Retargeting
Web3 / mining staking
Retargeting, also called difficulty adjustment, is the automated process that adjusts mining difficulty on Proof-of-Work blockchains to maintain consistent block production intervals regardless of total network hash rate changes. As more miners join the network, difficulty increases; when miners leave, it decreases. This adjustment occurs at regular intervals, such as every 2,016 blocks on Bitcoin (approximately two weeks). The mechanism ensures that even as hardware becomes more powerful or less powerful over time, new blocks are discovered at predictable intervals, maintaining blockchain stability and preventing network congestion or stalling. Example: Bitcoin's difficulty adjustment occurs every 2,016 blocks; if the previous period saw faster block discovery due to increased mining activity, the next difficulty target increases to slow block production back to the intended 10-minute average. Why it matters for mining and staking: Retargeting prevents mining from becoming too easy or prohibitively hard, ensures fair block rewards over time, and maintains predictable network performance essential for transaction confirmation reliability.
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