Blocks

Contents

• Block Cnt

• Block Height

• Mean Block Interval (seconds)

• Sum Block Size (in bytes)

• Mean Block Size (in bytes)

• Uncle Blocks Cnt

• Miner Revenue from Uncle Blocks (%)

• Uncle Reward

• Mean Block Weight

• Sum Block Weight

Block Cnt

Definition

The sum count of blocks created that interval that were included in the main (base) chain.

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Block Cnt	BlkCnt	Blocks	1 day, 1 hour

Details

• Only mainchain (non-orphaned/uncles) blocks are counted.

• For chains that use median time, the day is defined using it, otherwise, it’s defined using the block’s timestamps.

Chart

Asset-Specific Details

• Every blockchain will have a Block Count measurement as it's a fundamental aspect of the the distributed ledger technology.

Examples

• The drawdowns in the ETH block counts can be explained by the numerous hard forks. Block difficulty would rise making it harder for miners to find the next block resulting in an increase in time between blocks therefore less blocks are created each day.

Release History

• Released in the 1.0 release of NDP

Interpretation

Block count is typically rather static, but can vary in blockchains which rely on a poisson process for finding new blocks. In proof-of-work chains with long difficulty adjustment windows and significant variance in block times, like Bitcoin, block count can diverge widely from the expected rate. This can happen during competitions for hashpower around the time of forks, or when a significant amount of hashpower is added or subtracted from the blockchain in a short period.

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Block Height

Definition

The count of blocks from the genesis (first) block to the last block of that interval on the main chain (in other words, the total number of blocks ever created and included on the chain).

Dictionary

Name	MetriID	Unit	Interval
Block Height	BlkHgt	Blocks	1 block, 1 day, 1 hour

Details

• Only mainchain (non-orphaned/uncles) blocks are counted.

• For chains that use median time, the day is defined using it, otherwise, it’s defined using the block’s timestamps

Chart

Asset-Specific Details

• Every blockchain will have a Block Height measurement as it's a fundamental aspect of the the distributed ledger technology.

Examples

• Depending on the blockchain, blocks can be produced at different intervals. The longer a blockchain has been in existence and the faster the blocks are produced, the larger the block height will be. ETH blocks are produced every 14 seconds compared to BTC where blocks are created every 10 minutes or so. Therefore, the block height for ETH will be significantly larger than BTC.

Release History

• Released in the 4.3 release of NDP

Interpretation

• New transactions are grouped and added to new blocks on the blockchain. Each block is linked to the previous one and they essentially are stacked together

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Mean Block Interval (seconds)

Definition

The mean time (in seconds) between all the blocks created that interval.

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Mean Time Block	BlkIntMean	Seconds	1 block, 1 day, 1 hour

Details

• Only mainchain (non-orphaned/uncles) blocks are counted.

• For chains that use median time, the day is defined using it, otherwise, it’s defined using the block’s timestamps.

• The absolute interval is used (if block n+1 has a timestamp lower than block n, we use the absolute value of the difference in timestamps, see examples).

• For the block-by-block frequency, it can be interpreted as the amount of time between the publishing of the previous block and the most recent block.

  • For example, Block 1 is published at a timestamp of 02:00:00 UTC, Block 2 is published at a timestamp of 02:10:00 UTC, so the BlkIntMean would just be 10m for Block 2.

Chart

Asset Specific Details

• On average, Litecoin produces blocks every 2.5 minutes where Ethereum takes around 14 seconds on average

Example

If for a day, the blocks are:

The value of BlkIntMean would be (120 + 20 + 160 + 60) / 4 = 90 seconds

Release History

• Released in the 1.0 release of NDP

Interpretation

Blockchains with shorter block time (and hence a larger sample size per day) will typically have less variance in mean block interval.

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---

description: /timeseries/asset-metrics

Sum Block Size (in bytes)

Definition

The sum of the size (in bytes) of all blocks created that interval.

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Sum Block Size (in bytes)	BlkSizeByte	Bytes	1 day, 1 block, 1 hour

Details

• Only mainchain (non-orphaned/uncles) blocks are counted.

