About block 973,999
Bitcoin block 973,999 was mined by Foundry USA on October 31, 2026 at 5:00 PM UTC, 10 min 31 s after block 973,998. 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 3,666 transactions in 1.60 MB (99.8% of the 4 million weight-unit limit). The median transaction paid 2.00 sat/vB, down from 3.36 sat/vB in the block before, and all fees added up to 0.0236 BTC. With the 3.125 BTC subsidy of halving era 5, Foundry USA earned 3.1486 BTC for this block.
Block 973,999 is number 272 of 2,016 in difficulty epoch 483; 1,744 blocks remain until the next difficulty adjustment at block 975,743. The next halving is at block 1,050,000, 76,001 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 266 blocks in the week before. Today the block has 10 confirmations, so it is settled beyond any practical doubt.