Empty Blocks

Contents

• Empty Blocks (block_count_empty_6b)

• Consecutive Empty Blocks (block_count_consecutive_empty)

• Missed Slots (block_missed_slots)

Empty Blocks

Definition

The number of empty blocks in the past 6 blocks. Empty blocks are blocks that do not contain any transactions other than the coinbase. They may be a result of no underlying economic activity leading to no user transactions to mine, or they can be a result of deliberate action by miners. As explored here, there are incentives for miners to work on empty blocks. Since empty blocks consume less space, they can be propagated faster. Additionally, empty blocks can increase fees in times of vibrant network activity, as unprocessed transactions accumulate. If persistent, empty blocks can be very disruptive to a network.

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Category	Sub-category	Type	Unit	Interval
Empty Blocks	block_count_empty_6b	KRI	Empty Blocks	Sum	Number of blocks	1 block

Methodology

The 6 blocks from the tip of the blockchain (including the most recent block) are assessed, and the number of empty blocks is counted.

Available Assets

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH)*

*Ethereum data is available up to the merge on 9/15/2022. After that date Ethereum data for this metric is not available

Sample Query

https://api.coinmetrics.io/v4/timeseries/asset-metrics?api_key=%3Cyour_key%3E&assets=btc&frequency=1b&limit_per_asset=1&metrics=block_count_empty_6b&pretty=trueapi.coinmetrics.io

Consecutive Empty Blocks

Definition

The count of consecutive empty blocks captured within the most-recent 1-minute interval.

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Category	Sub-category	Type	Unit	Interval
Consecutive Empty Blocks	block_count_consecutive_empty	KRI	Empty Blocks	Sum	Count of Blocks	1b

Methodology

The set of most recently-processed blocks within a 1-minute window are captured and their contents are evaluated. Every consecutive empty block within the window is counted. For Ethereum, the maximum possible value this metric is 5 given that the time between blocks in that network is fixed at 12 seconds.

Available Assets

Ethereum (ETH)

Sample Query

https://api.coinmetrics.io/v4/timeseries/asset-metrics?api_key=%3Cyour_key%3E&assets=eth&frequency=1b&metrics=block_count_consecutive_empty&pretty=trueapi.coinmetrics.io

Missed Slots

Definition

The count of missed slots within the most-recent 1-minute interval. For context, a slot represents an opportunity for a block producer (or validator) to create a block. If the validator fails to produce a block at the slot, it is considered missed and the blockchain progresses to the following slot.

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Category	Sub-category	Type	Unit	Interval
Missed Slots	block_missed_slots	KRI	Empty Blocks	Sum	Slots	1b

Methodology

This metric infers the number of missed slots on the basis of the time between blocks. If a block takes more than 12 seconds to arrive, it can be inferred that a slot has been missed as per Ethereum’s consensus rules. Note that if two slots are missed consecutively, we would still need to wait until for valid slot to arrive to capture it, as per the methodology.

Available Assets

Ethereum (ETH)

Sample Query

https://api.coinmetrics.io/v4/timeseries/asset-metrics?api_key=%3Cyour_key%3E&assets=eth&frequency=1b&metrics=block_missed_slots&pretty=trueapi.coinmetrics.io

API Endpoints

Empty Blocks metrics can be accessed using these endpoints:

• timeseries/asset-metrics

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

Asset metrics

Returns requested metrics for specified assets. Results for block by block metrics (1b frequency) are ordered by tuple (asset, height, block_hash), all other metrics are ordered by tuple (asset, time). You can change the sorting using sort query parameter. Supported output formats are json (default) and csv, use format query parameter to override it. To fetch the next page of results use next_page_url JSON response field or x-next-page-url CSV HTTP header if present. If multiple metrics are requested in the same time the strict policy for partially available metrics among requested ones is applied:

GEThttps://api.coinmetrics.io/v4/timeseries/asset-metrics

Authorization

api_key

Query parameters

Response

200400401403414

Time series of metrics for an asset.

Body

application/jsontext/csv

data*any

next_page_tokenNextPageToken (string)

Token of the next page results for a given request.

next_page_urlNextPageUrl (string)

URL of the next page results for a given request.

Response

200400401403

{
  "next_page_token": "text",
  "next_page_url": "text"
}

Shell

curl --compressed "https://api.coinmetrics.io/v4/timeseries/asset-metrics?metrics=block_count_empty_6b&assets=btc&pretty=true&api_key=<your_key>"

Python

import requests
response = requests.get('https://api.coinmetrics.io/v4/timeseries/asset-metrics?metrics=block_count_empty_6b&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="block_count_empty_6b", 
        assets="btc",
    ).to_dataframe()
)