• For chains that use median time, the day is defined using it, otherwise, it’s defined using the block’s timestamps.

Chart

Source: CM Network Data Charts

Asset-Specific Details

• This metric is not available for all assets, as some node’s RPC APIs do not expose the size of the blocks.

Release History

• Released in the 1.0 release of NDP

Interpretation

• Can be used to measure and compare blockchains' usages and fees

• Can help gauge gas/fee for large transactions:

  • fee per byte = total block fee/block size (byte)

See Also

• Mean Block Size (in bytes)
• Mean Tx Fee per Byte (native units)

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Mean Block Size (in bytes)

Definition

The mean size (in bytes) of all blocks created that interval.

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Mean Block Size (in bytes)	BlkSizeMeanByte	Bytes	1 day

Details

• Only mainchain (non-orphaned/uncles) blocks are counted.

• For chains that use median time, the day is defined using it, otherwise, it’s defined using the block’s timestamps.

Chart

Source: CM Network Data Charts

Asset-Specific Details

• This metric is not available for all assets, as some node’s RPC API do not expose the size of the blocks.

Release History

• Released in the 1.0 release of NDP

Interpretation

Mean block size is somewhat arbitrary; block count multiplied by mean block size gives you the total data throughput on a blockchain per day. Blockchains with shorter interblock times will often have smaller blocks but may throughput more data than their higher-latency peers.

See Also

• Sum Block Size (in bytes)

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Definition

The sum weight of all blocks created that interval. Weight is a dimensionless measure of a block’s “size”. It is only applicable for chains that use SegWit (segregated witness).

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Sum Block Weight	BlkWghtTot	Dimensionless	1 day

Details

• Only mainchain (non-orphaned/uncles) blocks are counted.

• For chains that use median time, the day is defined using it, otherwise, it’s defined using the block’s timestamps.

Chart

Source: CM Network Data Charts

Asset-Specific Details

• This metric is only available for assets that support SegWit.

Release History

• Released in the 4.9 release of NDP

Interpretation

Block weight is useful to determine how used a chain is.

See Also

• Mean Block Weight

Availability for Assets

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---

description: /timeseries/asset-metrics

Uncle Blocks Cnt

Definition

The sum count of uncle blocks mined in that interval.

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Uncle Blocks Cnt	BlkUncCnt	Uncles	1 block, 1 day

Details

• Uncle Blocks (also known as Ommer Blocks) are an intrinsic feature of Ethereum.

• Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum does not discard blocks in situations where multiple miners find a valid block of the same height.

• Instead, Ethereum rewards secondary miners with so-called Uncle Blocks, which effectively represent a share of the work, as well as the reward, of processing transactions.

• Uncle blocks are not included in the asset’s main chain but are referenced by main chain blocks. Both the main chain block and uncle block miners get an extra reward for this.

Chart

Source: CM Network Data Charts

Asset-Specific Details

• This metric is only relevant to ETH and ETC

Release History

• Released in the 4.3 release of NDP

• Deprecated post the Ethereum Merge

Interpretation

• The more uncle blocks there are, the more uncertainty there might be around the finality of those related payments

See Also

• Miner Revenue from Uncle Blocks (%)
• Uncle Reward (native units)
• Uncle Reward (USD)

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Miner Revenue from Uncle Blocks (%)

Definition

The percentage of miner revenue exclusively derived from creating and including uncle blocks in that interval. This is equal to the sum of the uncle inclusion reward (for the main chain block miner) and the uncle rewards (for the uncle block miners) divided by the miner revenue.

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Miner Revenue from Uncle Blocks (%)	BlkUncRevPct	Dimensionless	1 day

Details

• Uncle Blocks (also known as Ommer Blocks) are an intrinsic feature of Ethereum.

• Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum does not discard blocks in situations where multiple miners find a valid block of the same height.

• Instead, Ethereum rewards secondary miners with so-called Uncle Blocks, which effectively represent a share of the work, as well as the reward, of processing transactions.

• This metric measures the proportion of rewards that resulted from Uncle Blocks.

