March 23, 2024

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An orphan block is a valid block that, for a short period, finds itself without a place in the blockchain network. This peculiar situation arises when two miners simultaneously discover and broadcast a valid block to the network. As a result a temporary split is made, creating a fork in the blockchain.The competing blocks are then referred to as orphan blocks.

Orphan Block vs. Uncle Block vs. Stale Block

Now that we've dipped our toes into the orphan block territory let's take a quick look at two other related terms – uncle blocks and stale blocks.

Orphan Block:

Characteristics: An orphan block is a valid block that temporarily exists outside the main blockchain. It occurs when two miners simultaneously discover and broadcast a block, leading to a fork. Only one of these blocks becomes part of the blockchain, and the other becomes an orphan.

Uncle Block:

Characteristics: Unlike orphan blocks, uncle blocks are not abandoned. In specific blockchain networks, like Ethereum, uncle blocks are valid blocks on a side branch of the main blockchain. They don't enter the main chain but still receive a reward. This mechanism is designed to compensate miners whose blocks were close to being added to the chain but lost the race.

Stale Block:

Characteristics: A stale block, also known as an obsolete or dead block, is a block that was once valid but is no longer part of the current blockchain. This can happen when a miner successfully mines a block, but it arrives too late to be considered the next block due to network latency or other factors. Stale blocks contribute to the security of the network by preventing double-spending attempts.

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Tom F.

Tom is one of the content managers here at Cryptology. While still fresh in his career he has been able to firmly place himself within the world of crypto and content creation, producing work for a number of publications including esports.net and The Times of Malta newspaper.