Bitcoin network data · Live estimate
Bitcoin difficulty adjustment estimator
View Bitcoin's current 2,016-block difficulty period, elapsed time, and a live estimate of the next difficulty adjustment from public block data.
Estimate progress through Bitcoin's current difficulty period and project the next retarget from public block timestamps. This is a live, changing estimate, not a forecast of block production.
Block data has not been loaded yet.
Refresh to show the current period, measured time, projected difficulty change, and estimated retarget time.
How the estimate works
Bitcoin mainnet targets 2,016 blocks per difficulty period and a 1,209,600-second (14-day) timespan. At a period boundary, Bitcoin Core measures the timestamp difference from the first block of the period to the last block before the boundary. The measured timespan is limited to one quarter through four times the target; the next target is scaled by measured time divided by target time. Difficulty moves inversely to the target.
This page measures elapsed time from the first block in the current period to the current tip. It extends the average observed interval across the expected 2,015 timestamp intervals to estimate the period's final elapsed time and the average interval across remaining blocks to estimate when the boundary may arrive. The projected difficulty percentage is target timespan divided by the capped projected elapsed time, minus one. It is not the protocol result until the retarget block is mined. Compact target rounding, maximum proof-of-work target handling, reorganizations, and timestamp behavior can also affect the final result.
The API timestamps and tip can update at different moments. A newly mined block, a reorganization, or a temporary API issue may change or interrupt the display. Refresh to request a new snapshot. The estimate does not predict exact block times or guarantee when the adjustment will occur.
Sources
- Bitcoin Core proof-of-work adjustment code — implements the 2,016-block retarget timespan calculation, quarter/four-times bounds, and target scaling.
- Bitcoin Core consensus parameters — sets Bitcoin mainnet's 14-day target timespan and 10-minute target spacing.
- Mempool.space REST API — documents the public tip-height, block-height hash, and block-detail endpoints used for timestamps.
Sources reviewed 2026-11-03. The browser requests public block data from Mempool.space when you refresh; no wallet or transaction data is requested.
Related: Bitcoin mining break-even scenarios and Bitcoin RBF fee bump estimates.
How it works
Select Refresh estimate to retrieve the current Bitcoin block height and the timestamps at the start of this difficulty period and at the current tip.
Good to know
When does Bitcoin adjust difficulty?
Bitcoin Core targets a retarget every 2,016 blocks. The protocol compares timestamps at the period endpoints, targets 1,209,600 seconds, and limits the measured timespan to one quarter through four times the target before calculating the next target.
Is the projected adjustment final?
No. The current period is incomplete. New blocks change its elapsed time and projected duration; the protocol calculates the retarget at the boundary using block-header timestamps.
Does the page predict the exact next block time?
No. The time estimate extends the average interval observed so far across remaining blocks. Block times vary, so this is only a moving projection.
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