Bitcoin vs Federal Funds Rate
4.33 +0.00%
Bitcoin vs Global M2 Growth
6.4742203078 +0.00%
Dollar Cost Averaging Calculator
0.0
MVRV
0.0 +0.00%
Bitcoin Dominance
64.4% -1.81%
Fear and Greed Index
67 +12.31%
Mayer Multiple
1.14 +6.54%
US vs Offshore Trading Volume
7.97%
Circulating Supply
19,862,134.375 +0.00%
Halving Countdown
26.6%
Hashrate vs Price
817.25 EH/s +5.93%
Node Map
22,070
Difficulty Estimator
79,679,234,551,296 +0.00%
Miner Revenue
$42,292,905.70 +12.55%
Network Difficulty
119.12T +0.00%
Puell Multiple
1.15 +12.33%
Exchange Trading Volume
$35.82B +103.12%
Exchange Trading Volume BTC
$9.57B +97.57%
Exchange Volume BTC Dominance
24.3% -2.70%
Monthly Exchange Volume
$231.12B
Start typing to search through charts, users, and news
Navigate
ESC
Close
↵
Open
⌘
Open in new tab
Bitcoin rises above $100,000 for the first time since February 7th. View the price action now.
MicroStrategy has acquired 1,895 BTC for ~$180.3 million. View their new purchase on Bitcoin Treasuries.
Explore our enhanced Bitcoin DCA Calculator. Compare Bitcoin returns against S&P 500 and gold over time.
Login
Block Height Chat
0 messages
Block Height stats
895,898
+0.02%
about 1 hour
Terminal Stats
6
0
Block height refers to the number of blocks in a blockchain that precede a specific block. In other words, it’s the distance, or count, from the very first block in the blockchain, known as the genesis block, which has a block height of zero. Every time a new block is added to the chain, its block height increases by one. For example, the second block created after the genesis block will have a block height of one, the third will have a block height of two, and so on.This metric provides a simple yet effective way to understand how many blocks have been created in the history of a blockchain network. Each block in the blockchain contains a reference to the previous block’s hash, helping to maintain the sequence and security of the chain.
Block height serves as a unique identifier for each block in the blockchain. As blocks are added sequentially, the blockchain grows in length, and the block height increases. For instance, Bitcoin has a block height that increases by one approximately every 10 minutes, as this is the average time it takes to add a new block to the Bitcoin blockchain.
Block height is a key measure for several reasons:
Tracking the Blockchain’s Growth: The block height helps track the number of blocks added to the chain, offering a rough idea of the network’s age and activity.
Blockchain Synchronization: Block height is also critical in ensuring that your local copy of a blockchain is up to date. If your blockchain copy’s block height differs from the globally accepted block height, it signals that your blockchain is out of sync and needs updating.
Identifying Specific Blocks: Block explorers, which allow users to search blockchain data, often display block height to help users identify and access specific blocks or transactions.
The security of blockchain relies heavily on its sequential nature. Each block references the hash of the block before it, making it impossible to remove or alter a block in the middle of the chain without invalidating all subsequent blocks. In this sense, block height not only provides a count of blocks but also reinforces the immutability of the blockchain.A common analogy is to think of a blockchain like a stack of Legos. Every new Lego (block) you add increases the height of the stack, and it is nearly impossible to remove a Lego from the middle without disrupting the entire structure. Block height reflects the stability and continuity of this “Lego” stack.
In most blockchains, new blocks are added at regular intervals based on the network’s average block time. For example, Bitcoin’s average block time is around 10 minutes. This block time is adjusted by modifying the network’s mining difficulty, which increases or decreases the computational power needed to solve the cryptographic puzzles used to validate transactions.