If the Nonce Space Is Exhausted, What Is the Miner's Next Step? ▴ Learn

If the Nonce Space Is Exhausted, What Is the Miner’s Next Step?

If the 32-bit nonce space (around 4 billion values) is exhausted, the miner must modify another part of the block header to create a new input for the hash function. The primary variables they can change are the block timestamp or the Merkle Root (by changing the extranonce).

Changing the Merkle Root, via the extranonce, is the most common next step for high-hash-rate miners.

Does the Timestamp of a Block Affect the Deterministic Output of Its Hash?

What Is the Difference between the Merkle Root and the Block Hash?

How Does a Change in a Block’s Nonce Affect Its Header Hash?

Besides the Merkle Root, What Other Key Pieces of Information Are Contained in a Typical Bitcoin Block Header?