In this article we take a look at a [mostly useless] curiosity: the first block mined each year since 2009.
The average of the past 10 years has been 55519 blocks mined per year, or 6.33 blocks per hour.
The Bitcoin Core algorithm readjusts to maintain 6 blocks per hour, so 6.33 is within a 5% margin of error – very accurate for such a complex and decentralized mining process that no single party controls.
2010 to 2011 was the year with the most blocks mined: 67923 blocks or 7.75 blocks per hour. During this period, one block was mined every 7m43s, much lower than the expected 10 minute interval between blocks. This was due to the fast evolution of mining hardware during this period. While some bitcoiners still used CPU mining, others were developing GPU and ASIC miners which evolved faster than the mining difficulty could be adjusted.
During the past 5 years the algorithm has been able to maintain the mining rate at 6.x blocks per hour, as expected.
For comparison, a perfect 6 minutes period per block would yield 52560 blocks per year.
Apart from 2009-2010 when Satoshi and a few friends were basically mining by themselves, last year (2019-2020) was the year with least blocks mined, at 54239. This indicates that the difficulty algorithm has adjusted ahead of mining technology advancements. During this same period, hashpower peaked at more than 110 exahashes per second, a 153% increase from one year before.
So, here’s the list of the very first block mined each year!
Block 610710 Mined by BTC.TOP, 13 minutes into 2020
The first block of the decade (assuming you start counting at zero) was mined 13 minutes into the new year.
54239 blocks were mined since 2019
Block 556471 Mined by Poolin, 29 minutes into 2019
The previous block was mined 43 minutes earlier (!!), at 11:46 PM on the year before.
54497 blocks were mined since 2018
Block 501974 Mined by AntPool, 10 minutes into 2018
55919 blocks were mined since 2017
Block 446045 Mined by an unknown miner, 8 minutes into 2017
54850 blocks were mined since 2016
Block 391195 Mined by AntPool, 7 minutes into 2016
54312 blocks were mined since 2015
Block 336883 Mined by GHash.IO, 11 minutes into 2015
58870 blocks were mined since 2014
Block 278013 Mined by GHash.IO, 2 minutes into 2014
63442 blocks were mined since 2013
Block 214571 Mined by an unkown miner, 3 minutes into 2013
54525 blocks were mined since 2012
Block 160046 Mined by an unknown miner, 9 minutes into 2012
59621 blocks were mined since 2011
Block 100425 Mined by an unkown miner, 12 minutes into 2011
67923 blocks were mined since 2010
Block 32502 Mined by an unkown miner, 5 minutes into 2010
32502 blocks were mined since 2009
Genesis Block Mined by Satoshi Nakamoto, on January 3, 2009