Keep the target the same and add a lot more hashrate. Qualifying hashes would be found more often, so blocks would arrive faster.
If that were the whole story, every new machine would make blocks arrive faster and faster. Bitcoin has a way to respond.
Move the target
Difficulty is a measure of how hard it is to find a hash that qualifies. Difficulty and the target move in opposite directions. A smaller target means fewer hashes qualify. So finding one takes more attempts on average, and the difficulty is higher.
The main Bitcoin network adjusts the target every 2,016 blocks. It uses the times recorded in the blocks (their timestamps) to see how long those blocks took. If they came faster than intended (ten minutes per block on average), the adjustment generally makes the next period harder. If they came slower, it generally makes the next period easier.
The next block is never “due”
You can see two blocks arrive close together and then wait a long time for another. That does not mean the network is saving up blocks or that the next miner is nearly done.
At the same target, each attempt has the same chance as the one before. Ten minutes is the average time between blocks that the adjustment aims for. It is not a countdown timer attached to each block.
More competition changes your share
Your machine can keep producing the same TH/s while the rest of the network grows around it. Its portion of the total becomes smaller.
This is why you need to separate how the equipment performs from what the network is doing. A healthy machine can still be expected to produce less bitcoin. Difficulty can also fall. It does not only go up.
Two different complaints need two different investigations
“This machine is hashing more slowly” sends you to the machine itself. Look at its operating profile (the power and speed setting it runs at), hashboard behavior, temperatures and logs. “This machine is steady but earns less bitcoin for the same TH/s” sends you outside the machine. Look at network conditions, fees and how the pool counts and pays.
Both deserve attention. Confusing them is how a healthy hashboard becomes an unnecessary parts order.
Optional reading for this lesson
Continue your study
Reading for this lesson
See how Bitcoin’s rules connect to running a mining operation.
How the target and the difficulty adjustment work.