# Bitcoin Block time Methodology

## 1. Overview

Bitcoin block time measures the average time interval between consecutive blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain, aggregated daily. This metric tracks Bitcoin network mining efficiency and difficulty adjustment performance. The calculation analyzes raw Bitcoin block data to compute time differences between consecutive blocks, then averages these intervals by day to provide a daily block time metric in milliseconds.

## 2. Data sources

- **Bitcoin blockchain blocks**: Raw Bitcoin blockchain block data including block timestamps, block heights (numbers), block subsidies, and total fees
- **Bitcoin block metadata**: Block headers containing timing information and sequential ordering data

## 3. Step-by-step calculation

### Component A: Block timestamp extraction
- **Purpose**: Retrieves fundamental block timing data from the Bitcoin blockchain
- **Logic**: Extracts `timestamp` and `height` fields from raw Bitcoin block data. The `timestamp` represents when each block was mined, while `height` provides the sequential block number used for ordering. Block subsidy and fee data are also extracted but converted from satoshis to bitcoin units by dividing by 10^8, though these fields are not used in the block time calculation
- **Key fields**: `block_timestamp` (mining timestamp) and `block_number` (sequential block height)

### Component B: Consecutive block pairing  
- **Purpose**: Pairs each block with its immediately preceding block to enable time difference calculation
- **Logic**: Uses a LAG window function ordered by `block_number` ascending to retrieve the timestamp of the previous block for each current block. This creates pairs of consecutive blocks with their respective timestamps
- **Key fields**: `block_timestamp` (current block time), `previous_timestamp` (preceding block time), `block_number` (for ordering)

### Component C: Block time interval calculation
- **Purpose**: Computes the actual time difference between consecutive blocks
- **Logic**: Calculates the millisecond difference between `block_timestamp` and `previous_timestamp` for each block pair. Excludes the first block since it has no preceding block (null `previous_timestamp`). Groups results by day using timestamp truncation to day boundaries
- **Key fields**: `block_time` (interval in milliseconds), `timestamp` (truncated to day)

### Final aggregation
- **Combining components**: Groups all block time intervals by day and calculates the average `block_time` for each day
- **Currency conversion**: Not applicable for time-based metrics
- **Time aggregation**: Daily boundaries determined by truncating block timestamps to day level  
- **Final calculation**: Average of all block time intervals within each day, producing a daily average block time in milliseconds. Results include standard metadata fields: `chain_id` as 'bitcoin', `market_sector_id` as 'blockchains_l1', `business_segment_id` as 'blockchain', and null `product_id`. The finalization process applies standardized formatting and optionally fills missing days with zeros based on the fill strategy configuration.

*This methodology was automatically generated by Token Terminal's methodology analyzer.*

avg(block_timestamp - previous_block_timestamp)

Block time

Bitcoin

Miners process transactions and receive fees from users (supply-side fees).

Bitcoin is a distributed ledger for transfer and store of value (a blockchain). Bitcoin was founded by a pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto and launched in 2009.

BTC holders own and govern the protocol. They currently do not take a cut of the total transaction fees paid by users (revenue).

BitcoinBTC

Block time

Block time

Competitive landscape