<p>This is not correct.  There is no requirement that a block contain any transactions at all (other than the single transaction indicating what address should be credited with the block reward, currently 25 BTC).  Miners can mine whether or not there are any transactions on the network for them to include.</p>

<p>See also <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/8853/what-is-the-smallest-block-ever-mined">What is the smallest block ever mined?</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-07T23:16:29.850Z
2013-12-07T23:16:29.850Z
2017-04-13T12:47:32.940Z
Nate Eldredge
<p>Bitcoin's mining only exists, if there are some transactions, right?
If nobody trades bitcoins, the miners don't have any transactions to validate, and so the number of bitcoins in circulation doesn't increase?</p>

<protocol><mining-reward><empty-blocks>
Does mining activity only exist if there are bitcoin transactions?
Guillaume Paris
# Does mining activity only exist if there are bitcoin transactions?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-07)

Bitcoin's mining only exists, if there are some transactions, right?
If nobody trades bitcoins, the miners don't have any transactions to validate, and so the number of bitcoins in circulation doesn't increase?

**Tags:** protocol, mining-reward, empty-blocks


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-12-07. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

This is not correct. There is no requirement that a block contain any transactions at all (other than the single transaction indicating what address should be credited with the block reward, currently 25 BTC). Miners can mine whether or not there are any transactions on the network for them to include.

See also [What is the smallest block ever mined?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/8853/what-is-the-smallest-block-ever-mined)


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