{"id":239650,"date":"2026-03-02T09:43:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T14:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ibkrcampus.com\/campus\/?post_type=glossary-terms&#038;p=239650"},"modified":"2026-03-13T15:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T19:23:08","slug":"sha-256","status":"publish","type":"glossary-terms","link":"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/glossary-terms\/sha-256\/","title":{"rendered":"SHA-256"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>SHA-256 stands for \u201cSecure Hash Algorithm 256-bit\u201d, a cryptographic hash function widely used in blockchain networks. It takes any input\u2014like a transaction or file\u2014and produces a fixed 256-bit (64-character) output called a hash. SHA-256 is deterministic, irreversible, and collision-resistant, meaning the same input always produces the same hash, it\u2019s practically impossible to reverse the hash to the original input, and no two different inputs should produce the same hash. In blockchain, SHA-256 secures transactions and links blocks together, making tampering extremely difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, Bitcoin uses SHA-256 to hash every transaction and block. If someone tries to change a past transaction, the hash changes, breaking the chain and alerting the network. SHA-256 is also used in Bitcoin mining to solve Proof-of-Work puzzles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SHA-256 stands for \u201cSecure Hash Algorithm 256-bit\u201d, a cryptographic hash function widely used in blockchain networks. It takes any input\u2014like a transaction or file\u2014and produces a fixed 256-bit (64-character) output called a hash. SHA-256 is deterministic, irreversible, and collision-resistant, meaning the same input always produces the same hash, it\u2019s practically impossible to reverse the hash [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"traders-glossary":[13269,13251],"class_list":{"0":"post-239650","1":"glossary-terms","2":"type-glossary-terms","3":"status-publish","5":"traders-glossary-trading-terms-s","6":"traders-glossary-trading-alphabet"},"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Archives Term | IBKR Glossary | IBKR Campus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.interactivebrokers.com\/campus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary-terms\/239650\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SHA-256 | IBKR Campus US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SHA-256 stands for \u201cSecure Hash Algorithm 256-bit\u201d, a cryptographic hash function widely used in blockchain networks. 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