

Bitcoin block #300000 was just mined today - tomkwok
https://blockchain.info/block-index/402444/000000000000000082ccf8f1557c5d40b21edabb18d2d691cfbf87118bac7254

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buro9
Not sure of the significance:
[https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Blocks#How_many_blocks_are_there....](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Blocks#How_many_blocks_are_there.3F)

    
    
        What is the maximum number of blocks?
        
        There is no maximum number, blocks just keep getting
        added to the end of the chain at an average rate of
        one every 10 minutes.
    
        Even when all 21 million coins have been generated?
    
        Yes. The blocks are for proving that transactions
        existed at a particular time. Transactions will
        still occur once all the coins have been generated,
        so blocks will still be created as long as people
        are trading Bitcoins.

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sp332
Well, I guess it's a continuation of Bitcoin mining being ahead of schedule.
Discussion
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5780861](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5780861)
and since that article is dead, here's another one
[http://www.dailydot.com/business/bitcoin-mining-55-years-
ahe...](http://www.dailydot.com/business/bitcoin-mining-55-years-ahead-
schedule/)

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jtokoph
Is there something notable about this block like a change in mining reward?

With a relatively controlled block rate of 6/hour, can't we predict when
almost any block will be mined?

~~~
oakwhiz
The long term averages are showing slightly more than 6 per hour. Over the
short term the spacing between blocks varies pretty wildly. I sure would not
want to rely on a clock powered by Bitcoin block times :-)

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wubbfindel
I'm not into Bitcoin. So could someone explain the significance of this to us
laymen?

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cLeEOGPw
How did this manage to get to the frontpage? Wasn't there some rule that would
punish articles with bitcoin? Did pg change ranking rules again?

