<p>There is a maximum limit on the block reward which is 12.5 BTC but nothing prevents a miner from claiming less than 12.5 BTC. In fact, there have been times when miners forgot to claim any bitcoin at all (claimed 0 BTC), a very expensive mistake. This is probably a mistake from the miner, he could have certainly claimed more bitcoin. </p>

<p>As long as the block is valid, it will be accepted by the network, even if it's unfair for the miner. In practice, this means that the maximum supply of bitcoin is not 21 million BTC but 21 million BTC - unclaimed BTC by miners. People often see this difference by making the difference between sum(number_of_block_i * block_reward_of_block_i) and the total bitcoin counted from the UTXO set.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-05T17:13:30.207Z
The block reward was 50 until block 210000, when it dropped to 25. Since block 420000 the reward dropped to 12.5.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-13T02:26:02.253Z
related: other blocks where miners claimed less: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/38994/will-there-be-21-million-bitcoins-eventually/38998#38998
JBaczuk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-05T12:22:49.063Z
2018-09-06T00:17:14.300Z
2018-09-06T00:17:14.300Z
Pedro
<ul>
<li><a href="https://chain.so/block/BTC/0000000000000000002ba5a1fb96f93e6c215d62db4280f1cbd30e82c7c71fba" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://chain.so/block/BTC/0000000000000000002ba5a1fb96f93e6c215d62db4280f1cbd30e82c7c71fba</a></li>
<li><a href="https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/block/526591" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/block/526591</a></li>
</ul>

<p>It's an empty block (zero transactions), but the coinbase transaction is 6.25</p>

<p>The blockchain.com explorer shows this as having a -6.25 fee (despite having no transactions) <a href="https://www.blockchain.com/btc/block/0000000000000000002ba5a1fb96f93e6c215d62db4280f1cbd30e82c7c71fba" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.blockchain.com/btc/block/0000000000000000002ba5a1fb96f93e6c215d62db4280f1cbd30e82c7c71fba</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-05T14:31:09.950Z
Possible duplicate of [Can someone explain this weird mining activity?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/67009/can-someone-explain-this-weird-mining-activity)
MCCCS
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-06T00:15:58.397Z
While closely related, I think this question is sufficiently different: it's dealing with a different block and someone claiming only half the reward instead of none.
Murch
<bitcoin-core><mining-reward><coinbase-transaction><reward-schedule>
Why does Bitcoin block 526,591 have a 6.25 (instead of 12.5) block reward?
vonneumann1903
# Why does Bitcoin block 526,591 have a 6.25 (instead of 12.5) block reward?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-09-05)

* <https://chain.so/block/BTC/0000000000000000002ba5a1fb96f93e6c215d62db4280f1cbd30e82c7c71fba>
* <https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/block/526591>

It's an empty block (zero transactions), but the coinbase transaction is 6.25

The blockchain.com explorer shows this as having a -6.25 fee (despite having no transactions) <https://www.blockchain.com/btc/block/0000000000000000002ba5a1fb96f93e6c215d62db4280f1cbd30e82c7c71fba>

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, mining-reward, coinbase-transaction, reward-schedule

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Possible duplicate of [Can someone explain this weird mining activity?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/67009/can-someone-explain-this-weird-mining-activity)  
> **username_2**: While closely related, I think this question is sufficiently different: it's dealing with a different block and someone claiming only half the reward instead of none.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-09-05. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

There is a maximum limit on the block reward which is 12.5 BTC but nothing prevents a miner from claiming less than 12.5 BTC. In fact, there have been times when miners forgot to claim any bitcoin at all (claimed 0 BTC), a very expensive mistake. This is probably a mistake from the miner, he could have certainly claimed more bitcoin.

As long as the block is valid, it will be accepted by the network, even if it's unfair for the miner. In practice, this means that the maximum supply of bitcoin is not 21 million BTC but 21 million BTC - unclaimed BTC by miners. People often see this difference by making the difference between sum(number\_of\_block\_i \* block\_reward\_of\_block\_i) and the total bitcoin counted from the UTXO set.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: The block reward was 50 until block 210000, when it dropped to 25. Since block 420000 the reward dropped to 12.5.  
> **username_5**: related: other blocks where miners claimed less: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/38994/will-there-be-21-million-bitcoins-eventually/38998#38998  

---

