About block 972,721
Bitcoin block 972,721 was mined by AntPool on October 23, 2026 at 5:42 AM UTC, 3 min 24 s after block 972,720. That is faster than the 10-minute average the network aims for: blocks come in bursts because finding one is pure chance.
It confirmed 6,717 transactions in 1.68 MB (99.8% of the 4 million weight-unit limit). The median transaction paid 0.14 sat/vB, up from 0.14 sat/vB in the block before, and all fees added up to 0.0042 BTC. With the 3.125 BTC subsidy of halving era 5, AntPool earned 3.1292 BTC for this block.
Block 972,721 is number 1,010 of 2,016 in difficulty epoch 482; 1,006 blocks remain until the next difficulty adjustment at block 973,727. The next halving is at block 1,050,000, 77,279 blocks after this one.
Its hash starts with 20 zeros: that is the proof of work, a number below the target that the whole network’s hashrate had to search for. AntPool found 206 blocks in the week before. Today the block has 1,006 confirmations, so it is settled beyond any practical doubt.