<p>The answer is one, the coinbase transaction.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-07T23:40:39.043Z
2019-04-07T23:40:39.043Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>A block may contain only one transaction: the coinbase transaction. However, the time it takes to mine a block is not affected by the number of transactions in that block, so mining blocks with fewer transactions does not benefit the miner. On the other hand, miners collect fees from the transactions they include in a block, so by including more transactions in a block, they may collect more fees.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-08T01:37:46.903Z
2019-04-08T01:37:46.903Z
Vecna
<p>What encourages Bitcoin miners to include lots of transactions in blocks in the Bitcoin blockchain?</p>

<p>It seems like you could quickly add a block with just a single transaction and get the block reward from it.</p>

<p>Is there some incentive for miners to include lots of transactions in blocks?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-08T01:07:48.593Z
It is no quicker to mine a block with one transaction, compared to a block with many transactions.
chytrik
<mining-reward><transaction-selection>
Is there a minimum number of transactions in a block?
Jyclop
# Is there a minimum number of transactions in a block?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-07)

What encourages Bitcoin miners to include lots of transactions in blocks in the Bitcoin blockchain?

It seems like you could quickly add a block with just a single transaction and get the block reward from it.

Is there some incentive for miners to include lots of transactions in blocks?

**Tags:** mining-reward, transaction-selection

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It is no quicker to mine a block with one transaction, compared to a block with many transactions.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-04-08. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

A block may contain only one transaction: the coinbase transaction. However, the time it takes to mine a block is not affected by the number of transactions in that block, so mining blocks with fewer transactions does not benefit the miner. On the other hand, miners collect fees from the transactions they include in a block, so by including more transactions in a block, they may collect more fees.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2019-04-07. Score: 2

The answer is one, the coinbase transaction.


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