What is Hashrate ?
Mining101
- tagwu
SUMMARY
In crypto mining, the term “hashrate” is one of the most important metrics. It refers to how fast a miner—or an entire blockchain network—can perform cryptographic calculations. A higher hashrate increases the chances of successfully mining new blocks and securing the network. Whether you’re running a mining rig or evaluating the health of a cryptocurrency, understanding hashrate is essential.
What is Hashrate
Hashrate refers to the total number of cryptographic calculations a mining device—or an entire network—can perform every second. In simpler terms, it measures how powerful and fast a miner is at solving mathematical puzzles.
What’s a “Hash”
A hash is the output of a cryptographic function, such as SHA-256, which transforms input data into a fixed-length string of characters. This output is unpredictable, and even a small change in the input creates a completely different hash.
In Bitcoin, mining is all about finding a hash that meets a certain condition—one that is less than a specific target value (set by the network’s difficulty level). This process is completely random, so miners must try trillions of different combinations to find a suitable hash.
What Exactly is Hashrate Measuring
Hashrate measures how many hash guesses a miner can make per second. It’s like the speedometer of a miner. The more guesses a machine can make per second, the better its chances of finding the correct answer first and earning the reward.
For example:
- If a machine performs 1 trillion guesses per second, it has a hashrate of 1 TH/s.
- If the entire Bitcoin network combines to perform 500 quintillion guesses per second, its total hashrate is 500 EH/s.
Hashrate Units
| Unit | Meaning | Example Use |
|---|---|---|
| H/s | 1 hash per second | Very low power devices |
| kH/s | 1,000 hashes per second | Early CPUs/GPUs |
| MH/s | 1 million hashes/second | Some altcoin miners |
| GH/s | 1 billion hashes/second | Legacy ASICs |
| TH/s | 1 trillion hashes/second | Modern ASICs (e.g., Antminer S19) |
| PH/s | 1 quadrillion hashes/second | Mining farms |
| EH/s | 1 quintillion hashes/second | Entire Bitcoin network |
Why It’s a Core Metric
Hashrate is not just about mining speed—it also reflects:
- The competitiveness of a miner or machine
- The decentralization of the network (more miners = higher hashrate)
- The cost of attacking the network, since faking or rewriting history would require controlling more than 50% of the total hashrate
How Hashrate Works in Mining
Mining is essentially a race to solve a complex mathematical puzzle by repeatedly hashing data with a random value (called a nonce). Each guess produces a unique hash. The goal is to find a hash that meets a specific difficulty target (e.g., starts with a certain number of zeros).
- The faster a miner can make these guesses, the higher its chance of success.
- Think of each hash attempt as a lottery ticket—the more you produce, the more likely you are to win.
The hashrate determines how many guesses (hashes) a miner can make per second. The more hashes, the more competitive a miner becomes in the race to find the next block.
Why Hashrate Matters
Hashrate plays a central role in both individual mining performance and overall blockchain security:
- For Miners: A higher hashrate increases the chances of earning block rewards and transaction fees.
- For Networks: A high total network hashrate makes it much harder for attackers to alter transaction history or perform a 51% attack.
- For Observers and Investors: The hashrate is often used to gauge the health and popularity of a network. A growing hashrate usually signals increased mining activity and network trust.
How Is Hashrate Measured
Hashrate can be measured on two levels:
1. Individual Device Hashrate
This refers to how many hashes a specific miner can compute per second.
For example, an Antminer S21 may deliver 200 TH/s, meaning it performs 200 trillion hashes per second.
Miners can track their personal hashrate through:
- Local mining software
- Mining pool dashboards (e.g., F2Pool, ViaBTC)
2. Network Hashrate
This represents the total hashrate of all miners in a blockchain network.
It’s usually calculated based on the block time and mining difficulty.
For Bitcoin, network hashrate is tracked on websites like Blockchain.com or CoinWarz.
A higher network hashrate usually means:
- More miners are active
- The network is more secure
- The difficulty will soon increase
Hashrate and Mining Difficulty
Hashrate and difficulty are tightly connected:
- Mining Difficulty is a measure of how hard it is to find a valid block hash.
- As more miners join and the network hashrate increases, the protocol automatically adjusts difficulty (usually every 2,016 blocks for Bitcoin, about every 2 weeks).
- This keeps the average block time constant (e.g., ~10 minutes for Bitcoin).
- If the hashrate drops, the difficulty goes down to compensate.
This ensures stable and predictable coin issuance, regardless of the number of miners.
What Hashrate Trends Tell Us
Hashrate trends provide insight into:
- Miner behavior: A sharp drop may signal that miners are going offline due to price crashes or regulatory changes.
- Network strength: A steady rise in hashrate suggests growing confidence, investment, and decentralization.
- Profitability: High hashrate + high difficulty = lower profit margins for small miners.
Example:
- After China banned mining in mid-2021, Bitcoin’s hashrate dropped by over 50%. But within a few months, it recovered as miners relocated and restarted operations.
Real-World Hashrate Examples
| Miner Model | Hashrate |
|---|---|
| Bitmain Antminer S21 XP Hyd | 473 TH/s |
| Bitmain Antminer S21+ | 216 TH/s |
| Bitmain Antminer L9 | 16 GH/s |
| Bitaxe Gamma | 1.1 TH/s |
| Bitcoin Network | 930 EH/s (2025.5.6) |
These values help illustrate the scale difference between personal miners and the global network.
CONCLUSION
FAQs on Hashrate
Why is hashrate important in cryptocurrency mining?
Hashrate determines how fast a miner can solve block puzzles and earn rewards, and it directly impacts the overall network security.
What affects a miner's hashrate?
Does a higher network hashrate mean higher mining profits?
Not necessarily. While it shows a stronger network, it also increases competition, which can lower individual profitability unless coin price rises.
