What Is the Relationship between the Hash Rate and the Difficulty of Mining a Cryptocurrency?

Hash rate and mining difficulty are directly proportional and intrinsically linked by the network's protocol. Hash rate is the total computational power dedicated to mining; as it increases, the network automatically raises the mining difficulty.

This mechanism ensures that the time it takes to find a new block remains consistent, typically around 10 minutes for Bitcoin, regardless of how many miners are competing. Conversely, if the hash rate drops, the difficulty decreases.