Comment
Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
If you’ve been into Bitcoin long enough, you may have heard the term “Mempool” being thrown around. In this post, I’ll explain exactly what the Mempool is and why it’s important.Bitcoin Mempool SummaryThe Mempool is a “waiting area” for Bitcoin transactions that each full node maintains for itself. After a transaction is verified by a node, it waits inside the Mempool until it’s picked up by a Bitcoin miner and inserted into a block.That’s the Bitcoin mempool in a nutshell. If you want a more detailed explanation about the Mempool, keep on reading. Here’s what I’ll cover:Mempool ExplainedMempool ManagementThe Importance of the MempoolFrequently Asked QuestionsConclusion 1. Mempool ExplainedBefore we begin, here’s a short and important video about how Bitcoin transactions get confirmed:When a Bitcoin transaction is transmitted to the network, it first gets verified by all of the Bitcoin nodes available (i.e. computers participating in the Bitcoin network).After it successfully passes verification by a node, it sits inside that node’s “Unconfirmed Transactions” area called the “Mempool” (short for Memory Pool). The transaction patiently waits until a miner picks it up and includes it in the next block.The Mempool is basically the node’s holding area for all the pending transactions.Each node has a different capacity for storing unconfirmed transactions. As a result, each node has its own version of the pending transactions. This explains the variety of Mempool sizes & transaction counts found in different sources. 2. Mempool ManagementYou may be wondering: how do nodes keep from crashing due to overload of pending transactions in the Mempool?The answer is simple. Once the Mempool reaches full capacity, the nodes start prioritizing transactions by setting up a minimal transaction fee threshold.Transactions with a fee-rate lower than the threshold are immediately removed from the Mempool and only new transactions with a large enough fee are allowed access to the Mempool. 3. The Importance of the MempoolThe Mempool is part of BIP 35 (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal No.35). The idea was that outside nodes would be able to access other nodes’ Mempool. This is useful for several cases:SPV clients (also known as lite wallets), wishing to
Add Comment