In the fascinating field of cryptocurrency and blockchain, there are many concepts and words that are important for people who want to work in this field. Two of these important concepts are “hashrate” and “mining difficulty.”
These two factors are of significant importance for the stability and security of blockchain networks. Here, we will discuss the relationships between “hash rate” and “mining difficulty” to explain these concepts in a simple yet scientific way.
What is Mining Difficulty?
In the creation of each block in the blockchain, miners are constantly competing to perform complex calculations. These calculations involve a hash function. Therefore, miners must find the hash function of each block, and the block is created afterward.
Difficulty is a unit of measurement in the process of extracting digital currencies, indicating the complexity of the mathematical calculations of the hash function that miners must solve to create new blocks in the blockchain network. This fundamental concept plays a role in determining the speed of adding new blocks.
Mining difficulty is a variable that changes over time, aiming to adjust the average time it takes to create blocks in the network. This variable is a set rate that changes based on the performance and quantity of miners. It allows the adjustment of block creation time and the distribution of network rewards with the increase or decrease in the number of miners.
This dynamism in mining difficulty contributes to maintaining a balance between creating blocks at consistent intervals. The goal is to always preserve the average time it takes to create a block and reward miners proportionally to the time and effort they invest.
For example, when we look at the history of Bitcoin mining difficulty. In 2009, at the beginning of Bitcoin’s history, miners could mine Bitcoin quickly with simple devices. However, over time and the growth of the network, mining activity changed to an industrial scale and even beyond. These changes in mining difficulty were not only effective in maintaining network security but also in creating a balanced economic system.
With the changes in network difficulty, in the early days of Bitcoin mining, central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) were used for mining. However, over time and the growth of the network, the need for more speed and capabilities led to the creation of ASIC chips with high computing capabilities.
Maintaining network balance is a key factor that plays a crucial role in determining the mining difficulty and computational power of the network. In the Bitcoin network as an example, the balance of the network is maintained by adjusting the time it takes to create a new block to exactly 10 minutes.
This means that a new block is added to the network every 10 minutes, which keeps the mining difficulty up to date and allows as many miners as possible to participate in the mining process.
In addition to maintaining balance, hashrate is also a key and determining parameter in the performance of cryptocurrency networks. Hash rate is measured in hashes per second and represents the amount of computational power of the network. that uses the proof of work algorithm.
By looking at the hash rate, you can see the power of miners in the network. An increase in hash rate indicates a decrease in the power of miners in the network, and vice versa, a decrease in hash rate leads to an increase in the power of miners.
What is Hash Rate?
Hash rate is a fundamental factor in the world of digital currency mining. It measures the speed and performance of a mining device in solving encryption equations and extracting currencies. In other words, hash rate indicates the device’s ability to produce valid hashes for solving blocks and receiving rewards.
In blockchain networks with proof-of-work (POW) consensus mechanisms, miners must guess millions of times per second to find the correct solution for solving a block and adding new blocks to the network. Hashrate, in simple terms, refers to the number of hashes a mining device produces in one second, representing the device’s processing power.
Mining devices, with an increased hash rate, enhance their ability to solve hash problems, significantly increasing their chances of winning in the block extraction process. With changes in network difficulty, the target hash also changes, and miners must alter the nonce to reach this target hash.
Nonce: Nonce is the same number that all miners around the world, with high electricity consumption and utilizing their exceptionally powerful computers, seek to find. They aim to discover this number to receive the reward for mining a new block in the blockchain.
Since changing the nonce is entirely random, the probability of obtaining the target hash is very low. Therefore, hash rate per second (H/s) reflects the miner’s efforts in one second to obtain the nonce number and produce a valid hash. The higher this rate, the more power the miner has in solving hash problems, increasing the likelihood of winning the block extraction reward.
In blockchain networks, hash rate is a critical measure of the level of decentralization of a proof-of-work based network and its performance against hackers. The higher the hash rate, the more difficult and expensive it is to attack the network. A sudden drop in hash rate may lead to exchanges suspending trading in the cryptocurrency or delisting it to protect their customers from various attacks.
Hash rate serves as an essential criterion for assessing the power and, especially, the security of a blockchain network. The higher the number of devices contributed by miners to the network for obtaining the next block, the higher the hash rate will be, making it more challenging for malicious actors to disrupt the network. A sudden decrease in hash rate may reduce the cost of executing a 51% attack and make the network more vulnerable.
For example, a 51% attack occurs when an individual or a group of attackers purchase or rent sufficient mining equipment for a cryptocurrency to bring more than 50% of the blockchain’s hash rate under their control. Since blockchain networks is decentralized, an individual or group that controls a significant portion of the hash rate can theoretically block or reorganize transactions.
They could even reverse their own transactions and payments, leading to a double-spending attack that undermines the integrity and credibility of the entire blockchain. Therefore, a reduction in the hash rate signifies a decrease in the cost of executing a 51% attack and creates vulnerability within the network.
Relationship Between Hashrate and Mining Difficulty
Mining difficulty is directly related to the hash rate of the network. Hash rate indicates the miners’ ability to solve mathematical puzzles to create new blocks, while network difficulty is a unit representing how challenging it is to find the hash function of a block or solve a block within a specified time.
The difficulty of hash functions is referred to as network difficulty. With an increase in hash rate, mining difficulty also rises, reaching the maximum number of puzzles, thus keeping the block creation time constant.
In simpler terms, a higher hash rate implies the need for more computational and processing power to confirm and add transactions to the blockchain. This enhances network security, as more miners are required for complete network control. As hash rate increases, mining becomes more challenging, resulting in higher mining difficulty and increased network security.
Considering the overall network hash rate, mining difficulty is adjusted in specific time intervals. After each period, difficulty may increase or decrease, meaning that as the time to create blocks becomes faster or slower, difficulty adapts accordingly. For example, Bitcoin mining difficulty is updated approximately every 2016 blocks or every two weeks. This interval between producing every 2016 blocks is called the Difficulty Epoch.
FAQ
- What is Network Difficulty?
Network difficulty is a variable used to maintain the average time it takes to create blocks in proof-of-work blockchains.
- What is Hash Rate?
Hash rate, or the output hash rate of the hash function, indicates the speed of a mining device’s performance in solving computations to find the nonce and produce a valid hash.
- Is a High Hash Rate Beneficial?
High hash rates are essential for network security and optimal performance.
Source : investopedia – coindesk