The videos shown here visualize the propagation of blocks and transactions through the Bitcoin P2P network. Each dot on the map represents one peer, which has announced a specific hash to our monitor peer. The peers appear on the map at the estimated time they announced the hash to our monitor, i.e., the time we received their announcement minus the average latency to the peer.
These videos show the propagation of nine arbitrarily chosen blocks from 2015 to 2023. Propagation speed and the number of peers have both increased drastically.
The videos below show the propagation of both blocks of the blockchain fork at height 503949. Although the block visualized on the right side has been announced to our peer about 0.5 seconds earlier than the block on the left side, the block shown on the left side propagates much faster through the network and eventually becomes part of the longest chain.
Block Propagation | Included Block
Block Propagation | Orphaned Block
Transaction Propagation
These videos show the propagation of nine arbitrarily chosen transactions from 2015 to 2023. Propagation speed has decreased in order to improve anonymity.
