About block 972,998
Bitcoin block 972,998 was mined by Foundry USA on October 25, 2026 at 1:09 AM UTC, 15 min 55 s after block 972,997. That is slower than the 10-minute target; long gaps are normal, since every hash attempt is an independent draw with the same tiny chance.
It confirmed 3,021 transactions in 1.68 MB (99.8% of the 4 million weight-unit limit). The median transaction paid 1.27 sat/vB, down from 2.29 sat/vB in the block before, and all fees added up to 0.0189 BTC. With the 3.125 BTC subsidy of halving era 5, Foundry USA earned 3.1439 BTC for this block.
Block 972,998 is number 1,287 of 2,016 in difficulty epoch 482; 729 blocks remain until the next difficulty adjustment at block 973,727. The next halving is at block 1,050,000, 77,002 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 267 blocks in the week before. Today the block has 611 confirmations, so it is settled beyond any practical doubt.