When discussing Bitcoin's hash power, it typically refers to the entire network's combined hashing power. Bitcoin's security relies on the collective computational power of all miners working together to maintain the network. This collective hash power is often measured in units of "hashes per second" (H/s), "terahashes per second" (TH/s), or "exahashes per second" (EH/s), depending on the scale of computation involved.
Individual miners or mining pools contribute their own hashing power to this network total. Mining pools are groups of individual miners who combine their computational resources to increase their chances of successfully mining a block. Each miner within a pool contributes their individual hashrate to the pool's overall hashrate, and the pool then participates in the competition to mine a block.
So, when you hear about the "Bitcoin hash power," it's referring to the total combined hashrate of all miners & mining pools in the network, not the hash power of a single individual or miner. This collective hashing power is a crucial metric for understanding the network's security & computational capacity…