What is the Bitcoin block reward?
Definition ¡ Block reward
Everything the miner of a block is allowed to pay itself: the block subsidy (new bitcoin, fixed by the rules) plus the fees of all the transactions it included.
The subsidy is how every bitcoin that exists got here. It pays miners for securing the network while fees are still small. The whitepaper planned for fees to take over once most coins were out, and that handover is slowly happening. For how a block gets found in the first place, see how Bitcoin mining works.
How much is the block reward right now?
3.125 BTC of subsidy, plus fees that change every block. The latest block paid 0.03826138 BTC in fees, about 1.2% of its reward.
3.125 BTC
subsidy per block
fixed until block 1,050,000
0.03826138BTC
fees in the latest block
live
â 450 BTC
new bitcoin per day
144 blocks at 10 minutes
$267,697
value of the latest block
at our hourly BTC price
Fees depend on how busy the network is. When the mempool fills up, people bid higher to get in the next block, and the miner who wins that block collects the lot. Tap any bar in the chart above to compare eras.
How does the subsidy shrink until 2140?
It halves every 210,000 blocks, about every four years: 50 BTC in 2009, 25, 12.5, 6.25 and now 3.125. Bitcoin Core computes it in satoshis with a bit shift, so after 33 halvings it rounds to zero. Drag across the staircase to see any era:
The supply staircase
Drag across the chart or use the slider
After the 4th halvingnow
Began
Per block
3.125 BTC
New BTC per day
â 450
From block
840,000
Issued by its end
96.88%
Supply by the end of this epoch: 20,343,750 BTC
The last satoshi of subsidy comes around 2140, at block 6,929,999. The full countdown and past dates are in the halving guide.
Subsidy vs fees: which pays miners more?
The subsidy, by a wide margin, almost all the time. In the sample blocks above, fees were usually 0% to 3% of the reward. The exceptions are rushes: late 2017, when blocks were full for weeks, and the halving block itself, where fees of 37.6 BTC were twelve times the subsidy.
The subsidy keeps halving. Fees have to fill the gap.
Each halving shrinks the subsidy, so fees matter more over time. Nobody knows how big theyâll be in 2040. It depends on how many people want block space and how much theyâll pay for it. That question, how miners get paid once new coins run out, is often called Bitcoinâs security budget.
How does the coinbase transaction pay the miner?
The miner writes its own paycheck. The first transaction in every block is the coinbase: it has no real input, and its outputs send the reward wherever the miner likes.
The coinbase transaction of block 969,006
latest block, live
Input
No previous coin
Every other transaction spends coins that already exist. This one points at nothing, which is how new bitcoin enters circulation.
Minerâs note: /ViaBTC/
Outputs
3.16326138BTC
to 1PuJjnF476W3âŚDAXakkL4
0 BTC Ă 3
Data outputs (OP_RETURN), such as the witness commitment
3.16326138BTC
3.16326138BTC
100 more blocks
- Itâs capped. The outputs can add up to the subsidy plus fees and no more. Every node checks this, and a block that overpays is rejected.
- Claiming less is allowed. Anything left unclaimed is gone for good. It has happened by mistake a few times.
- It has to wait. A coinbase can only be spent after 100 more blocks, about 16 hours, in case its block is replaced.
- It holds spare room. The coinbase input carries free-form data: pool tags, and the extra nonce miners change when the headerâs nonce runs out.
How do mining pools split the block reward?
Very few blocks go to a lone miner. Most are found by pools, which combine thousands of machines and share the reward so each miner gets small, regular payments instead of a rare jackpot.
- 1
The pool finds a block
Its coinbase pays the subsidy plus fees to an address the pool controls.
- 2
The pool keeps its fee
Usually a few percent. It pays for servers, staff and, on PPS or FPPS, for carrying the luck.
- 3
Miners get paid by shares
Each minerâs cut follows the work it proved with shares, so 1% of the shares earns about 1% of the rest.
| Payout scheme | How youâre paid | Who carries the luck |
|---|---|---|
| PPS | A fixed amount per share, subsidy only | The pool |
| FPPS | Like PPS, plus an average of fees | The pool |
| PPLNS | A cut of each block the pool finds | You |
Fees and details differ by pool. The mining pools guide compares the schemes and has a simulator for how bumpy solo mining would be.
What does the block reward mean in the CloudMineCrypto app?
Itâs one of the inputs to your estimate. The app works out rewards with the same share-of-the-network maths as a pool:
Right now that block reward is 3.145 BTC. When the subsidy halves in 2028, it drops by about half, and so does the estimate for the same plan.
You donât need a machine, a pool or a power bill. Start with the free plan, add more from ads, games, offers and the daily check-in, and withdraw to your own wallet over Lightning, Bitcoin on-chain or BNB Smart Chain. Paid plans are an optional add-on. Rewards are estimates and arenât guaranteed, and a plan isnât a share of any real pool or machine. Terms apply.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Bitcoin block reward right now?
The subsidy is 3.125 BTC per block, set by the halving rule since April 2024. The miner also collects the fees of every transaction in the block, so the total is a little more than 3.125 BTC in most blocks.
How much do Bitcoin miners get per block?
The 3.125 BTC subsidy plus that blockâs fees. Most blocks are found by pools, which then share the reward among their miners after taking a small fee.
What is the difference between the block subsidy and transaction fees?
The subsidy is new bitcoin created by the block, fixed by the rules and halving every 210,000 blocks. Fees are paid by the people whose transactions are in the block, and they go up when many people want to send at once.
When will the block reward drop again?
At block 1,050,000, expected around spring 2028, the subsidy halves to 1.5625 BTC. Fees are not affected by the halving.
What happens when all bitcoin are mined?
The subsidy reaches zero around 2140, at block 6,930,000. From then on the block reward is the fees alone.
What is a coinbase transaction?
The first transaction in every block. It has no real input and pays the block reward to the miner. It canât be spent until 100 more blocks have been built on top of it.
How much bitcoin is mined per day?
About 450 BTC of new coins: roughly 144 blocks a day at 3.125 BTC each. Fees come on top, but theyâre existing bitcoin changing hands, not new supply.
Sources and further reading
- Block chain guide: coinbase transactions and the block reward ¡ Bitcoin developer documentation
- Controlled supply: the halving schedule ¡ Bitcoin Wiki
- Coinbase ¡ Bitcoin Wiki
- Transaction fees ¡ Bitcoin Wiki
- Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (section 6, incentive) ¡ Satoshi Nakamoto, 2008
- Block 840,000 on the Blockstream explorer ¡ blockstream.info
- Mining dashboard: recent blocks, rewards and pools ¡ mempool.space
Live figures on this page come from the CloudMineCrypto API or from the public blockchain data services named next to them, refresh on a schedule, and are labelled where they appear. This guide is educational and not financial advice. CloudMineCrypto is not an investment product; rewards in the app are estimates and arenât guaranteed.
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