Block Times

Contents

• Time between blocks (time_inter_block )

• Time Since Last Block (time_since_last_block)

Time between blocks

Definition

The time elapsed between the block at the tip of the chain (the most recent block) and its predecessor.

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Time between blocks	time_inter_block	seconds	1 minute

Methodology

The metric is computed as the time difference between the arrival of the block at the chain tip as seen by our nodes, and the arrival of the previous block.

Available Assets

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH)

Sample Query

https://api.coinmetrics.io/v4/timeseries/asset-metrics?api_key=%3Cyour_key%3E&assets=btc&frequency=1m&limit_per_asset=1&metrics=time_inter_block&pretty=trueapi.coinmetrics.io

Time Since Last Block

Definition

The time elapsed between the current time and the last block at the tip of the chain (the most recent block).

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Category	Sub-category	Type	Unit	Interval
Time since last block	time_since_last_block	KRI	Block Attributes	Delta	seconds	1 minute

Methodology

The metric is computed as the time difference between the arrival of the block at the chain tip as seen by our nodes, and the current time. As a timestamp for the block at the chain tip this metric uses the concept of miner_time (for more on the differences between miner_time and consensus_time refer to our wiki article on normalizing timestamps). For Bitcoin, miner_time can be set arbitrarily by miners which can impact the value of this metric.

Available Assets

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH)

Sample Query

https://api.coinmetrics.io/v4/timeseries/asset-metrics?api_key=%3Cyour_key%3E&assets=btc,eth&frequency=1m&limit_per_asset=1&metrics=time_since_last_block&pretty=trueapi.coinmetrics.io

API Endpoints

Block time metrics can be accessed using these endpoints:

• timeseries/asset-metrics

and by passing in the metric ID's time_* in the metrics parameter.

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Shell

curl --compressed "https://api.coinmetrics.io/v4/timeseries/asset-metrics?metrics=time_inter_block&assets=btc&pretty=true&api_key=<your_key>"

Python

import requests
response = requests.get('https://api.coinmetrics.io/v4/timeseries/asset-metrics?metrics=time_inter_block&assets=btc&pretty=true&api_key=<your_key>').json()
print(response)

Python Client

from coinmetrics.api_client import CoinMetricsClient

api_key = "<API_KEY>"
client = CoinMetricsClient(api_key)

print(
    client.get_asset_metrics(
        metrics="time_inter_block", 
        assets="btc",
    ).to_dataframe()
)