<p>It has no transactions other than the coinbase transaction. However, the transaction's coinbase output is 0 BTC. Here's the valuable piece of information that you are looking for:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Coinbase outputs <strong>may</strong> be set lower than the max. value (12.5 currently), and the block will be valid (if the difficulty is lower than the target, as always)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Also look at: <a href="https://btc.com/0000000000004c78956f8643262f3622acf22486b120421f893c0553702ba7b5" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://btc.com/0000000000004c78956f8643262f3622acf22486b120421f893c0553702ba7b5</a></p>

<p>BTW, the miner loses money, for the price of being "cool".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T17:50:22.570Z
i dont see anything special about this block https://btc.com/0000000000004c78956f8643262f3622acf22486b120421f893c0553702ba7b5
user380208
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T17:51:06.723Z
also why this block has more than 50 btc in coinbase output? 124,725
block -https://btc.com/0000000000006a01cb8932bc8a90b79297c744d4e5a355312208ab558b1e89a5
user380208
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T18:00:12.950Z
@anacondabitch: The coinbase transaction output can be, at most, the sum of the block reward *plus* the total of all transaction fees of other transactions in the block.  So this block had BTC 0.13 in transaction fees.  btc.com appears to display coinbase transactions in a confusing way; if you look at other block explorers (e.g. https://blockchain.info/block-index/139575/0000000000006a01cb8932bc8a90b79297c744d4e5a355312208ab558b1e89a5) it is more clear what is happening.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T18:20:18.457Z
@NateEldredge lol looks like https://btc.com/0000000000004c78956f8643262f3622acf22486b120421f893c0553702ba7b5 lost -12.50000000 BTC in Fees .... i dont see any tx how does that happen?
user380208
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T18:41:27.520Z
@anacondabitch: You're misreading it.  This block had a total of 8 transactions.  One was the coinbase, seven had no fees, and the eighth had a fee of BTC 0.01.  So the coinbase was allowed to be up to BTC 50.01.  The miner chose to claim 49.99999999 instead, effectively destroying the remaining BTC 0.01000001.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T18:44:33.223Z
@anacondabitch: I think the issue is that btc.com takes the value of the coinbase c;aimed, subtracts the block reward, and displays the result as "fees".  In the normal case, the maximum coinbase is claimed, which is in fact reward plus fees, so this number does equal the fees.  When the maximum coinbase is not claimed, this number can look funny or negative and doesn't accurately reflect the fees in the block.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-13T02:09:26.067Z
Is this equivalent to burning bitcoin, or does it mean that there is more bitcoin available to be mined in a future block?
Steve Ellis
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-13T07:39:24.613Z
@SteveEllis Yes, they're equivalent. They've lost ~$150k.
MCCCS
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T14:10:47.850Z
2018-03-18T06:19:13.313Z
2018-03-18T06:19:13.313Z
MCCCS
<p>Block contains "RSKBLOCK:Ý¿QzßýKÊwQP[9É:
ÔyüN9ÝW³GÆ$", so I think that it is related to www.rsk.co. Probably Sidechains synchronization.</p>

<p>EDIT:
Binary hex: "52534b424c4f434b3addbf517adf8ffd4bca7751505b39c9013a0d1fd479fc4e901b39dd57b347c624"<br>
Source: <a href="https://blockchain.info/tx/9bf8853b3a823bbfa1e54017ae11a9e1f4d08a854dcce9f24e08114f2c921182?show_adv=true" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://blockchain.info/tx/9bf8853b3a823bbfa1e54017ae11a9e1f4d08a854dcce9f24e08114f2c921182?show_adv=true</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T17:44:53.810Z
what is that scary string?looks like some extraterrestrial code RSKBLOCK:Ý¿QzßýKÊwQP[9É: ÔyüN9ÝW³GÆ$
user380208
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T17:59:40.353Z
That string is not meant to be converted to text. Rather it is just binary for a RSK block hash. When converted to text, it looks to be a weird string.
Ava Chow
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T23:47:53.973Z
@AndrewChow Well, the first 9 characters seem to be meaningful in text.
Acccumulation
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-31T20:54:07.333Z
How did you converted hex: "52534b424c4f434b3addbf517adf8ffd4bca7751505b39c9013a0d1fd479fc4e901b39dd57b347c624" into ASCII ... any idea?
user380208
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-31T23:36:55.890Z
@anacondabitch try to search "hex to ASCII" on Google
CoperNick
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-30T17:40:58.517Z
2017-12-30T18:06:31.557Z
2017-12-30T18:06:31.557Z
CoperNick
<p>I can't figure why this block has 0 coinbase with 0 transactions... however still a valid block? Or it it empty? According to whalepanda this coinbase was sacrificed by unknown miner.</p>

