diff --git a/bitcoin/src/pow.rs b/bitcoin/src/pow.rs
index 4fac62f3..cfb3f342 100644
--- a/bitcoin/src/pow.rs
+++ b/bitcoin/src/pow.rs
@@ -18,12 +18,22 @@ use units::parse;
 use crate::blockdata::block::BlockHash;
 use crate::consensus::encode::{self, Decodable, Encodable};
 use crate::consensus::Params;
-use crate::error::{ContainsPrefixError, MissingPrefixError, PrefixedHexError, UnprefixedHexError};
+use crate::error::{ContainsPrefixError, MissingPrefixError, ParseIntError, PrefixedHexError, UnprefixedHexError};
 
 /// Implement traits and methods shared by `Target` and `Work`.
 macro_rules! do_impl {
     ($ty:ident) => {
         impl $ty {
+            /// Creates `Self` from a prefixed hex string.
+            pub fn from_hex(s: &str) -> Result<Self, PrefixedHexError> {
+                Ok($ty(U256::from_hex(s)?))
+            }
+
+            /// Creates `Self` from an unprefixed hex string.
+            pub fn from_unprefixed_hex(s: &str) -> Result<Self, UnprefixedHexError> {
+                Ok($ty(U256::from_unprefixed_hex(s)?))
+            }
+
             /// Creates `Self` from a big-endian byte array.
             #[inline]
             pub fn from_be_bytes(bytes: [u8; 32]) -> $ty { $ty(U256::from_be_bytes(bytes)) }
@@ -390,6 +400,43 @@ impl U256 {
 
     const ONE: U256 = U256(0, 1);
 
+    /// Creates a `U256` from an prefixed hex string.
+    fn from_hex(s: &str) -> Result<Self, PrefixedHexError> {
+        let stripped = if let Some(stripped) = s.strip_prefix("0x") {
+            stripped
+        } else if let Some(stripped) = s.strip_prefix("0X") {
+            stripped
+        } else {
+            return Err(MissingPrefixError::new(s).into());
+        };
+        Ok(U256::from_hex_internal(stripped)?)
+    }
+
+    /// Creates a `CompactTarget` from an unprefixed hex string.
+    fn from_unprefixed_hex(s: &str) -> Result<Self, UnprefixedHexError> {
+        if s.starts_with("0x") || s.starts_with("0X") {
+            return Err(ContainsPrefixError::new(s).into());
+        }
+        Ok(U256::from_hex_internal(s)?)
+    }
+
+    fn from_hex_internal(s: &str) -> Result<Self, ParseIntError> {
+        let (high, low) = if s.len() < 32 {
+            let low = parse::hex_u128(s)?;
+            (0, low)
+        } else {
+            let high_len = s.len() - 32;
+            let high_s = &s[..high_len];
+            let low_s = &s[high_len..];
+
+            let high = parse::hex_u128(high_s)?;
+            let low = parse::hex_u128(low_s)?;
+            (high, low)
+        };
+
+        Ok(U256(high, low))
+    }
+
     /// Creates [`U256`] from a big-endian array of `u8`s.
     #[cfg_attr(all(test, mutate), mutate)]
     fn from_be_bytes(a: [u8; 32]) -> U256 {
@@ -1507,6 +1554,28 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn u256_to_from_hex_roundtrips() {
+        let val = U256(
+            0xDEAD_BEEA_A69B_455C_D41B_B662_A69B_4550,
+            0xA69B_455C_D41B_B662_A69B_4555_DEAD_BEEF,
+        );
+        let hex = format!("0x{:x}", val);
+        let got = U256::from_hex(&hex).expect("failed to parse hex");
+        assert_eq!(got, val);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn u256_to_from_unprefixed_hex_roundtrips() {
+        let val = U256(
+            0xDEAD_BEEA_A69B_455C_D41B_B662_A69B_4550,
+            0xA69B_455C_D41B_B662_A69B_4555_DEAD_BEEF,
+        );
+        let hex = format!("{:x}", val);
+        let got = U256::from_unprefixed_hex(&hex).expect("failed to parse hex");
+        assert_eq!(got, val);
+    }
+
     #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
     #[test]
     fn u256_serde() {
diff --git a/units/src/parse.rs b/units/src/parse.rs
index 787bbdeb..967113f9 100644
--- a/units/src/parse.rs
+++ b/units/src/parse.rs
@@ -88,6 +88,32 @@ pub fn int<T: Integer, S: AsRef<str> + Into<String>>(s: S) -> Result<T, ParseInt
     })
 }
 
+/// Parses a `u32` from a hex string.
+///
+/// Input string may or may not contain a `0x` prefix.
+pub fn hex_u32<S: AsRef<str> + Into<String>>(s: S) -> Result<u32, ParseIntError> {
+    let stripped = strip_hex_prefix(s.as_ref());
+    u32::from_str_radix(stripped, 16).map_err(|error| ParseIntError {
+        input: s.into(),
+        bits: 32,
+        is_signed: false,
+        source: error,
+    })
+}
+
+/// Parses a `u128` from a hex string.
+///
+/// Input string may or may not contain a `0x` prefix.
+pub fn hex_u128<S: AsRef<str> + Into<String>>(s: S) -> Result<u128, ParseIntError> {
+    let stripped = strip_hex_prefix(s.as_ref());
+    u128::from_str_radix(stripped, 16).map_err(|error| ParseIntError {
+        input: s.into(),
+        bits: 128,
+        is_signed: false,
+        source: error,
+    })
+}
+
 /// Strips the hex prefix off `s` if one is present.
 pub(crate) fn strip_hex_prefix(s: &str) -> &str {
     if let Some(stripped) = s.strip_prefix("0x") {
@@ -99,18 +125,6 @@ pub(crate) fn strip_hex_prefix(s: &str) -> &str {
     }
 }
 
-/// Parses a u32 from a hex string.
-///
-/// Input string may or may not contain a `0x` prefix.
-pub fn hex_u32<S: AsRef<str> + Into<String>>(s: S) -> Result<u32, ParseIntError> {
-    u32::from_str_radix(strip_hex_prefix(s.as_ref()), 16).map_err(|error| ParseIntError {
-        input: s.into(),
-        bits: 32,
-        is_signed: false,
-        source: error,
-    })
-}
-
 /// Implements `TryFrom<$from> for $to` using `parse::int`, mapping the output using infallible
 /// conversion function `fn`.
 #[macro_export]
@@ -182,3 +196,36 @@ macro_rules! impl_parse_str {
         }
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_u32_from_hex_prefixed() {
+        let want = 171;
+        let got = hex_u32("0xab").expect("failed to parse prefixed hex");
+        assert_eq!(got, want);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_u32_from_hex_no_prefix() {
+        let want = 171;
+        let got = hex_u32("ab").expect("failed to parse non-prefixed hex");
+        assert_eq!(got, want);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_u128_from_hex_prefixed() {
+        let want = 3735928559;
+        let got = hex_u128("0xdeadbeef").expect("failed to parse prefixed hex");
+        assert_eq!(got, want);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_u128_from_hex_no_prefix() {
+        let want = 3735928559;
+        let got = hex_u128("deadbeef").expect("failed to parse non-prefixed hex");
+        assert_eq!(got, want);
+    }
+}