<p>The Merkle tree is not stored anywhere.</p>

<p>It is implicitly defined by the transactions in a block. Whenever needed, the portion of it that is needed is computed on the fly using the transaction identifiers.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-20T13:59:59.567Z
2016-10-20T13:59:59.567Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>I am reading about the Merkle tree, I've read that in a block we store just the root of the tree. To check if a ttransaction is included in the Merkle tree we need to use the transaction's Merkle path. The question is where the Merkle tree is stored? How would a node given a path check if the leaf belongs to the Merkel tree?</p>

<merkle-tree>
Where is the Merkle tree located?
katapulte
# Where is the Merkle tree located?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-10-20)

I am reading about the Merkle tree, I've read that in a block we store just the root of the tree. To check if a ttransaction is included in the Merkle tree we need to use the transaction's Merkle path. The question is where the Merkle tree is stored? How would a node given a path check if the leaf belongs to the Merkel tree?

**Tags:** merkle-tree


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-10-20. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

The Merkle tree is not stored anywhere.

It is implicitly defined by the transactions in a block. Whenever needed, the portion of it that is needed is computed on the fly using the transaction identifiers.


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