The hashrate is the computing power of a miner or an entire network and indicates how many hash calculations are performed per second. It is measured in TH/s (terahash per second) or, for large networks, in EH/s (exahash) and ZH/s (zettahash). A modern Bitcoin ASIC ranges, depending on the model, roughly between 200 and 600 TH/s.

The higher your own hashrate relative to the total network hashrate, the larger a miner's share of the block reward. The Bitcoin network hashrate exceeded 1 ZH/s (around 1,000 EH/s) at the start of 2026 - more hashrate in the network means more competition and therefore a rising difficulty.

The difficulty is a value that regulates how hard it is to find a valid block. It keeps the block time constant - with Bitcoin, the difficulty automatically adjusts every 2016 blocks (about every two weeks) to keep the average block time at around ten minutes.

If the total network hashrate rises, the difficulty increases and the individual miner receives a smaller share. If computing power drops out, the difficulty falls again - this self-regulating mechanism is the reason mining remains viable for efficient operators over the long term. Difficulty is, alongside the coin price and the electricity price, one of the most important factors for profitability.

The halving is the halving of the block reward, which happens with Bitcoin about every 210,000 blocks (roughly every four years). At the halving in April 2024 the reward fell from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC per block; the next halving is expected around 2028 (then 1.5625 BTC).

The halving limits the supply of new coins and is firmly anchored in the Bitcoin protocol - in total there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoin. For miners, each halving means the revenue side is cut in half; that makes efficient hardware and a low electricity price increasingly important over time.

A miner's efficiency indicates how much electricity it needs for a given amount of computing power, measured in J/TH (joules per terahash). The lower the value, the more economical the device: a miner with 15 J/TH uses only half as much electricity for the same hashrate as one with 30 J/TH.

Because electricity is by far the largest ongoing cost factor, efficiency is the most important metric when choosing a device - more important than raw hashrate. Modern Bitcoin ASICs range, depending on the generation, roughly between 10 and 20 J/TH; older devices need a multiple of that and are barely economical at normal electricity prices.

A mining pool is an association of many miners who bundle their computing power and share the block rewards they find proportionally to the work contributed. The point of it is to smooth out the variance: a single device would statistically hit a Bitcoin block only every few years on its own; in a pool it instead receives continuous, predictable small shares.

The expected total return in a pool is practically the same as solo mining, minus the pool fee (usually 0 to around 2.5 percent). Pools settle according to different models - common ones are PPS/FPPS (fixed payout per share) and PPLNS (reward for the most recent shares before the block is found).

Proof of work (PoW) and proof of stake (PoS) are two procedures by which blockchains agree on which block is valid. With proof of work, the procedure behind Bitcoin, miners secure the network through computing power - only PoW coins can be mined at all. With proof of stake, participants who deposit coins as collateral (staking) handle the confirmation instead.

For mining this distinction is decisive: Ethereum switched from proof of work to proof of stake in 2022 and can no longer be mined since then. Mineable proof-of-work coins still include, among others, Bitcoin (SHA-256), Litecoin and Dogecoin (Scrypt), Kaspa (kHeavyHash) and Monero (RandomX).

With proof of work, each block condenses the transactions into a unique fingerprint - the hash. To create a valid block, miners vary a number in the block header (the nonce) until the hash falls below a target threshold set by the network. This effort costs real computing power and electricity.

Each block additionally contains the hash of the previous block. Anyone wanting to change an old block afterwards would have to recalculate its hash and that of all following blocks - and faster than the entire honest network adds new blocks. Exactly this barely achievable computing effort makes a proof-of-work blockchain practically tamper-proof.

In mining there are three common cooling types: air cooling, hydro and immersion. Air cooling is the standard - the heat is removed via fans, installation is simple, but the devices are loud and need a lot of airflow. It suits most setups.

With hydro, water circulates through internal cooling plates on the chips and releases the heat to the outside via a heat exchanger; the machine itself stays dry. Hydro allows higher clocking, higher density and is quieter - the basis for heat recovery. With immersion, the entire device is submerged in a non-conductive fluid; this yields very high density and longevity with more elaborate infrastructure. Immersion and hydro are used above all with high-performance Bitcoin miners, while altcoin devices mostly run on air or hydro.

A miner's electricity consumption depends on the model: a modern Bitcoin ASIC draws roughly 3,000 to 5,500 watts and runs around the clock - that quickly adds up to several thousand kilowatt-hours per month. Electricity is, at about 60 to 80 percent, the main ongoing cost factor in mining; the electricity price therefore almost single-handedly decides between profit and loss.

How much yield comes out per kilowatt-hour consumed is determined by the efficiency of the hardware (J/TH). Anyone without a cheap electricity tariff therefore often has their devices operated at sites with low-cost, often renewable energy. A first estimate is provided by the mining calculator.

An ASIC miner is designed for around-the-clock continuous operation and runs for many years with good care - technically even very long. The hardware itself barely ages; what limits the economic lifespan is usually not a defect but efficiency: new generations are more economical, so older devices eventually consume too much electricity per yield as difficulty rises.

Decisive for a long device life are stable temperatures, a clean power supply and regular maintenance - exactly the conditions a professional site provides. Wear parts like fans or power supplies can be replaced, individual hashboards repaired.

Through a miner's firmware, clocking and voltage can be adjusted. With undervolting you lower the voltage to improve efficiency (J/TH) - the device then delivers more computing power per watt. With overclocking you get more hashrate instead, but with higher consumption and more heat.

Such adjustments are a common lever to adapt devices to your own electricity price and cooling concept. They should be done with care, because overly aggressive settings can impair stability and lifespan. In hosting, the operations team takes care of this, keeping firmware and operating point in view.