Bitcoin’s blockchain approached an eleven‑year‑old record on Nov. 7, 2026, when Antpool’s block 974961 contained 11,255 transactions. The figure trails the all‑time high of 12,239 set by F2pool in August 2015 by just 984 transactions, according to Bitcoin.com News.

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Source: CoinGecko. Prices are indicative.

Block details and economics

The 1.1 MB block was mined at 18:24:12 UTC and consumed 3,993,844 weight units—about 99.85% of Bitcoin’s maximum block weight. Despite the massive transaction count, the block earned roughly 0.002405 BTC in fees, a negligible amount compared with the 3.125 BTC block subsidy. It comprised 11,794 inputs and 23,122 outputs, indicating a predominance of compact, low‑value transactions rather than typical high‑value transfers.

How modern techniques differ from the 2015 record

The 2015 record was achieved during a spam‑cleanup episode that generated thousands of tiny dust outputs, allowing F2pool to pack 12,239 transactions into a sub‑1 MB block. In contrast, today’s dense blocks rely on Segregated Witness (SegWit) and the Runes protocol. SegWit’s separation of signature data reduces the weight impact of transactions, while Runes—particularly the UNCOMMON•GOODS rune introduced in 2024—use lightweight pay‑to‑anchor outputs that can be as small as 80‑100 virtual bytes. These innovations let miners insert many more transactions without exceeding the weight ceiling.

Recent activity and future outlook

Just three days earlier, block 974557 held the previous runner‑up with 10,573 transactions, a milestone highlighted by Mempool.space developer Mononaut on X. The rapid succession of dense blocks suggests that miners are increasingly optimizing transaction composition to maximize fee revenue and block utilization. As Runes adoption grows and further transaction‑size optimizations emerge, the network may see additional blocks that challenge the 2015 record, though the economic incentive remains modest given the low fee yields.

What to watch next

Analysts will monitor whether upcoming blocks breach the 12,239‑transaction barrier and how fee markets respond to ultra‑dense blocks. Attention will also focus on any protocol upgrades that could alter weight calculations or introduce new transaction formats, potentially reshaping Bitcoin’s capacity limits.