What Is the “Difficulty Target” in PoW?

The difficulty target is a 256-bit number that determines the threshold a valid block hash must be less than or equal to. This target is inversely proportional to the mining difficulty.

A lower difficulty target means a smaller range of acceptable hashes, making it harder to find a valid one, thus increasing the difficulty. The network adjusts this target every 2,016 blocks to maintain the desired block production rate.

How Does the Size of the Hash Output (E.g. SHA-256) Relate to the Nonce?
What Is the SHA-256 Algorithm?
What Is the Difference between Difficulty and the Target Hash?
What Is a Hash Collision and Why Is a 256-Bit Output Size Considered Resistant to It?
How Does the Target Hash Value Relate to the Mining Difficulty?
How Does the Use of RIPEMD-160 Reduce the Risk of Quantum Computing Attacks?
What Is the Relationship between Hash Rate and the Difficulty Target?
What Does the “256-Bit” Refer to in SHA-256?

Glossar