Target - Revision history

Dionyziz: rm dead link

2016-01-15T01:47:25Z

rm dead link

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:47, 15 January 2016
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	=== What is the target now? ===		=== What is the target now? ===
	* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/hextarget Current target]
	* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/getdifficulty Current difficulty], as output by Bitcoin's getDifficulty		* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/getdifficulty Current difficulty], as output by Bitcoin's getDifficulty
	* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/probability Current probability of winning a block per attempt]

	=== When does the target change next? ===		=== When does the target change next? ===

Luke-jr: /* What is the maximum target? */

2012-11-08T04:30:16Z

What is the maximum target?

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:30, 8 November 2012
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	=== What is the maximum target? ===		=== What is the maximum target? ===
	~~0x00000000ffff0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000~~		The maximum target used by SHA256 mining devices is:
			0x00000000FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
			Because Bitcoin stores the target as a floating-point type, this is truncated:
			0x00000000FFFF0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

	Since a lower target makes Bitcoin generation more difficult, the maximum target is the ''lowest'' possible [[difficulty]].		Since a lower target makes Bitcoin generation more difficult, the maximum target is the ''lowest'' possible [[difficulty]].

Pepr at 23:54, 20 August 2012

2012-08-20T23:54:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:54, 20 August 2012
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	It's important to realize that block generation is not a long, set problem (like doing a million hashes), but more like a lottery. Each hash basically gives you a random number between 0 and the maximum value of a 256-bit number (which is huge). If your hash is below the target, then you win. If not, you increment the nonce (completely changing the hash) and try again.		It's important to realize that block generation is not a long, set problem (like doing a million hashes), but more like a lottery. Each hash basically gives you a random number between 0 and the maximum value of a 256-bit number (which is huge). If your hash is below the target, then you win. If not, you increment the nonce (completely changing the hash) and try again.

	For reasons of stability and low latency in transactions, the network tries to produce one block every 10 minutes. Every 2016 blocks -- which should take two weeks if this goal is kept perfectly --, every Bitcoin client compares the actual time it took to generate these blocks with the two week goal and modifies the target by the percentage difference. This makes the proof-of-work problem more or less difficult. A single retarget never changes the target by more than a factor of 4 either way to prevent large changes in difficulty.		For reasons of stability and low latency in transactions, the network tries to produce one block every 10 minutes. Every 2016 blocks (which should take two weeks if this goal is kept perfectly), every Bitcoin client compares the actual time it took to generate these blocks with the two week goal and modifies the target by the percentage difference. This makes the proof-of-work problem more or less difficult. A single retarget never changes the target by more than a factor of 4 either way to prevent large changes in difficulty.

	=== What is the target now? ===		=== What is the target now? ===

ThePiachu at 06:50, 13 February 2012

2012-02-13T06:50:24Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:50, 13 February 2012
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			See also [[Difficulty]]

	The '''target''' is a 256-bit number (extremely large) that all Bitcoin clients share. The SHA-256 [[hash]] of a [[block]]'s header must be lower than or equal to the current target for the block to be accepted by the network. The lower the target, the more [[difficulty\|difficult]] it is to generate a block.		The '''target''' is a 256-bit number (extremely large) that all Bitcoin clients share. The SHA-256 [[hash]] of a [[block]]'s header must be lower than or equal to the current target for the block to be accepted by the network. The lower the target, the more [[difficulty\|difficult]] it is to generate a block.

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	Since a lower target makes Bitcoin generation more difficult, the maximum target is the ''lowest'' possible [[difficulty]].		Since a lower target makes Bitcoin generation more difficult, the maximum target is the ''lowest'' possible [[difficulty]].

			==Related Links==
			See also [[Difficulty]]

	[[Category:Technical]]		[[Category:Technical]]
	[[Category:Vocabulary]]		[[Category:Vocabulary]]

Transisto at 05:26, 1 October 2011

2011-10-01T05:26:58Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:26, 1 October 2011
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	* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/nethash Difficulty history, (at column 5)]		* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/nethash Difficulty history, (at column 5)]
	* [http://www.~~bitcoin~~.org~~/smf~~/index.php?topic=2345.msg31405#msg31405 Re: difficulty over time data?]		* [http://www.bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2345.msg31405#msg31405 Re: difficulty over time data?]
	* [http://bitcoin.sipa.be/ Bitcoin network graphs]		* [http://bitcoin.sipa.be/ Bitcoin network graphs]

Perfectfire: Edited the comment after the link to the difficulty history (hosted on blockexplorer.com) to read "at column 5" instead of "at row 5" since the fifth column is where the difficulty is recorded.

2011-09-03T05:30:23Z

Edited the comment after the link to the difficulty history (hosted on blockexplorer.com) to read "at column 5" instead of "at row 5" since the fifth column is where the difficulty is recorded.

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:30, 3 September 2011
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	=== What has the target been in the past? ===		=== What has the target been in the past? ===

	* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/nethash Difficulty history, (at ~~row~~ 5)]		* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/nethash Difficulty history, (at column 5)]
	* [http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=2345.msg31405#msg31405 Re: difficulty over time data?]		* [http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=2345.msg31405#msg31405 Re: difficulty over time data?]
	* [http://bitcoin.sipa.be/ Bitcoin network graphs]		* [http://bitcoin.sipa.be/ Bitcoin network graphs]

Firestorm at 15:13, 30 May 2011

2011-05-30T15:13:12Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:13, 30 May 2011
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	Since a lower target makes Bitcoin generation more difficult, the maximum target is the ''lowest'' possible [[difficulty]].		Since a lower target makes Bitcoin generation more difficult, the maximum target is the ''lowest'' possible [[difficulty]].

	~~{{fromold\|target}}~~

	[[Category:Technical]]		[[Category:Technical]]
	[[Category:Vocabulary]]		[[Category:Vocabulary]]

B462439: added a link to bitcoin.sipa.be

2011-05-21T14:56:25Z

added a link to bitcoin.sipa.be

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:56, 21 May 2011
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	* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/nethash Difficulty history, (at row 5)]		* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/nethash Difficulty history, (at row 5)]
	* [http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=2345.msg31405#msg31405 Re: difficulty over time data?]		* [http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=2345.msg31405#msg31405 Re: difficulty over time data?]
			* [http://bitcoin.sipa.be/ Bitcoin network graphs]

	=== What is the maximum target? ===		=== What is the maximum target? ===

Transisto: /* What has the target been in the past? */

2011-04-13T16:01:06Z

What has the target been in the past?

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:01, 13 April 2011
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	=== What has the target been in the past? ===		=== What has the target been in the past? ===

	* [http://~~nullvoid~~.~~org~~/~~bitcoin~~/~~difficultiez.php~~ Difficulty history]		* [http://blockexplorer.com/q/nethash Difficulty history, (at row 5)]
	* [http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=2345.msg31405#msg31405 Re: difficulty over time data?]		* [http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=2345.msg31405#msg31405 Re: difficulty over time data?]

Sgornick: /* What has the target been in the past? */ Fix link for Difficulty over time data, ..., wiki didn't like the newline.

2011-01-21T17:29:18Z

What has the target been in the past?: Fix link for Difficulty over time data, ..., wiki didn't like the newline.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:29, 21 January 2011
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	* [http://nullvoid.org/bitcoin/difficultiez.php Difficulty history]		* [http://nullvoid.org/bitcoin/difficultiez.php Difficulty history]
	* [http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=2345.msg31405#msg31405		* [http://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=2345.msg31405#msg31405 Re: difficulty over time data?]
	Re: difficulty over time data?]

	=== What is the maximum target? ===		=== What is the maximum target? ===