Hashrate

Hashrate is a measure of computational power in hash-based processes, expressed as hashes per second. In cryptocurrency mining it indicates how many hash computations a miner or mining rig can perform each second. Units include H/s, kH/s, MH/s, GH/s, TH/s, PH/s, and EH/s, with the network’s total hashrate often reported in TH/s or EH/s.

In proof-of-work networks, miners search for a valid block by producing hashes until the target is met. The chance of finding the next block is proportional to a miner's hashrate relative to the network's total hashrate. When the network grows, the difficulty adjusts to keep the average block time stable.

Hashrate depends on hardware and efficiency. ASICs dominate many networks for specific algorithms; GPUs and CPUs remain relevant for others. Hashrate is tied to energy consumption, with efficiency measured as joules per hash. Higher hashrate typically means higher power use and heat, influencing operating costs and cooling requirements.

Hashrate can be reported as instantaneous or averaged; mining pools report shares toward the pool's total hashrate. It is a key metric for estimating mining capacity and network security, but profit also depends on price, difficulty, and electricity costs.