<p>See the block at <a href="https://btc.com/0000000000000000004b27f9ee7ba33d6f048f684aaeb0eea4befd80f1701126" rel="noreferrer">height
    501,726</a></p>

<empty-blocks><block-validity>
Can someone explain this weird mining activity?
user380208
# Can someone explain this weird mining activity?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-30)

I can't figure why this block has 0 coinbase with 0 transactions... however still a valid block? Or it it empty? According to whalepanda this coinbase was sacrificed by unknown miner.

See the block at [height
501,726](https://btc.com/0000000000000000004b27f9ee7ba33d6f048f684aaeb0eea4befd80f1701126)

**Tags:** empty-blocks, block-validity


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-12-30. Score: 13

It has no transactions other than the coinbase transaction. However, the transaction's coinbase output is 0 BTC. Here's the valuable piece of information that you are looking for:

> Coinbase outputs **may** be set lower than the max. value (12.5 currently), and the block will be valid (if the difficulty is lower than the target, as always)

Also look at: <https://btc.com/0000000000004c78956f8643262f3622acf22486b120421f893c0553702ba7b5>

BTW, the miner loses money, for the price of being "cool".

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: i dont see anything special about this block https://btc.com/0000000000004c78956f8643262f3622acf22486b120421f893c0553702ba7b5  
> **username_0**: also why this block has more than 50 btc in coinbase output? 124,725 block -https://btc.com/0000000000006a01cb8932bc8a90b79297c744d4e5a355312208ab558b1e89a5  
> **username_2**: @anacondabitch: The coinbase transaction output can be, at most, the sum of the block reward *plus* the total of all transaction fees of other transactions in the block.  So this block had BTC 0.13 in transaction fees.  btc.com appears to display coinbase transactions in a confusing way; if you look at other block explorers (e.g. https://blockchain.info/block-index/139575/0000000000006a01cb8932bc8a90b79297c744d4e5a355312208ab558b1e89a5) it is more clear what is happening.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 lol looks like https://btc.com/0000000000004c78956f8643262f3622acf22486b120421f893c0553702ba7b5 lost -12.50000000 BTC in Fees .... i dont see any tx how does that happen?  
> **username_2**: @anacondabitch: You're misreading it.  This block had a total of 8 transactions.  One was the coinbase, seven had no fees, and the eighth had a fee of BTC 0.01.  So the coinbase was allowed to be up to BTC 50.01.  The miner chose to claim 49.99999999 instead, effectively destroying the remaining BTC 0.01000001.  
> **username_2**: @anacondabitch: I think the issue is that btc.com takes the value of the coinbase c;aimed, subtracts the block reward, and displays the result as "fees".  In the normal case, the maximum coinbase is claimed, which is in fact reward plus fees, so this number does equal the fees.  When the maximum coinbase is not claimed, this number can look funny or negative and doesn't accurately reflect the fees in the block.  
> **username_3**: Is this equivalent to burning bitcoin, or does it mean that there is more bitcoin available to be mined in a future block?  
> **username_1**: @username_3 Yes, they're equivalent. They've lost ~$150k.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-12-30. Score: 4

Block contains "RSKBLOCK:Ý¿QzßýKÊwQP[9É:
ÔyüN9ÝW³GÆ$", so I think that it is related to www.rsk.co. Probably Sidechains synchronization.

EDIT:
Binary hex: "52534b424c4f434b3addbf517adf8ffd4bca7751505b39c9013a0d1fd479fc4e901b39dd57b347c624"  
Source: <https://blockchain.info/tx/9bf8853b3a823bbfa1e54017ae11a9e1f4d08a854dcce9f24e08114f2c921182?show_adv=true>

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: what is that scary string?looks like some extraterrestrial code RSKBLOCK:Ý¿QzßýKÊwQP[9É: ÔyüN9ÝW³GÆ$  
> **username_5**: That string is not meant to be converted to text. Rather it is just binary for a RSK block hash. When converted to text, it looks to be a weird string.  
> **username_6**: @AndrewChow Well, the first 9 characters seem to be meaningful in text.  
> **username_0**: How did you converted hex: "52534b424c4f434b3addbf517adf8ffd4bca7751505b39c9013a0d1fd479fc4e901b39dd57b347c624" into ASCII ... any idea?  
> **username_4**: @anacondabitch try to search "hex to ASCII" on Google  

---

