while *difficulty* is adjusted every 2016 blocks (roughly every two weeks) to maintain an average block time of 10 minutes—rising when the overall hashrate increases and falling when it decreases.
For solo miners, the challenge lies in balancing their limited hashrate against that of the entire network. Unlike pool mining—where miners earn rewards for submitting partial solutions (shares)—solo miners must find a complete block hash that meets the network’s difficulty target. This target is a specific 256-bit number that every miner’s hash must fall below for the block to be accepted. Currently, that target is equivalent to a difficulty of 114.17 T. In other words, there isn’t a separate or lower difficulty threshold for solo miners; every miner must produce a hash below the same network-set target.
If the difficulty is too high relative to a solo miner’s hashrate, their chances of successfully mining a complete block—and thus earning the full block reward—become significantly lower.
For solo miners, the challenge lies in balancing their limited hashrate against that of the entire network. Unlike pool mining—where miners earn rewards for submitting partial solutions (shares)—solo miners must find a complete block hash that meets the network’s difficulty target. This target is a specific 256-bit number that every miner’s hash must fall below for the block to be accepted. Currently, that target is equivalent to a difficulty of 114.17 T. In other words, there isn’t a separate or lower difficulty threshold for solo miners; every miner must produce a hash below the same network-set target.
If the difficulty is too high relative to a solo miner’s hashrate, their chances of successfully mining a complete block—and thus earning the full block reward—become significantly lower.