DIFFICULTY · LIVEASERT · 2 H HALF-LIFEupdated just now
what block 37 must meet, worked out from the consensus rules and the chain's own headers
21.72 M first easing halving in 21 m 13 s
21.72 M before any easing
4 h 25 m against 60 s per block since genesis
starts 20 min after the last block last block 47 s ago
427.31 TH/s pool (shares, 10 min)
3 m 38 s at the required difficulty and that hashrate
now
≈ 9 h 26 m
the node itself reports 21.72 M for the next block without easing; the base above is computed independently and should match it.
Estimates: the hashrate stays where it is and blocks arrive at their expected pace; ASERT alone, the easing can make single blocks faster; 1-minute means within 10 % of 60 s.
DIFFICULTY OVER TIMELOG SCALE
mined block (from its header bits)ASERT base for the next blockrequired difficulty, with the easing stepsbetween the 60-second and 10-minute levels at the measured hashrate
HASHRATElinear · same time axis
pool hashrate (10-min windows of accepted shares)implied network hashrate per block: difficulty × 2^32 / interval (a noisy estimate)hashrate the current difficulty needs for 1- and 10-minute blocks
BLOCK INTERVALStarget 60 s · log scale
WHAT ASERT DOES
Every block has a schedule: block n is due 60 s × n after genesis. ASERT compares the last block's time with that schedule. For every 2 hours the chain is behind, the difficulty halves; for every 2 hours ahead, it doubles. It started at 100.00 M, which needs about 7.2 PH/s for 60-second blocks, and it looks only at the schedule, so one slow or fast block cannot swing it.
WHAT THE EASING DOES
If no block has been found 20 minutes after the last one, the block being mined may use a lower difficulty: half after 22 minutes, a quarter after 24, and so on, halving every 2 minutes by its own timestamp. It applies to that one block only; the next block starts again from the ASERT base. A block must also come at least 30 seconds after the one before it.
WHY BLOCKS ARE SLOW RIGHT NOW
The miners now bring about 427.31 TH/s. At the current base of 21.72 M a block would take about 3 m 38 s on average, so most blocks come in through the easing, 20-30 minutes after the one before. Each slow block puts the chain further behind its schedule, and every 2 hours behind halves the base, so block times shorten step by step until the difficulty meets the hashrate.
The rules are consensus code: ASERT in src/pow.cpp, the launch rules (R1, R2) in the chain parameters. This page recomputes them from the block headers; /api/difficulty has the numbers as JSON.