About block 973,000
Bitcoin block 973,000 was mined by Foundry USA on October 25, 2026 at 1:52 AM UTC, 42 min 36 s after block 972,999. 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 3,287 transactions in 1.66 MB (99.8% of the 4 million weight-unit limit). The median transaction paid 2.24 sat/vB, up from 0.14 sat/vB in the block before, and all fees added up to 0.0321 BTC. With the 3.125 BTC subsidy of halving era 5, Foundry USA earned 3.1571 BTC for this block.
Block 973,000 is number 1,289 of 2,016 in difficulty epoch 482; 727 blocks remain until the next difficulty adjustment at block 973,727. The next halving is at block 1,050,000, 77,000 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 607 confirmations, so it is settled beyond any practical doubt.