SHA-256 is a cryptographic hash function developed by the NSA in 2001 that converts any input into a fixed 256-bit output, serving as the foundation of Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism.

SHA-256 produces a fixed 256-bit output from an input of any size, and Bitcoin applies it twice to block data. Ethereum chose ...

The National Institute of Standards and Technology published the final version of its "Secure Hash Algorithm-3" standard in August 2015 and has released it to the public, calling it a "next-generation ...