Chart

Source: CM Network Data Charts

Asset-Specific Details

• This metric is only relevant to ETH & ETC

Release History

• Release Version: NDP-EOD 4.8 (Nov, 2020)

• Deprecated post the Ethereum Merge

See Also

• Uncle Blocks Cnt
• Uncle Reward (native units)
• Uncle Reward (USD)

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Uncle Reward

Definition

The sum rewarded to miners for creating and including uncle blocks in that interval. This includes the uncle inclusion reward (for the main chain block miner) and the uncle rewards (for the uncle block miners).

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Uncle Reward (native units)	BlkUncRwd	Native Units	1 block, 1 day
Uncle Reward (USD)	BlkUncRwdUSD	Native Units	1 block, 1 day

Details

• Uncle Blocks (also known as Ommer Blocks) are an intrinsic feature of Ethereum.

• Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum does not discard blocks in situations where multiple miners find a valid block of the same height.

• Instead, Ethereum rewards secondary miners with so-called Uncle Blocks, which effectively represent a share of the work, as well as the reward, of processing transactions.

• Uncle blocks are not included in the asset’s main chain but are referenced by main chain blocks. Both the main chain block and uncle block miners get an extra reward for this.

Asset-Specific Details

• Only available for ETH and ETC

Release History

• Released in the 4.3 release of NDP

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Mean Block Weight

Definition

The mean weight of all blocks created that interval. Weight is a dimensionless measure of a block’s “size”. It is only applicable for chains that use SegWit (segregated witness).

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Mean Block Weight	BlkWghtMean	Dimensionless	1 day

Details

• Only mainchain (non-orphaned/uncles) blocks are counted.

• For chains that use median time, the day is defined using it, otherwise, it’s defined using the block’s timestamps.

Chart

Source: CM Network Data Charts

Asset-Specific Details

• This metric is only available for assets that support SegWit.

Release History

• Released in the 4.2 release of NDP

Interpretation

Block weight is useful to determine how used a chain is. If the mean block weight is close to the maximum block weight possible, then the chain is close to 100% utilization.

See Also

• Sum Block Weight

Availability for Assets

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Sum Block Weight

Definition

The sum weight of all blocks created that interval. Weight is a dimensionless measure of a block’s “size”. It is only applicable for chains that use SegWit (segregated witness).

Dictionary

Name	MetricID	Unit	Interval
Sum Block Weight	BlkWghtTot	Dimensionless	1 day

Details

• Only mainchain (non-orphaned/uncles) blocks are counted.

• For chains that use median time, the day is defined using it, otherwise, it’s defined using the block’s timestamps.

Chart

Source: CM Network Data Charts

Asset-Specific Details

• This metric is only available for assets that support SegWit.

Release History

• Released in the 4.9 release of NDP

Interpretation

Block weight is useful to determine how used a chain is.

See Also

• Mean Block Weight

Availability for Assets

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API Endpoints

Block metrics can be accessed using these endpoints:

• timeseries/asset-metrics

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

Asset metrics

get

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:

Authorizations

Query parameters

assetsstring[]Required

Comma separated list of assets. Use the /catalog-all/assets endpoint for the full list of supported assets or specify asterisk (*) in order to get metrics for all supported assets.

metricsstring[]Required

Comma separated metrics to request time series data for. Information on all available metrics can be found on page https://coverage.coinmetrics.io/asset-metrics-v2. Use the /catalog-all/metrics or /catalog-all/assets endpoint for the full list of supported metrics per asset.

Example: ["AdrActCnt","BlkHgt"]

frequencystringOptional

Frequency of the metrics. Supported values are 1b (block by block), 1s (one second), 1m (one minute), 5m (five minutes), 10m (ten minutes), 1h (one hour), 1d (one day), 1d-ny-close (one day at New York close time). Please refer to the /catalog/metrics endpoint for the full list. Use the /catalog-all/assets endpoint for the full list of supported frequencies per asset-metric pair.

Default: 1dExample: 1b

statusstring · enumOptional

Which metric values do you want to see. Applicable only for "reviewable" metrics. You can find them in the /catalog/metrics endpoint.

