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Gate.io Blog Bitcoin Blockchain Size is revised upwards Due to the Explosion in Ordinals

Bitcoin Blockchain Size is revised upwards Due to the Explosion in Ordinals

23 May 17:17

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![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/blog/1679447253722320711jiami.jpeg)
The size of the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain has exceeded 480 GB while its block size is 2.5MB.

The daily transactions on the blockchain have increased to more than 500,000 after the introduction of <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> ordinals.

Experts predict that the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain will surpass 1 TB by 2030

**Keywords**: BTC prediction, <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">btc price</a>, <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> ordinals, ordinal NFT, market size, <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain
## Introduction
Blockchains grow with time as more activities are added to them. This is the current state with most blockchains such as <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> and <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> which have experienced growth since their inception.  The launch of new types of assets on  blockchains results in their growth. When a blockchain grows the nodes will require more storage space to accommodate all the data on it. Recently, the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain [introduced BTC Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens](https://www.gate.io/learn/articles/what-you-need-to-know-about-ordinals-and-brc20/507 "introduced BTC Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens") which has led to the increase in its block size.

Read also: [BRC-20 Market Cap Hits $700M](https://www.gate.io/blog_detail/2577/brc-20-market-cap-hits-700m-as-gate.io-enables-trading-and-deposit-support "BRC-20 Market Cap Hits $700M")
## Explosion of Ordinals has led to the increase in the Bitcoin blockchain
The size of the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain has increased significantly since the beginning of the year as a result of the rise in the number of Ordinal NFTs. Glassnode, the analytics firm, reported that the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain has grown by 24 Gigabytes (GB) since February this year. This shows an increase of 5.3% during the cited period and 18% since January.

Read also: [Bitcoin Sets New All Time High for Daily Transactions, Boosted by Ordinals](https://www.gate.io/uk/blog_detail/2640/bitcoin-sets-new-all-time-high-for-daily-transactions-boosted-by-ordinals "Bitcoin Sets New All Time High for Daily Transactions, Boosted by Ordinals")

As of now, the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> has a total size of around 480 GB and is expected to continue to grow due to the rise in the number of Ordinal In_script_ions. As a reminder the blockchain has been growing at an average annual rate of 36% since 2016. As such, it grew from 95 GB in 2016 to 435 GB in 2022, meaning that 350 gigabytes of data were added to it during that period.

It is also important to understand that both the sizes of the blockchain and the blocks were growing during this period. Following the creation of <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> NFTs the size of the blocks have [increased to 2.5 MB](https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/charts/avg-block-size "increased to 2.5 MB"). Historically, the average size of the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> block hovered between 0.7 MB and 1.5 MB between July 2021 and February 2023. 
## The Impact of Bitcoin Ordinals on the blockchain
Already, the [BTC Ordinals have brought much change](https://www.gate.io/learn/articles/what-are-bitcoin-ordinals/508 "BTC Ordinals have brought much change") to the blockchain’s activities. Glassnode reported that since the inception of Ordinal In_script_ions the network has recorded more than 44 million non-zero addresses. In addition, the blockchain recorded over 600,000 transactions of BTC NFTs.

Also, the Ordinals have resulted in the daily transactions on the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain to exceed 500, 000. Another notable thing is that there has been an increase in the number of BTC miners who have been contributing more than 438 exahashes per second (EH/s). These statistics show the stability and strength of the blockchain as well as the increase in its adoption.

As a side note, Casey Rodarmor, a software engineer, launched the Ordinals Protocols on the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain in January 2023. This has enabled creators to develop digital artworks on the blockchain which can be in the forms of JPEG images, video, audio files and PDFS.

Related article: [Unpacking the Potential of Bitcoin's BRC-20 Tokens](https://www.gate.io/blog_detail/2607/unpacking-potential-bitcoins-brc-20-tokens "Unpacking the Potential of Bitcoin's BRC-20 Tokens")
## The effect of the increase in the Bitcoin blockchain size
There is no doubt that the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain will continue to grow. What this means is that the full nodes will need to have larger spaces to download the blockchain in order to validate the transactions. However, some nodes do not download the entire blockchain. They can select the type of data they need to access.

As the size of the blockchain keeps on increasing, it experiences scalability challenges. This may lead to congestion resulting in slower transactions and high transaction fees. 
## Prediction of the size of the Bitcoin blockchain 
According to some estimates the size of the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain will reach 1TB by 2030. If the block size remains at 2.5 MB the blockchain size will be around 500 GB in June 2023. However, if the block size increases to 4MB then the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain size will be over 600 GB in September. 
![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/16848333791.png)
Projected <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> Blockchain size - Glassnode

<a href="/price/the-graph-grt" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">The Graph</a> above shows the projected <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain size in September this year. A block size of 2.5 MB will result in <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> having a total blockchain size of 538.06 GB. However, by September 2025, the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain size will be around 800 GB as the image below indicates. 
![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/16848333942.png)
Projected <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> Blockchain size in 2025 - Glassnode

The size of the <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain is expected to increase year by year, with Glassnode anticipating that it will reach 1,458.58 GB by 2030 if the block size is 2.5 MB. However it will be around 2,060 GB if the block size is 4MB. 
![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/16848334083.png)
Projected <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> Blockchain size in 2030 - Glassnode
## Outlook on BTC price 
<a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a>, with a market capitalization of $522,111,718,829 USD and a trading volume of $12,732,903,830 USD is trading at $26,943.38 at the time of writing, on 19 May 2023. This means that its value is 6.71% less than what it was one year ago.

Despite some pullbacks, Its price has been increasing since January. For instance, on 19 April the value of BTC was $30,365 which, however, later tumbled again. The following graph shows its performance since July 2022. 
![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/16848334194.png)
<a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> performance – Ycharts

As the diagram shows, the value of BTC has been dropping since 22 April. Therefore, the next few days will paint a better picture of the direction it is taking.   
## Conclusion
The <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> blockchain has been growing remarkably after the introduction of Ordinals. Analysts believe that its size will continue to increase as more [digital assets like BRC-20](https://www.gate.io/uk/blog_detail/2602/exploring-ordinals-and-brc-20-a-revolution-in-bitcoin-and-the-crypto-market "digital assets like BRC-20") are added to it.  Already, its daily transactions surpass 500,000 while the blockchain computing power keeps on rising.

<div class="blog-details-info">
<div>Author:** Mashell C.**, Gate.io Researcher
<div class="info-tips">\*This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
<div>\*Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.
</div>

BTC/USDT + 0.94%

Introduction

Explosion of Ordinals has led to the increase in the Bitcoin blockchain

The Impact of Bitcoin Ordinals on the blockchain

The effect of the increase in the Bitcoin blockchain size

Prediction of the size of the Bitcoin blockchain

Outlook on BTC price

Conclusion

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