OP_RETURN Stats·BitcoinStats.io

∞/21M
Overview

OP_RETURN Snapshot

OP_RETURN Outputs Created
238,507,515
at height 958,430
Payload (all)
5.03 GB
Height
958,430
Last Data Update
2026-07-17 15:33:49 UTC
First observed OP_RETURN
2013-03-29 14:18:58 UTC @ 228,596 (tx 1a2e...93fc)*  ·  Size:20bytes
Last observed OP_RETURN
2026-07-17 15:33:28 UTC @ 958,430 (tx 76ee...22c8)*  ·  Size:80bytes
First observed payload >= 224 B
2013-11-05 11:23:00 UTC @ 268,060 (tx d29c...bc9b)*  ·  Size:983bytes
Last observed payload >= 224 B
2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC @ 958,390 (tx 074b...6ff7)*  ·  Size:228bytes
Scanned blocks
958,431
Scanned Txs
1,398,768,568
(*) Tx = transaction in that block with the highest OP_RETURN payload. If tied, first transaction in block order is used.

Size Metrics

OP_RETURN payload (all)
5.03 GB
Payload in txs with >= 224 B
7.01 MB (7,014,657 B)
Payload share from txs with >= 224 B
0.140 %
OP_RETURN data (script)
5.71 GB
OP_RETURN output serialized
7.86 GB
Payload push overhead
684.72 MB
Definition for >=224 B metrics: a Tx qualifies if it has at least one OP_RETURN output payload >= 224 bytes.

Output Metrics

OP_RETURN outputs created
238,507,515
Outputs with payload >= 224 B
3,435
Output share >= 224 B
0.001440 %
Txs with OP_RETURN
237,875,225
Total Tx outputs
3,831,395,188
Non-OP_RETURN outputs
3,592,887,673
OP_RETURN tx share
17.006 %
Time Series

OP_RETURN Data by Year

Payload bytes Push overhead bytes
Y-axis: GB per year
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

By Year

CSV
Year OP_RETURN Outputs TXs with OP_RETURN Payload Script Avg payload/output Share Max Payload Blocks
2026 57,067,368 56,978,457 951.28 MB 1.12 GB 16.7 B 18.922 % 184 KB 28,090
2025 44,342,296 44,190,163 751.00 MB 881.89 MB 16.9 B 14.938 % 985 KB 53,082
2024 83,164,438 83,087,898 563.37 MB 811.52 MB 6.8 B 11.206 % 80 KB 53,473
2023 1,927,691 1,879,343 69.96 MB 75.61 MB 36.3 B 1.392 % 80 B 53,999
2022 1,943,342 1,873,832 127.00 MB 132.11 MB 65.3 B 2.526 % 80 B 53,188
2021 2,949,557 2,868,415 162.08 MB 169.49 MB 54.9 B 3.224 % 80 B 52,686
2020 7,915,402 7,845,311 442.95 MB 463.42 MB 56.0 B 8.811 % 86 B 53,222
2019 28,398,777 28,360,598 1.55 GB 1.63 GB 54.7 B 30.908 % 80 B 54,232
2018 6,795,367 6,788,399 302.89 MB 319.09 MB 44.6 B 6.025 % 80 B 54,498
2017 2,254,393 2,253,947 63.03 MB 67.55 MB 28.0 B 1.254 % 80 B 55,928
2016 1,080,837 1,080,819 31.04 MB 33.21 MB 28.7 B 0.617 % 80 B 54,851
2015 654,756 654,754 8.51 MB 9.53 MB 13.0 B 0.169 % 80 B 54,321
2014 12,851 12,849 358.01 KB 383.79 KB 27.9 B 0.007 % 186 B 58,865
2013 440 440 18.48 KB 19.39 KB 42.0 B 0.000 % 983 B 63,433
2012 0 0 0.00 B 0.00 B 0.0 B 0.000 % 0 B 54,526
2011 0 0 0.00 B 0.00 B 0.0 B 0.000 % 0 B 59,627
2010 0 0 0.00 B 0.00 B 0.0 B 0.000 % 0 B 67,920
2009 0 0 0.00 B 0.00 B 0.0 B 0.000 % 0 B 32,490

