About block 973,997
Bitcoin block 973,997 was mined by Foundry USA on October 31, 2026 at 4:26 PM UTC, 16 min 53 s after block 973,996. 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 1.59 MB (99.8% of the 4 million weight-unit limit). The median transaction paid 2.06 sat/vB, up from 1.10 sat/vB in the block before, and all fees added up to 0.0272 BTC. With the 3.125 BTC subsidy of halving era 5, Foundry USA earned 3.1522 BTC for this block.
Block 973,997 is number 270 of 2,016 in difficulty epoch 483; 1,746 blocks remain until the next difficulty adjustment at block 975,743. The next halving is at block 1,050,000, 76,003 blocks after this one.
Its hash starts with 19 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 6 confirmations, so it is settled beyond any practical doubt.