What is hashrate?

Hashrate is the number of hash calculations a device or network performs per second. In Bitcoin mining it measures how fast a miner can try different inputs to find a valid block, and the total network hashrate shows how much computing power secures the blockchain. This guide explains the meaning in plain words, units from H/s to EH/s with a conversion table, your hashrate versus the network's, how hashrate turns into rewards, and how phones, GPUs and ASICs compare. There is also a live demo that measures your browser's hashrate.

This article is educational. Mining income depends on Bitcoin's price, network difficulty and electricity costs; it is not investment advice.

Hashrate meaning in plain words

A hash function turns any input into a fixed-length fingerprint. Bitcoin miners repeatedly hash a block header with a changing number called a nonce, looking for a result below a target. Each attempt is one hash. Hashrate is simply how many attempts per second a machine makes. More hashrate means more lottery tickets in the race to find the next block. Background: what is crypto mining.

Units from H/s to EH/s, with a conversion table

Your hashrate vs network hashrate

The Bitcoin network currently runs at roughly 1,006 EH/s, estimated from the current difficulty. Your share of that total is your expected share of blocks. A 200 TH/s ASIC is about 0.00001987% of the network. Because a single machine would find a block only once in many years, miners join pools that combine hashrate and share rewards proportionally.

How hashrate turns into rewards

Expected daily reward = your hashrate ÷ network hashrate × blocks per day (about 144) × block reward (3.125 BTC since April 2024) plus fees. At current difficulty, 100 TH/s earns about 0.00004472 BTC per day before pool fees. Then subtract electricity: a 3.5 kW machine uses about 84 kWh a day. Run your own numbers in the mining calculator. Country example with local power prices: Bitcoin mining in Nigeria.

Phone, GPU and ASIC speeds compared

That gap of roughly a million times is why "phone mining" apps are games or simulations: crypto mining on phone.

Hashrate and difficulty

Bitcoin adjusts its mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks, roughly every two weeks, so that blocks keep arriving about every 10 minutes. When more machines join and total hashrate rises, difficulty goes up and each machine earns less. When miners switch off, for example after a halving or a price drop, difficulty falls. That is why a mining calculator result is only a snapshot: the same machine usually earns less over time as the network grows.

Measure your browser's hashrate

The demo below runs SHA-256 in your browser and shows how many hashes per second your device manages while it searches for a hash with leading zeros. Compare the number with the table above.

Block#5,907,956

paused

Attempts

0 / ≈65,536

Speed

0 hash/s

Target

4 leading zeros

1. 426cd91a84816ca5b47a9e66498be09e6f8db9d00257b2979f9ed90a0e5a63177
2. 33623bbfee451d832069297162e611afda63aa70cb8dc134d6973becb154b486a
3. 2e9375251f83b50412c4fd869cef8ead79552aa298a0a77a3d1b3ade125bd46c7
4. 117d672b4b79e3fe90a957fead8971fa81839b2bd0b0f11a0b07931ded328413c
5. 0a1bd02e2986e8b9cfed2e1f2d1e84361acc2cf6e37b82f67d9fc18fa83480d67

Real hashes, as a game

TotalHash is a free mining game in Telegram. Your device computes real SHA-256 hashes as a game mechanic, and missions send small amounts of USD₮ and GRAM to a TON wallet. No promise of earnings.

FAQ

What does hashrate mean?

The number of hash calculations a device or network performs per second.

What is the Bitcoin network hashrate?

Hundreds of exahashes per second, estimated from the current difficulty.

How many TH/s does an ASIC have?

Modern Bitcoin ASICs reach about 200-300 TH/s or more.

Can a phone mine Bitcoin?

Technically it can hash, but its share of the network is effectively zero.