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Bitcoin Difficulty Calculator

Crypto TradingMining and Staking

The current difficulty from any block explorer, as a full number (100 T = 100,000,000,000,000).

Subsidy per block; 3.125 BTC since the April 2024 halving. Add average fees if you want them counted.

Expected solo time to find a block —
Expected time in days
—
Implied network hashrate (EH/s)
—
Your share of the network
—
Expected BTC per day
—
Chance of a block within 24 h (solo)
—

Each Bitcoin block needs on average difficulty × 2^32 hashes. Divide by your hashrate for the expected solo time: at difficulty 20,000 and 1 GH/s that is 85,899 seconds, about 23.86 hours. The same figure divided by 600 seconds gives the hashrate the whole network must have to hold ten-minute blocks.

About this tool

Miners, hosting buyers and anyone sizing a rig use difficulty to judge how often hashing actually pays. This calculator takes the network difficulty, your hashrate in GH/s to EH/s and the block reward, and returns the expected time for you to find a block alone, your share of the network, expected BTC per day and the chance of at least one block in 24 hours. It also back-solves the network hashrate implied by the difficulty, assuming blocks arrive every 600 seconds. The figures are averages of a random process: a solo miner can wait many times the expected period. Electricity, pool fees and transaction fees are not included unless you add fees to the reward yourself.

How to use it

  1. Enter the difficulty

    Type the current network difficulty as a full number; block explorers often show it abbreviated, so 101.6 T means 101,600,000,000,000.

  2. Set your hashrate and unit

    Enter your machine's rated hashrate and pick GH/s, TH/s, PH/s or EH/s from the unit menu inside the field.

  3. Check the block reward

    Leave 3.125 BTC for the current subsidy, or raise it by the average fees per block.

  4. Read the results

    The headline is expected hours per block; the stats give days, network share, BTC per day and the 24-hour odds, with the working listed underneath.

Examples

Difficulty 20,000 at 1 GH/s

Network difficulty
20000
Your hashrate
1
Hashrate unit
GH/s
Block reward
3.125

Result Expected solo time to find a block: 23.86
Expected time in days: 0.99
Implied network hashrate (EH/s): 0
Your share of the network: 0.698492%
Expected BTC per day: 3.14321369
Chance of a block within 24 h (solo): 63.4258%

  1. Hashes needed per block = 20000 × 2^32 = 8.5899e+13
  2. Your hashrate = 1 GH/s = 1.0000e+9 H/s
  3. Expected time = 8.5899e+13 ÷ 1.0000e+9 = 8.5899e+4 s = 23.86 h
  4. Network hashrate = 8.5899e+13 ÷ 600 s = 0 EH/s
  5. BTC per day = (86,400 ÷ 8.5899e+4) × 3.125 = 3.1432e+0

The textbook case from the Bitcoin wiki: 85,899 seconds of hashing, just under a day, per expected block.

One 200 TH/s miner at 100 T difficulty

Network difficulty
100000000000000
Your hashrate
200
Hashrate unit
TH/s
Block reward
3.125

Result Expected solo time to find a block: 596,523.24
Expected time in days: 24,855.13
Implied network hashrate (EH/s): 715.83
Your share of the network: 0.000028%
Expected BTC per day: 0.00012573
Chance of a block within 24 h (solo): 0.004%

  1. Hashes needed per block = 100000000000000 × 2^32 = 4.2950e+23
  2. Your hashrate = 200 TH/s = 2.0000e+14 H/s
  3. Expected time = 4.2950e+23 ÷ 2.0000e+14 = 2.1475e+9 s = 596523.24 h
  4. Network hashrate = 4.2950e+23 ÷ 600 s = 715.83 EH/s
  5. BTC per day = (86,400 ÷ 2.1475e+9) × 3.125 = 1.2573e-4

A single modern rig against a 100 T network: the implied network runs about 716 EH/s and solo blocks are centuries apart.

A 1 EH/s farm at 100 T difficulty

Network difficulty
100000000000000
Your hashrate
1
Hashrate unit
EH/s
Block reward
3.125

Result Expected solo time to find a block: 119.3
Expected time in days: 4.97
Implied network hashrate (EH/s): 715.83
Your share of the network: 0.139698%
Expected BTC per day: 0.62864274
Chance of a block within 24 h (solo): 18.2223%

  1. Hashes needed per block = 100000000000000 × 2^32 = 4.2950e+23
  2. Your hashrate = 1 EH/s = 1.0000e+18 H/s
  3. Expected time = 4.2950e+23 ÷ 1.0000e+18 = 4.2950e+5 s = 119.3 h
  4. Network hashrate = 4.2950e+23 ÷ 600 s = 715.83 EH/s
  5. BTC per day = (86,400 ÷ 4.2950e+5) × 3.125 = 6.2864e-1

One exahash per second finds a block roughly every five days on average.

How it is calculated

t = D × 2^32 ÷ H; network H = D × 2^32 ÷ 600; BTC/day = (86,400 ÷ t) × R; P(24 h) = 1 − e^(−86,400 ÷ t)

D
network difficulty
H
your hashrate in hashes per second
t
expected seconds to find one block
R
block reward in BTC

Difficulty is defined relative to the easiest target, at which a valid hash turns up once every 2^32 attempts on average. A difficulty of D therefore means D × 2^32 hashes per block. Dividing by your hashrate gives the mean waiting time; dividing by the 600-second block target gives the hashrate the network must sustain. Finding blocks is a Poisson process, so the chance of at least one block in a day is 1 minus e to the power of minus the expected blocks per day.

Sources

When not to use it

  • It does not estimate profit, because power cost and hardware price are not inputs.
  • It cannot forecast future difficulty, which retargets every 2,016 blocks.
  • It is not a pool payout model with PPS or FPPS fees.

Common mistakes

  • Typing an abbreviated difficulty such as 101.6 instead of the full 101.6 trillion.
  • Mixing TH/s and PH/s, which changes every result by a factor of 1,000.
  • Reading the expected time as a promise when solo luck varies widely.

Frequently asked questions

Why does difficulty multiply by 2^32?

Difficulty 1 corresponds to the original maximum target, at which roughly one hash in 2^32 (about 4.29 billion) meets the target. Every higher difficulty scales that count linearly, so the expected hashes per block are D × 2^32.

How often does Bitcoin difficulty change?

The network retargets every 2,016 blocks, roughly two weeks, aiming for one block per 600 seconds. Each change is capped at a factor of four up or down.

How is the network hashrate derived here?

If blocks arrive every 600 seconds on average and each needs D × 2^32 hashes, the network must perform D × 2^32 ÷ 600 hashes per second. Real blocks run a little fast or slow between retargets, so explorer estimates differ slightly.

Does joining a pool change the expected BTC per day?

Not the expectation, apart from pool fees. A pool smooths income by paying for shares, so you receive small regular amounts instead of an occasional whole block.

What does the 24-hour chance mean for a small miner?

It is the Poisson probability of finding at least one block alone in a day. For a 200 TH/s machine against a 100 T difficulty it is a tiny fraction of a percent, which is why home miners join pools.

Should transaction fees go into the block reward field?

The subsidy is 3.125 BTC after the 2024 halving. Fees vary block to block; adding a recent average gives a closer income figure, while leaving them out gives the subsidy-only floor.