The components of the blockchain and a data structure that collects transactions.
Bitcoin Blocks are a data structure which contains transactions. Blocks are created by miners and contain a reference to the previous block forming the blockchain.
Questions tagged [block]
630 questions
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The bitcoin mining algorithm from a programmer's viewpoint
This page: Blocks said mining is actually to solve a mathematical problem, but reading Block hashing algorithm doesn't give much help.
I also tried reading bitcoind source code, but reading code takes much more time than reading documentation:)
And…
Mark Ma
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When a block is "discovered" how is the nonce determined?
I know that a block is based on a random number called a nonce, but if that number is random and unknown to the miner, how is that number actually verified as the correct nonce and not some arbitrary number?
Andrew
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What are the arguments for and against the increase of the block size limit?
Can someone give a quick point by point list, what arguments the proponents and opponents of increased blocksize have for their case?
user23381
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What encourages Bitcoin miners to relay blocks?
Lets say I'm mining bitcoins, and I've just received a new block that someone else has mined. What encourages me to send that block to anyone else.
I can understand how the original miner wants to send the block around the network (so their block…
Clinton
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What is the expected time until the next block is found?
https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/3908/659 says:
Luckily, you'll only have to wait five minutes on average for a block to be found (blocks are one every ten minutes, so the expected delay until the next block is five minutes).
Upon reading it, I…
Chris Moore
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Shortest and Longest block interval time ever recorded in Bitcoin
Bitcoin block interval time is on average 10 minutes, that is the difficulty is adjusted in such a way that every 10 minutes a miner will manage to find the right hash. This is just an average time though, the actual distribution for time…
Rexcirus
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Why does each block store a Merkle root?
I understand how a Merkle root is calculated and stored in the block. But how do miners verify a transaction using the Merkle root?
Here are 18 conditions that verify a transaction. None of them uses Merkle root.
Mohit Munjani
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What happens when a miner does not claim all fees/generated coins?
Suppose that a miner for some reason has the generation transaction of their blocks not take all the possible coins. This can happen for a variety of reasons, almost all of which are bugs:
An off-by-one error makes them think that their block…
Daniel H
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What's the purpose of a maximum block size?
Bitcoin has a maximum of 1 MB of transaction data in each block.
Why is this limit present?
When was it added?
Was it intended to be temporary?
Nick ODell
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How to calculate new "bits" value?
Every 2016 blocks one needs to calculate new bits value. What is the formula to calculate it?
ThePiachu
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What is the number of transactions in a block?
What determines the number of transactions that can be validated in a block?
anapaso
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Where is the UTXO data stored?
When a new transaction is received it is added to the memory pool (after checking for conflicts). While mining, only the transactions which are in the pool are considered. What happens to the transactions after they are included in a newly mined…
somesh
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Bitcoin Block Size - What are the rules?
What is the maximum size a block can be?
Is there a minimum size?
Can you have a block with 0 transactions included?
Michael Pickens
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What are the advantages/disadvantages of a continuously decreasing block reward compared to the current method?
The current method to control the bitcoin supply to a maximum of 21 million BTC is to reduce the block reward (currently 50 BTC/block) by 50% every 210000 blocks. In this forum post there is a discussion about "why doesn't the block reward decrease…
kirian
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How do you make a Genesis block?
What is involved in creating a genesis block? What makes it different from the other blocks in the chain.
user4381
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