Default: allPossible values:

start_timestringOptional

Start of the time interval. This field refers to the time field in the response. Multiple formats of ISO 8601 are supported: 2006-01-20T00:00:00Z, 2006-01-20T00:00:00.000Z, 2006-01-20T00:00:00.123456Z, 2006-01-20T00:00:00.123456789Z, 2006-01-20, 20060120. Inclusive by default. Mutually exclusive with start_height and start_hash. UTC timezone by default. Z suffix is optional and timezone parameter has a priority over it. If start_time is omitted, response will include time series from the earliest time available.

end_timestringOptional

End of the time interval. This field refers to the time field in the response. Multiple formats of ISO 8601 are supported: 2006-01-20T00:00:00Z, 2006-01-20T00:00:00.000Z, 2006-01-20T00:00:00.123456Z, 2006-01-20T00:00:00.123456789Z, 2006-01-20, 20060120. Inclusive by default. Mutually exclusive with end_height and end_hash. UTC timezone by default. Z suffix is optional and timezone parameter has a priority over it. If end_time is omitted, response will include time series up to the latest time available.

start_heightinteger · int64Optional

The start height indicates the beginning block height for the set of data that are returned. Inclusive by default. Mutually exclusive with start_time and start_hash.

end_heightinteger · int64Optional

The end height indicates the ending block height for the set of data that are returned. Inclusive by default. Mutually exclusive with end_time and end_hash. This parameter is disabled for Community users.

start_hashstringOptional

The start hash indicates the beginning block height for the set of data that are returned. Inclusive by default. Mutually exclusive with start_time and start_height.

end_hashstringOptional

The end hash indicates the ending block height for the set of data that are returned. Inclusive by default. Mutually exclusive with end_time and end_height.

start_inclusivebooleanOptional

Inclusive or exclusive corresponding start_* parameters.

Default: true

end_inclusivebooleanOptional

Inclusive or exclusive corresponding end_* parameters.

Default: true

min_confirmationsinteger · int32 · max: 99Optional

Specifies how many blocks behind the chain tip block by block metrics (1b frequency) are based on. Default for btc is 2 and 99 for eth. For example, a min_confirmations of 0 means metrics are being calculated for the block at the tip of the chain (the latest block received by our node) whereas a min_confirmations of 6 means that metrics are being applied to the block that is 6 blocks behind the chain tip (i.e., the 7th block if the chain tip is block 1).

timezonestringOptional

Timezone name for start_time and end_time timestamps. This parameter does not modify the output times, which are always UTC. Format is defined by TZ database.

Default: UTCExample: America/New_York

page_sizeinteger · int32 · min: 1 · max: 10000Optional

Number of items per single page of results. The value of this parameter is ignored if the endpoint supports the format parameter and its value is set to json_stream.

Default: 100

paging_fromstring · enumOptional

Where does the first page start, at the start of the interval or at the end. The value of this parameter is ignored if the endpoint supports the format parameter and its value is set to json_stream.

Default: endPossible values:

sortstring · enumOptional

How results will be sorted. Metrics with 1b frequency are sorted by (asset, height, block_hash) tuples by default. Metrics with other frequencies are sorted by (asset, time) by default. If you want to sort 1d metrics by (time, asset) you should choose time as value for the sort parameter. Sorting by time is useful if you request metrics for a set of assets.

Default: assetPossible values:

limit_per_assetinteger · int32Optional

How many entries per asset result should contain. For example, this combination of parameters assets=btc,eth&metrics=ReferenceRate&limit_per_asset=1 returns the latest ReferenceRate values for btc and eth.

prettybooleanOptional

Human-readable formatting of JSON responses.

Default: false

formatstring · enumOptional

Format of the response.

Default: jsonPossible values:

null_as_zerobooleanOptional

Nulls are represented as zeros in the response.

Default: false

next_page_tokenstringOptional

Token for receiving the results from the next page of a query. Should not be used directly. To iterate through pages just use next_page_url response field.

ignore_forbidden_errorsbooleanOptional

Ignore "forbidden" errors for the items you currently don't have access to.

Default: false

ignore_unsupported_errorsbooleanOptional

Ignore "unsupported" errors for not currently supported by Coin Metrics items.

Default: false

Responses

application/jsontext/csv

Shell

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

Python

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