Why is Target < Blockhash?

Question

I am currently trying to validate a blocks hash against its target in python3:

This is a block in the Blockcypher testnet, and I am using this formula from the Bitcoin Wiki.

block_hash = '000055f67563d1c2cb141d06d52d2fca63ef457c553519aeb635a2643a9af0b1'
bits = '520159231'

target = hex(int(bits) * (2**(8 * (0x1b - 3))))
hash_ = hex(int(block_hash, 16))
print(target, hash_)
>>> 0x1f00ffff000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0x55f67563d1c2cb141d06d52d2fca63ef457c553519aeb635a2643a9af0b1

if not target >= hash_:
    print('False)
else:
    print('True')
>>> False

Point is, that target is less than blockhash. But this should not be the case. Can anyone help me?

Thank You for Your time.

Answer 1

If you convert the difficulty bits to hex you will get: 0x1F00FFFF

Coefficient = 0x00FFFF

Exponent = 1F = 31

Target = Coefficient * 2**( 8 * ( exponent-3 ) )

Target = 0xFFFF with 31 - 3 = 28 trailing NULL (0x00) bytes

Target: 0x0000FFFF00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Your Hash: 0x000055f67563d1c2cb141d06d52d2fca63ef457c553519aeb635a2643a9af0b1

So your POW fulfils the target. Just to be sure, you might want to check endianness during your conversions between int/literal/hex types.