About block 972,980
Bitcoin block 972,980 was mined by Foundry USA on October 24, 2026 at 9:48 PM UTC, 3 min 14 s after block 972,979. That is faster than the 10-minute average the network aims for: blocks come in bursts because finding one is pure chance.
It confirmed 7,078 transactions in 1.61 MB (99.8% of the 4 million weight-unit limit). The median transaction paid 0.14 sat/vB, down from 1.00 sat/vB in the block before, and all fees added up to 0.0052 BTC. With the 3.125 BTC subsidy of halving era 5, Foundry USA earned 3.1302 BTC for this block.
Block 972,980 is number 1,269 of 2,016 in difficulty epoch 482; 747 blocks remain until the next difficulty adjustment at block 973,727. The next halving is at block 1,050,000, 77,020 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. Foundry USA found 268 blocks in the week before. Today the block has 636 confirmations, so it is settled beyond any practical doubt.