Proof of Work (PoW) is a consensus mechanism used by many mining-based blockchains. It determines which miner earns the right to add the next block to the blockchain.
In PoW, miners compete by repeatedly calculating hashes for a block. The network sets a difficulty target, which determines how difficult it is to find a valid hash. A hash is valid only when it meets this target.
Miners change values such as the nonce and calculate a new hash each time. They repeat this process billions or even trillions of times per second until one miner finds a valid result.
The first miner to find a valid solution broadcasts the block to the network. Other nodes can quickly verify the solution by calculating the hash themselves. If the block follows the network's rules, it is accepted and added to the blockchain.
This allows the network to reach consensus, meaning that independent computers can agree on which block should be added without relying on a central authority.
The amount of computational power a miner contributes is measured by hashrate, which is the number of hashes a device can calculate per second. A higher hashrate means that a miner can perform more attempts per second, increasing its probability of finding a valid block.
Hashrate scale(per second):