POW parameters – target
As you know, proof of work is the consensus mechanism used in Bitcoin to validate (mine) the blocks. It's a repetitive brute-force process aiming at finding the hash that meets specific requirements. Each hash basically gives a random number between 0 and the maximum value of a 256-bit number (which is huge). If the miner's hash is below the given target (a special hash value), then he wins. If not, he increments the nonce (completely changing the hash) and tries again.
The target is a 256-bit number that represents a threshold. Actually, it represents a threshold such that the SHA-256 hash of a candidate block's header must be lower than or equal to it in order to be accepted as valid and added to the blockchain: ...
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