By Subsidy Epoch

CSV
Epoch OP_RETURN Outputs TXs with OP_RETURN Payload Script Avg payload/output Share Max Payload Blocks
Epoch 1 0 0 0.00 B 0.00 B 0.0 B 0.000 % 0 B 210,000
Epoch 2 1,170,602 1,170,598 22.32 MB 24.38 MB 19.1 B 0.444 % 983 B 210,000
Epoch 3 42,726,155 42,654,440 2.22 GB 2.33 GB 51.9 B 44.120 % 80 B 210,000
Epoch 4 11,311,356 11,041,938 556.29 MB 586.09 MB 49.2 B 11.065 % 8 KB 210,000
Epoch 5 183,299,402 183,008,249 2.23 GB 2.78 GB 12.2 B 44.371 % 985 KB 118,431

OP_RETURN Outputs by Year

OP_RETURN outputs
Y-axis: count per year
0 20.8M 41.6M 62.4M 83.2M 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Average OP_RETURN Output Size (Payload Bytes) by Year

Y-axis: bytes per output (year)
0.0 B 16.3 B 32.7 B 49.0 B 65.3 B 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Distribution

Bucket Distribution (log scale)

Bar length uses log10(count + 1) so long-tail buckets remain visible.
0 512,920 1-40 204,022,362 41-75 5,812,844 76-80 28,132,238 81-223 23,716 224-255 1,496 256-1000 1,392 1001-10000 478 10001-20000 24 20001-40000 17 40001-60000 4 60001-80000 4 80001-100000 17 100001-200000 1 200001-300000 0 300001-400000 0 400001-500000 0 500001-600000 0 600001-700000 0 700001-800000 0 800001-900000 0 900001-1000000 2 >1000000 0

Payload Buckets

CSV
Bucket Count Share First Seen (UTC) First Height
0 512,920 0.2151 % 2013-03-29 14:18:58 UTC 228,596
1-40 204,022,362 85.5413 % 2013-03-29 14:18:58 UTC 228,596
41-75 5,812,844 2.4372 % 2013-10-29 22:11:04 UTC 266,766
76-80 28,132,238 11.7951 % 2013-11-05 11:23:00 UTC 268,060
81-223 23,716 0.0099 % 2013-07-03 15:48:33 UTC 244,591
224-255 1,496 0.0006 % 2024-02-09 09:29:28 UTC 829,644
256-1000 1,392 0.0006 % 2013-11-05 11:23:00 UTC 268,060
1001-10000 478 0.0002 % 2024-01-26 21:44:26 UTC 827,529
10001-20000 24 0.0000 % 2024-10-30 16:52:39 UTC 868,113
20001-40000 17 0.0000 % 2024-11-18 03:26:28 UTC 870,805
40001-60000 4 0.0000 % 2024-11-18 00:31:51 UTC 870,787
60001-80000 4 0.0000 % 2024-11-17 06:59:15 UTC 870,683
80001-100000 17 0.0000 % 2025-05-10 09:14:50 UTC 896,088
100001-200000 1 0.0000 % 2026-05-18 18:30:04 UTC 949,973
200001-300000 0 0.0000 % – –
300001-400000 0 0.0000 % – –
400001-500000 0 0.0000 % – –
500001-600000 0 0.0000 % – –
600001-700000 0 0.0000 % – –
700001-800000 0 0.0000 % – –
800001-900000 0 0.0000 % – –
900001-1000000 2 0.0000 % 2025-05-14 16:36:24 UTC 896,696
>1000000 0 0.0000 % – –
Deep Dive

Record Milestones Timeline

Record max payload Record max OP_RETURN outputs per tx
payload outputs/tx 2013-02-26 2017-04-21 2021-06-14 2009-01-03 2025-08-07

