<p>Any factor limiting the size of a block is a maximum, there’s no minimum requirement.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-08T00:34:57.943Z
Ah I see, so in the beginning years blocks weren't full with transactions and were less than 1mb? Because nowadays I don't think any blocks aren't full as there are so many pending transactions in the mempool all the time right?
Ivelin 
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-08T01:14:30.910Z
These days almost all blocks are full, but full means 4000000 weight units (as not every byte is counted equally since segwit). Typical full blocks are between 1.2 and 1.5 MB in size on disk.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-08T04:00:35.203Z
There is a minimum size though. The block should have at least 1 transaction (coinbase) which itself has a minimum size (2 byte signature script, at least 1 output).
Coding Enthusiast
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-08T07:07:37.303Z
@CodingEnthusiast Good point. I believe the minimum is 145 bytes (80 bytes header, 1 byte tx count, 1 coinbase transaction consisting of 4 bytes version, 1 byte txin count, 36 bytes prevout, 1 byte scriptsig length, 4 byte scriptsig (conforming to BIP34), 4 byte nsequence, 1 byte txout count, 8 bytes amount, 1 byte scriptpubkey length, 0 bytes scriptpubkey, 4 bytes nlocktime).
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-08T00:17:58.823Z
2020-08-08T00:17:58.823Z
Claris
<p>I found some statistics that the bitcoin blockchain is 285gb.
<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/647523/worldwide-bitcoin-blockchain-size/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.statista.com/statistics/647523/worldwide-bitcoin-blockchain-size/</a></p>
<p>Bitcoin has been around for how long? 10 years?
with 1mb blocks every 10 mins.</p>
<p>6mb an hour * 24 = 144mb a day * 365 = 52,5 gb a year * 10 = 520gb</p>
<p>How come it's significantly smaller?</p>
<p>Are my calculations wrong?</p>

<blockchain><block>
How come the bitcoin blockchain is only 285gb only?
Ivelin 
# How come the bitcoin blockchain is only 285gb only?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-08-07)

I found some statistics that the bitcoin blockchain is 285gb.
<https://www.statista.com/statistics/647523/worldwide-bitcoin-blockchain-size/>

Bitcoin has been around for how long? 10 years?
with 1mb blocks every 10 mins.

6mb an hour \* 24 = 144mb a day \* 365 = 52,5 gb a year \* 10 = 520gb

How come it's significantly smaller?

Are my calculations wrong?

**Tags:** blockchain, block


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-08-08. Score: 2

Any factor limiting the size of a block is a maximum, there’s no minimum requirement.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Ah I see, so in the beginning years blocks weren't full with transactions and were less than 1mb? Because nowadays I don't think any blocks aren't full as there are so many pending transactions in the mempool all the time right?  
> **username_2**: These days almost all blocks are full, but full means 4000000 weight units (as not every byte is counted equally since segwit). Typical full blocks are between 1.2 and 1.5 MB in size on disk.  
> **username_3**: There is a minimum size though. The block should have at least 1 transaction (coinbase) which itself has a minimum size (2 byte signature script, at least 1 output).  
> **username_2**: @username_3 Good point. I believe the minimum is 145 bytes (80 bytes header, 1 byte tx count, 1 coinbase transaction consisting of 4 bytes version, 1 byte txin count, 36 bytes prevout, 1 byte scriptsig length, 4 byte scriptsig (conforming to BIP34), 4 byte nsequence, 1 byte txout count, 8 bytes amount, 1 byte scriptpubkey length, 0 bytes scriptpubkey, 4 bytes nlocktime).  

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