What Is the “Retarget Period” in the Bitcoin Difficulty Adjustment Mechanism?
The retarget period is the interval, measured in blocks, after which the Bitcoin network evaluates the time taken to mine the preceding blocks and adjusts the mining difficulty. This period is set at 2016 blocks.
At the target rate of 10 minutes per block, the retarget period is designed to occur approximately every two weeks (2016 blocks 10 minutes/block = 14 days).
Glossar
Retarget Period
Cycle ⎊ Retarget Period is the defined interval, often measured in blocks or days, after which the network's difficulty adjustment algorithm recalculates the mining target based on recent block production performance.
Bitcoin Difficulty Adjustment
Adjustment ⎊ The Bitcoin Difficulty Adjustment is a core mechanism within the Bitcoin protocol designed to maintain a consistent block generation rate, nominally 10 minutes, irrespective of fluctuations in network hashrate.
2016 Blocks
Genesis ⎊ ⎊ The concept of ‘2016 Blocks’ originates from the Bitcoin blockchain, specifically referencing the block height at which the Segregated Witness (SegWit) soft fork activated ⎊ block 479,888 ⎊ occurring around October 28, 2017, though the term retrospectively applies to the blocks leading up to this pivotal moment.