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What is the real weight of the Bitcoin blockchain?
When it comes to understanding the scale of the Bitcoin blockchain, many people wonder: what is the real weight of this massive digital ledger?
The answer lies in a few different places. Several websites, including YCharts and Blockchain.com, allow users to see the current size of the Bitcoin blockchain. Both sources report an increasing size that has been steadily increasing over time.
A few different numbers
According to YCharts, as of March 2023, the estimated total hashing power (THP) of the Bitcoin network is around 225 exahashes (EH/s). This number represents the combined computing power of all Bitcoin miners in the world. The estimated total number of blocks on the blockchain at this point is around 1 million.
Blockchain.com provides a more detailed breakdown of the blockchain size. According to their data, as of March 2023, the estimated total size of the Bitcoin blockchain was around 4.5 exabytes (EB) or 450 gigabytes (GB). This number represents the total amount of memory used in the blockchain.
Breakdown of the Numbers
To put these numbers in perspective, an exabyte is equivalent to 1 billion GB. So, the estimated size of the Bitcoin blockchain is around 4.5 EB or 450 GB per block.
The weight of the blockchain can also be calculated by considering its total memory capacity. According to estimates from various sources, a single byte (a standard unit of digital information) is around 8.64 MB (megabytes). Therefore, the estimated size of the Bitcoin blockchain in megabytes is approximately:
450 GB/block x 1 EB / 1024^3 (to convert bytes to megabytes) = approximately 10.2 billion MB
A huge digital ledger
To put these numbers into a more understandable context, consider that the estimated size of the Bitcoin blockchain is roughly equivalent to:
- The contents of approximately 100,000 average-sized laptops
- The total storage capacity of approximately 200 billion DVDs
- The total storage capacity of over 2 million desktop computers
The sheer scale of the Bitcoin blockchain is truly staggering. As more and more people and organizations join the network, it is likely that our understanding of its size will continue to grow.
Conclusion
In summary, while we may not have an exact number on the actual weight of the Bitcoin blockchain, our estimate based on current data suggests it is roughly equivalent to 450 GB or 10.2 billion MB per block. This massive digital ledger continues to grow in size and complexity as more and more people and organizations participate in the network.
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