Hashrate measures the total computational power that miners are using to process transactions and secure a proof-of-work blockchain network. It is expressed in hashes per second (H/s).
Mining is essentially a guessing game. Miners repeatedly run transaction data through a hash function (SHA-256 in Bitcoin's case), trying to find an output that meets the network's difficulty target. Each attempt is one "hash." The hashrate tells you how many of these attempts the entire network is performing every second.
Bitcoin's hashrate is measured in exahashes per second (EH/s), where one exahash equals one quintillion (10^18) hashes. As more miners join and deploy more powerful hardware, the hashrate rises. The network automatically adjusts mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks (roughly two weeks) to keep block times close to 10 minutes, regardless of how much power is on the network.
A higher hashrate means more energy and hardware are dedicated to securing the chain, which makes it exponentially harder for any attacker to rewrite transaction history. This is why hashrate is treated as a security metric.
For investors and traders, hashrate trends signal miner confidence. Rising hashrate suggests miners are investing in hardware because they expect Bitcoin to remain profitable. A sudden hashrate drop could indicate miners shutting down due to low prices, regulatory pressure, or energy disruptions, and it may lead to slower block times until the next difficulty adjustment.
The BTC Network panel on the TerminalFeed dashboard displays the current estimated hashrate alongside block height, mempool size, and fee data. You can also explore the relationship between hashrate and network health in our Bitcoin Mempool guide.