𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘆

Occasionally, a new block will be found and it will only have 1 transaction in it: the coinbase transaction (not to be confused with the exchange of the same name), which is currently 6.25 bitcoin.

Why does this happen? 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬?

Let’s dive in and explore this thoroughly👇

At first glance, the presence of empty blocks in Bitcoin's timechain may seem perplexing, and even frustrating, considering the number of pending transactions lately. However, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁, as they help ensure the network's security and continuity. They are 𝘯𝘰𝘵 flaws in Bitcoin’s architecture, but 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴.

When a miner finds a block shortly after the previous one, they sometimes don’t have a prepared template of transactions yet. This presents them with a choice: secure the 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 of only the block subsidy while leaving the block empty, or take precious seconds to sort some transactions while risking the block being found by another miner before you can complete the process. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘁, 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲, 𝗮𝗹𝗯𝗲𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿, 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸.

This preference is deeply rooted in the design of Bitcoin’s protocol. As soon as a new block is broadcast, miners race against each other to build on top of it with the next block. They begin with an empty block template to avoid losing precious time, and add transactions to it while they hash. If they find a valid hash before they can build a transaction template, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘰-𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳 to broadcast an empty block before another minder finds and broadcasts it.

Some compare empty blocks to a form of spam, bloat, or even an attack on the network. This is understandable, since a delayed confirmation of one’s transactions can be annoying, but it ultimately misses the mark. True, empty blocks don't process any pending transactions, but 𝗻𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. Instead, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴, and reaffirm the miners' commitment to maintaining the network's integrity.

Ultimately, empty blocks are a testament to Bitcoin's ingenious incentive structure. It's a system where every decision, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, contributes to the network's overall strength and robustness. Empty blocks aren’t common, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸, and they 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 constitute spam; they're strategic decisions from miners that underline the resilience and foresight embedded in Bitcoin's architecture.

There has been a lot of questions and commentary about this lately, so be sure to 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 it with anyone who may not yet understand why some blocks are empty.

Give this a 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙, and 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 it so you can reference it later.

Have further questions, or know something that I missed?

Let me know in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀⬇️