diff --git a/consensus/pow.go b/consensus/pow.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..76053f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/consensus/pow.go
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017-2026 Lethean (https://lt.hn)
+//
+// Licensed under the European Union Public Licence (EUPL) version 1.2.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: EUPL-1.2
+
+package consensus
+
+import (
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"math/big"
+
+	"forge.lthn.ai/core/go-blockchain/crypto"
+	"forge.lthn.ai/core/go-blockchain/types"
+)
+
+// maxTarget is 2^256, used for difficulty comparison.
+var maxTarget = new(big.Int).Lsh(big.NewInt(1), 256)
+
+// CheckDifficulty returns true if hash meets the given difficulty target.
+// The hash (interpreted as a 256-bit little-endian number) must be less
+// than maxTarget / difficulty.
+func CheckDifficulty(hash types.Hash, difficulty uint64) bool {
+	if difficulty == 0 {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	// Convert hash to big.Int (little-endian as per CryptoNote convention).
+	// Reverse to big-endian for big.Int.
+	var be [32]byte
+	for i := 0; i < 32; i++ {
+		be[i] = hash[31-i]
+	}
+	hashInt := new(big.Int).SetBytes(be[:])
+
+	target := new(big.Int).Div(maxTarget, new(big.Int).SetUint64(difficulty))
+
+	return hashInt.Cmp(target) < 0
+}
+
+// CheckPoWHash computes the RandomX hash of a block header hash + nonce
+// and checks it against the difficulty target.
+func CheckPoWHash(headerHash types.Hash, nonce, difficulty uint64) (bool, error) {
+	// Build input: header_hash (32 bytes) || nonce (8 bytes LE).
+	var input [40]byte
+	copy(input[:32], headerHash[:])
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(input[32:], nonce)
+
+	key := []byte("LetheanRandomXv1")
+	powHash, err := crypto.RandomXHash(key, input[:])
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	return CheckDifficulty(types.Hash(powHash), difficulty), nil
+}
diff --git a/consensus/pow_test.go b/consensus/pow_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc361f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/consensus/pow_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+//go:build !integration
+
+package consensus
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"forge.lthn.ai/core/go-blockchain/types"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestCheckDifficulty_Good(t *testing.T) {
+	// A zero hash meets any difficulty.
+	hash := types.Hash{}
+	assert.True(t, CheckDifficulty(hash, 1))
+}
+
+func TestCheckDifficulty_Bad(t *testing.T) {
+	// Max hash (all 0xFF) should fail high difficulty.
+	hash := types.Hash{}
+	for i := range hash {
+		hash[i] = 0xFF
+	}
+	assert.False(t, CheckDifficulty(hash, ^uint64(0)))
+}