Glossary · Mining Basics
SHA-256
Also: SHA256
SHA-256 is the cryptographic hash function Bitcoin uses for proof of work, producing a fixed 256-bit output from any input so that the only way to find a valid block is to try inputs one after another.
Related terms
- Proof of work
- Proof of work is the consensus mechanism in which miners repeatedly hash candidate block headers until one produces a value below the network's current target, making each new block expensive to produce and cheap to verify.
- ASIC
- An ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) is a chip designed to compute one hash function and nothing else, and ASIC miners built around such chips are the only hardware that mines SHA-256 coins like Bitcoin competitively.
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