BITCOIN BLOCK SIZE AND FULLNESS
How full are Bitcoin's blocks?
How many blocks arrived, how full they were, and how big a typical one is.
How full Bitcoin’s blocks were, each day
How full Bitcoin’s blocks were, each day. The space used against the space the rules allow. Readings before August 2017 use the closest equivalent measurement.
Inspect and compare dates
Pick two dates to compare how full the blocks were, how much space they used and how many arrived, then add a third or a fourth to see the path between them.
| Measure | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| How full | 98.45% | 98.61% | +0.165 points |
| Space used | 257 MB | 241 MB | −15.6 MB |
| Blocks found | 163 | 154 | −9 |
Right now
Bitcoin’s blocks were 98.61% full on 15 Oct 2026.
Full means full of the space a block is allowed to use, which is fixed by the rules and cannot be raised by demand.
How many blocks arrived?
154 blocks arrived on 15 Oct 2026, 10 more than the 144 the network aims for, so the day ran ahead of schedule.
Bitcoin aims at a block every ten minutes, so 144 a day, but finding one is a guessing game and the count wanders either side of that. It corrects itself: roughly every two weeks the difficulty is retuned to pull the average back to ten minutes.
How big is a typical block?
The middle block was 1.58 MB and the average 1.57 MB. Every block of 15 Oct 2026 added together came to 241 MB.
A block has no fixed size in megabytes. What the rules cap is a weight, and different kinds of transaction weigh different amounts for the same number of bytes, so the size a full block lands at moves with what people are sending.
What does this mean for you?
Fullness is what sets the price of sending. Space in a block is limited and buyers bid for it, so when blocks run near full, fees climb and slow payments wait. When there is slack, sending is cheap and near-instant.
One thing to keep in mind about the older history. The way this space is measured changed in August 2017, so readings before then are the closest equivalent rather than the same measurement, and the step you can see around that date is a change of ruler, not a change in Bitcoin.
Understanding
Bitcoin's Blocks
Where it stands today
Bitcoin's blocks were 98.61% full on average as of .
Bitcoin writes its ledger in blocks, roughly one every ten minutes. Each block has a fixed budget of room, and transactions compete to get into it. That competition is the whole reason sending Bitcoin costs anything at all.
The budget is not a number of transactions and it is not really a number of megabytes either. It is a weight, and different kinds of transaction weigh different amounts for the same number of bytes. So a full block can be one size today and another size next month, depending on what people are sending, and any figure claiming a block holds a fixed number of payments has invented it.
Blocks do not arrive on a timetable. Finding one is a guessing game, so some days bring more than the 144 the ten-minute target implies and some bring fewer. The network corrects itself: about every two weeks the puzzle is retuned to drag the average back toward ten minutes.
One caution about the older history. The way this room is measured changed in August 2017, so readings before then are the closest equivalent rather than the same measurement. The step around that date is a change of ruler, not something that happened to Bitcoin.
The numbers
behind the chart
What does the current reading show?
How full: the latest reading is 98.61%, on . The highest reading since is 99.89% on ; the lowest is 0.02% on .
Space used: the latest reading is 241 MB, on . The highest reading since is 456 MB on ; the lowest is 860 bytes on .
Blocks found: the latest reading is 154, on . The highest reading since is 692 on ; the lowest is 66 on .
Daily readings since 9 Jan 2009 let you compare the latest day with earlier months. The fullness and block count readings start on 5 Feb 2010, the first day the record measures them. Highest and lowest cover every reading since then; month-end values use the last reading on or before that date.
What are the latest, highest and lowest readings?
| Measure | Latest | Highest | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|
| How full | 98.61% | 99.89% | 0.02% |
| Space used | 241 MB | 456 MB | 860 bytes |
| Blocks found | 154 | 692 | 66 |
How do the readings compare with earlier dates?
| Reference date | How full | Space used | Blocks found |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 month ago | 98.45% | 257 MB | 163 |
| 3 months ago | 98.52% | 230 MB | 140 |
| 6 months ago | 95.53% | 221 MB | 131 |
| 1 year ago | 86.34% | 208 MB | 144 |
| 2 years ago | 99.85% | 253 MB | 157 |
What was the reading at each month’s end?
| Reading date | How full | Space used | Blocks found |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99.11% | 223 MB | 141 | |
| 96.23% | 233 MB | 152 | |
| 99.22% | 260 MB | 158 | |
| 98.19% | 236 MB | 149 | |
| 97.43% | 231 MB | 146 | |
| 96.92% | 278 MB | 140 | |
| 95.81% | 221 MB | 137 | |
| 89.60% | 224 MB | 144 | |
| 89.27% | 216 MB | 138 | |
| 91.56% | 203 MB | 133 | |
| 88.68% | 269 MB | 167 | |
| 92.43% | 221 MB | 141 | |
| 86.60% | 229 MB | 161 | |
| 85.48% | 184 MB | 132 | |
| 94.86% | 250 MB | 154 | |
| 85.46% | 200 MB | 145 | |
| 69.21% | 174 MB | 163 | |
| 99.85% | 209 MB | 132 | |
| 82.71% | 222 MB | 151 | |
| 99.85% | 267 MB | 156 | |
| 97.56% | 223 MB | 128 | |
| 99.85% | 223 MB | 129 | |
| 99.85% | 268 MB | 164 | |
| 97.95% | 273 MB | 158 |
Source: Maketo’s daily record of Bitcoin’s blocks. Reading for .