All terms
How often a new block is produced on a given network.
Block time sets the rhythm of a chain. Bitcoin targets ten minutes. Ethereum produces a block every twelve seconds. Solana aims for about four hundred milliseconds.
Shorter block times feel faster but require more bandwidth and better hardware from validators, which tends to reduce how many people can realistically run one.
A ten minute block time is why Bitcoin payments are not used for buying coffee directly, and why the Lightning Network exists.
That a faster block time means a faster network. It means blocks arrive more often, not that your transaction is final sooner. A chain with one second blocks may need many of them before a transaction is irreversible, so compare finality rather than block time.
Common questions
Does a faster block time mean a better blockchain?
Why do block times vary?
Where this comes up on the site
The guides that actually use this word, rather than a list of everything we have written.
Where to go next
More foundations terms
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