Mining Difficulty
- 1M1M
- 3M3M
- 6M6M
- 1Y1Y
- ALLALL
- LinearLinear
- LogLog
About this metric
What it measures
Mining Difficulty reflects how hard it is to find a valid Bitcoin block. It is the difficulty-1 target divided by the current block target, a dimensionless ratio; T denotes one trillion (10¹²).
How to read it
An upward adjustment means more expected work is needed per block, generally following faster block production; a downward adjustment reduces that work after slower production. In this series, the reading fell from about 25.05T on May 13, 2021 to 13.67T on July 17, 2021. Higher levels describe greater mining competition, not a higher BTC valuation.
Difficulty responds to the preceding adjustment period and therefore lags changes in active hash power. It does not measure hashes per second or determine a miner's electricity cost, machine efficiency or revenue. The chart uses a logarithmic scale because values span many orders of magnitude; price and profitability need separate context.
- Frequency
- Daily (UTC 00:00)
- Asset
- BTC
- Category
- Mining
- Type
- Single value
- Data since
- 2009-01-03
- Latest data
- 2026-10-27
- Data points
- 6,507
FAQ
What does T mean in Bitcoin mining difficulty?
T denotes one trillion (10¹²), so 140T means a protocol difficulty of 140 trillion relative to the reference level of 1. Difficulty is dimensionless; T is a display suffix, not a measure of hashes per second.
How often does Bitcoin mining difficulty adjust?
The protocol adjusts difficulty every 2,016 blocks, roughly every two weeks at the target pace of one block per ten minutes. Faster production leads to a higher difficulty at the next adjustment; slower production leads to a lower one.
What is the difference between mining difficulty and hash rate?
Difficulty is a dimensionless protocol parameter that sets how hard it is to find a valid block. Hash rate estimates the work miners perform per second, in H/s, and can change before the next difficulty adjustment.