Milestones

CSV
Height Time (UTC) Type Label Transaction Value
949,973 2026-05-18 18:30:04 UTC First in bucket 100001-200000 First OP_RETURN payload in bucket 100001-200000 0000...de07 –
909,068 2025-08-07 19:25:38 UTC Record max OP_RETURN outputs per tx New record: max OP_RETURN outputs in single tx f08f...7fbe 10,022
897,852 2025-05-22 13:46:58 UTC Record max OP_RETURN outputs per tx New record: max OP_RETURN outputs in single tx 4a77...6011 69
896,722 2025-05-14 21:06:26 UTC Record max payload New record: max OP_RETURN payload bytes b47e...59c7 984,587
896,696 2025-05-14 16:36:24 UTC Record max payload New record: max OP_RETURN payload bytes 516c...406b 979,842
896,696 2025-05-14 16:36:24 UTC First in bucket 900001-1000000 First OP_RETURN payload in bucket 900001-1000000 516c...406b –
896,088 2025-05-10 09:14:50 UTC Record max payload New record: max OP_RETURN payload bytes 95d1...6052 97,446
896,088 2025-05-10 09:14:50 UTC First in bucket 80001-100000 First OP_RETURN payload in bucket 80001-100000 95d1...6052 –
894,565 2025-04-30 07:00:43 UTC Record max OP_RETURN outputs per tx New record: max OP_RETURN outputs in single tx a1b6...c2fe 50
870,805 2024-11-18 03:26:28 UTC First in bucket 20001-40000 First OP_RETURN payload in bucket 20001-40000 04ac...e8d3 –
Showing 1–10 of 37
Rows: 10 20 50
1 2 3 4
Large Payload

Large Payload Activity by Month

TX count (payload >= 224 bytes) Max payload in month (log scale)
Bars show monthly transaction count. Line shows monthly maximum payload size.
0 224.0 B 273 1.8 KB 546 14.9 KB 818 120.9 KB 1,091 984.6 KB 2013-11 2024-02 2024-04 2024-08 2024-11 2025-01 2025-03 2025-05 2025-07 2025-09 2025-11 2026-01 2026-03 2026-05 2026-07

Payload Size Distribution

Histogram buckets for transactions with OP_RETURN payload >= 224 bytes.
0 374 748 1,122 1,496 224-255 224-255 256-511 256-511 512-1023 512-1k 1024-2047 1k-2k 2048-4095 2k-4k 4096-8191 4k-8k 8192-16383 8k-16k 16384-32767 16k-32k 32768-65535 32k-65k 65536-131071 65k-131k 131072-262143 131k-262k 262144-524287 262k-524k >=524288 >=524k

Top 20 Largest Payload Transactions with payload >= 224 bytes

Top transactions by maximum OP_RETURN payload bytes in tx.
#1 b47e...59c7 984,587 B #2 516c...406b 979,842 B #3 0000...de07 184,303 B #4 64ab...e12a 99,000 B #5 91df...bf69 98,196 B #6 95d1...6052 97,446 B #7 156c...f077 97,347 B #8 976e...e3a3 97,338 B #9 4440...67df 94,496 B #10 eaf4...f968 86,820 B #11 8546...3c87 82,573 B #12 cf15...72c8 82,566 B #13 87ab...7dbd 82,560 B #14 ac5b...a655 82,560 B #15 e4a5...7204 82,559 B #16 baca...d5f8 82,558 B #17 ebb1...3e8e 82,558 B #18 5511...f9b9 82,549 B #19 00b8...5c04 82,547 B #20 b8b0...d571 82,546 B

Transactions with OP_RETURN payload >= 224 bytes

CSV
Height Time (UTC) Type Label Transaction Value
895,563 2025-05-06 20:40:14 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 342 bytes e184...3b1f 342
895,563 2025-05-06 20:40:14 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 286 bytes eb1e...b91b 286
895,563 2025-05-06 20:40:14 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 310 bytes ef37...c8f9 310
895,557 2025-05-06 20:07:56 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 512 bytes 1469...b776 512
895,557 2025-05-06 20:07:56 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 256 bytes dca7...7f9b 256
895,557 2025-05-06 20:07:56 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 256 bytes e5d6...9d3e 256
895,557 2025-05-06 20:07:56 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 626 bytes f91c...13b1 626
895,541 2025-05-06 17:24:46 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 456 bytes 1430...6869 456
895,541 2025-05-06 17:24:46 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 262 bytes 277c...4a23 262
895,541 2025-05-06 17:24:46 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 262 bytes 32ca...aa9c 262
Showing 3,321–3,330 of 3,415
Rows: 10 20 50
1 … 331 332 333 334 335 … 342