What is a Terahash? Understanding Mining Speed
When you buy a miner, you buy "Hashrate." An Antminer S19j Pro has 100 TH/s. But what does that actually mean?
The Guessing Game
Bitcoin mining is essentially a global guessing game. The computer is trying to guess a random number (a "nonce") that results in a specific hash.
- 1 Hash (H/s): One guess per second.
- 1 Megahash (MH/s): One million guesses per second.
- 1 Gigahash (GH/s): One billion guesses per second.
- 1 Terahash (TH/s): One trillion guesses per second.
- 1 Exahash (EH/s): One quintillion guesses per second.
So, when your miner runs at 100 TH/s, it is making 100 trillion attempts every single second to find the solution to the block.
Why Do You Need So Many Guesses?
Because the "Difficulty" is insanely high. Imagine trying to win a lottery where you have to pick a number between 1 and Infinity. To have a chance, you need to buy billions of tickets every second.
Network Hashrate
The "Global Hashrate" is the sum of all miners in the world. Currently, it is over 600 EH/s.
If your personal hashrate is 100 TH/s, your "share" of the network is tiny. That is why you need a pool like Gokby. We combine your 100 trillion guesses with everyone else's to actually win the prize.
