An entire block of the Bitcoin blockchain was recently filled by a single 3.99 MB transaction, a very rare event on the network. This unusual transaction, mined by MARA pool, is said to be the entry of a file specifically designed not to exceed the block space limit.
A transaction that fills an entire block
The term “blockchain” may seem complex to understand at first, but it simply refers to a method of organizing a database. Although some present blockchain as an innovation brought about by Bitcoin, the blockchain structure had already been modeled in the 90s.
Bitcoin’s blockchain is the infrastructure the network uses to organize its transaction history. It is protected by numerous cryptographic mechanisms and tools, making Bitcoin robust to attacks over time. This robustness is notably due to the limited storage capacity of its blocks.
Indeed, a blockchain with rapid block confirmation and large storage capacity would require more substantial IT equipment, progressively centralizing its security. This is why Bitcoin has chosen to limit the size of its blocks to 4 Mb.
Today, a 3.99 Mb transaction was mined in block number 841,886, almost completely filling the block.
Details of block number 841 886
The illustration above shows how transactions, represented by squares of different sizes, are arranged in a block of the Bitcoin blockchain.
On the left, in purple, is the block that would normally have been confirmed, containing over 1,000 transactions of various types. On the right is the block that was finally mined, which comprises just 4 transactions, including one that is 3.99 Mb in size, taking up the entire block’s space.
What do we know about this transaction?
The 3.99 Mb transaction paid the minimum fee of 1 sat/vB, representing a total of 1 million satoshis, Bitcoin’s smallest unit, equivalent to around $600. However, it has not been confirmed in the conventional way, as no miner would have agreed to integrate this transaction to fill an entire block receiving only $600 in fees.
Data available on blockchain explorer Mempool Space reveals that this transaction was not known to the majority of the network before it was mined. This indicates that the author of this transaction directly solicited the miner, in this case MARA Pool, to integrate this transaction into one of their blocks, a practice frequently used for so-called “non-standard” transactions.
The unusual size of this transaction is mainly explained by the fact that it corresponds to entry number 70 614 708 of the Ordinals protocol, which entered the Logos manifesto into the Bitcoin blockchain.
Details of registration number 70 614 708
