Nonce
A throwaway number miners change over and over while hunting for a hash that meets the target.
Nonce is short for 'number used once.' In mining, it's the one part of a block a miner is free to vary. They plug in a value, hash the block, check whether the result clears the difficulty target, and if not, try the next one.
Finding a valid nonce can take quintillions of attempts, which is exactly the point: it proves real effort. The winning nonce ships inside the block so anyone can verify the solution in a single hash.
Related terms
The process of competing with computing power to add new blocks and mint fresh coins under proof of work.
HashA fixed-length fingerprint produced by running data through a one-way function; any change yields a completely different output.
Proof of Work (PoW)A consensus method where miners burn computing power to earn the right to add blocks and deter cheating.
BlockA batch of transactions bundled together, time-stamped, and cryptographically linked to the block before it.