We all know that Bitcoin is composed of a string of complex code generated by a computer, and every once in a while, the Bitcoin system will randomly generate a data block on the node, and a large number of operations will be performed to find this block. As the mining team grows, it will become more difficult to obtain data blocks.
What is block difficulty?
Block difficulty is used to measure the average number of operations required to mine a block, reflecting how long it takes to mine a certain number of blocks at a certain difficulty, and is also an important reference indicator for miners when mining. The difficulty of generating a data block is measured by the difficulty value, which can also be understood simply as the time it takes to mine a data block.
Here is a simple example: Now there is a math problem where X is known to be any number from 0 to 99, find X<100. The answer is very simple, all the numbers in the range meet the requirements. If you find X<50 again, then only half of the numbers in the range now meet the requirements, in other words, it is more difficult to solve now than before. Previously, it only took one attempt to solve, but now it takes two attempts, so we can conclude that x<50 is 2/1 = 2 times more difficult than x<100. Similarly, if we solve X<10, the difficulty is 100/10 = 10 times that of x<100. The parameters 100, 50, and 10 here are equivalent to the difficulty value, from which we can derive the following calculation formula:
We can also convert the difficulty value to the time, so that we can more intuitively understand the difficulty generated by the data block, and the calculation formula is as follows:
The time it takes to generate a block = difficulty value x 2 to the power of 32/hashrate
(hashrate is the number of hashes per second)
What factors determine the difficulty of a block?
There is no maximum value for data block difficulty, and the difficulty of data block operation will be adjusted once after every 2016 blocks are generated. Taking Bitcoin as an example, a block is produced every 10 minutes on average, so the block difficulty will be adjusted every 14 days (2016*10/60/24=14), and the block difficulty will remain unchanged until the adjustment cycle is reached. There are many factors that affect the difficulty of a block, and here is mainly an introduction to the relationship between difficulty and computing power. The calculation of block difficulty is directly proportional to the computing power, when the computing power of the whole network is higher, the higher the block difficulty, and vice versa, when the computing power decreases in the future, the block difficulty will also decrease. You can imagine that if the hashrate suddenly skyrockets, it will double the original, then it would take 14 days to mine the 2016 block, but now it only takes 7 days to complete, and the difficulty will double when the adjustment cycle is adjusted; If an accident occurs and half of the computing power is lost, then the original 14 days of work will take 28 days to complete, and by the time of adjustment cycle, the difficulty will be reduced to half of the original. Therefore, we can conclude that the adjustment of block difficulty can be automatically matched through the computing power situation, and when the computing power increases, the response adjustment will be accelerated; When the hashrate is reduced, the reaction adjustment will be slow.
How does block difficulty affect mining income?
Before we understand the impact of block difficulty on mining, we need to know (in the case of Bitcoin):
The number of Bitcoins mined per day = the current number of newly generated Bitcoins per day * my computing power / the computing power of the entire network
Daily Earnings = Bitcoin Price * Number of Bitcoins Mined per Day - Daily Electricity Bill
As we mentioned earlier, the calculation of block difficulty is directly proportional to the computing power of the whole network, and the adjustment of block difficulty and the computing power of the whole network are automatically matched, so for different miner groups, the impact of block difficulty on mining can be roughly divided into two categories: First, for those miners with fixed computing power, block difficulty and mining income are inversely proportional, the greater the computing power of the whole network, the greater the block difficulty, so the less bitcoins are mined every day, the lower the income; The smaller the computing power of the whole network, the less difficult the block, so the more bitcoins are mined every day, the higher the income. On the other hand, for those miners who are just ready to invest in mining, the faster the block difficulty growth rate and the faster the increase in the computing power of the entire network, which means that the mining income will decline faster, and these factors need to be fully considered when accounting.
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Posted on 2/15/2018 12:19:55 AM
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