How Does the Target Hash Value Relate to the Mining Difficulty?

The target hash value is a specific number that a block's hash must be less than or equal to for the block to be considered valid. The mining difficulty is inversely proportional to this target hash value.

When the difficulty increases, the target hash value decreases, meaning miners must find a hash with more leading zeros (a rarer hash), which requires more computational work. Conversely, when the difficulty decreases, the target hash value increases, making it easier to find a valid block.