Bitcoin Block Time Halved To Five Minutes Amid Exponential Network Growth
Aug 13, 2013 Posted By Jonathan Stacke In Bitcoin 201, Economics, Featured, Mining, News, Security Tagged Attack, Block, Chain, Transaction Comments 11
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network growth
By now, bitcoin enthusiasts and professionals alike are aware of the tremendous growth of the bitcoin network so far this year. As millions of dollars (and bitcoin) are invested in increasingly powerful mining equipment, the cumulative hash rate of the network has continually blown by the periodic difficulty adjustments.
Earlier this year we explained the long-term implications of this, but the near term effects are being felt as well. Since that piece was published, the network has continued to grow, as has the growth rate, creating profound near-term effects. In particular, the average time between blocks has fallen to approximately five minutes on average, half the time bitcoin was originally programmed for.
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