The Bitcoin network has mined block 800,000, with just 40,000 left to mine for the next network. mining reward half.
The 800,000th block contained 3721 transactions of 1.64 megabytes worth of bitcoin (BTC) trading at $29,815 on July 24, as market researcher Dylan LeClair noted on Twitter:
#Bitcoin block 800,000. pic.twitter.com/Yw9c6klqbY
— Dylan LeClair (@DylanLeClair_) July 24, 2023
The milestone was widely shared on the social media platform on July 24, with bitcoin advocates and industry commentators highlighting the milestone as an indicator of the security and resilience of the network:
The #Bitcoin the network just produced block number 800,000.
800,000 blocks without a central bank.
800,000 blocks with no government.
800,000 blocks without a CEO.
800,000 blocks without asking permission. pic.twitter.com/hf8RpC3jlP
— Walker⚡️ (@WalkerAmerica) July 24, 2023
The block height of a bitcoin refers to its position on the blockchain relative to how many blocks preceded it – back to genesis block, which was the cornerstone of the network. Blocks contain transactions and data aggregated into blocks by network miners.
₿: 800,000th bitcoin block mined! pic.twitter.com/uGKi15zRaO
— ₿itcoin Documentation (@DocumentingBTC) July 24, 2023
The metric acts as a chronological order of the network’s transactions and blocks, with each new block attached to the previous one in the chain. This allows users to identify the order in which transactions are recorded.
Block height also serves as a measure of the immutability of the Bitcoin blockchain. The more blocks are added to the chain, the more computing power is required for a malicious actor to attempt to manipulate previous blocks.
Related: Bitcoin Miners Still Growing Despite Toughest Bear Market Ever – Hut8, Foundry, Braiins
As before explained CointelegraphA 50% attack would require an attacker to gain enough computing power to monopolize the generation of new blocks and gain rewards because they are able to prevent other miners from completing blocks. An attacker could also reverse transactions.
Block height also serves as a measure used to maintain the difficulty of Bitcoin mining. Proof-of-work blockchain networks have a mining difficulty adjusted periodically based on the total computing power of the network and the time it took to mine a certain number of previous blocks.
The Bitcoin network generates a new block roughly every 10 minutes. If more hashing power is added to the network, it will affect this metric and automatically adjust the mining difficulty every two weeks to maintain balance.
A Bitcoin block height also determines the amount of Bitcoins rewarded to miners for adding a new block to the network. The Bitcoin protocol is designed to halve every 4 years, or 210,000 blocks on the chain.
The initial block reward was 50 BTC in 2009 before being halved in 2012, 2016 and 2020 to 25 BTC, 12.5 BTC and currently 6.25 BTC.
The next Bitcoin halving is earmarked for April 2024, with the latest block reward halving to 3.125 BTC. Halving events have historically coincided with large increases in the price of BTC and the broader cryptocurrency markets.
With less than a year to go until the next halving, other macro events have also halted Bitcoin’s decline after its last major peak at $69,000. Analysts and commentators have speculated that the latest Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) from global asset managers Black stone and Fidelity indicate renewed institutional interest in Bitcoin.