Difficulty Epoch / Retarget
Mining● Common
The 2016-block period (~2 weeks) after which Bitcoin's mining difficulty adjusts. If blocks were mined faster than 10 minutes on average, difficulty increases; if slower, it decreases. Ensures consistent block times regardless of hashrate changes.
Technical Notes
Adjustment: new_target = old_target × (actual_time / expected_time). Capped at 4× increase or 4× decrease per epoch. Expected time: 2016 × 10 min = 2 weeks. nBits field in block header encodes compact target. Difficulty = difficulty_1_target / current_target.
Metadata
Visibility: Public
Created:1/3/2026by System