OP_RETURN Stats·BitcoinStats.io

∞/21M
Overview

OP_RETURN Snapshot

OP_RETURN Outputs Created
238,467,157
at height 958,413
Payload (all)
5.03 GB
Height
958,413
Last Data Update
2026-07-17 12:28:51 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 12:28:38 UTC @ 958,413 (tx 79de...5ad5)*  ·  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
958,414
Scanned Txs
1,398,689,145
(*) 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
684.60 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
238,467,157
Outputs with payload >= 224 B
3,435
Output share >= 224 B
0.001440 %
Txs with OP_RETURN
237,834,913
Total Tx outputs
3,831,209,916
Non-OP_RETURN outputs
3,592,742,759
OP_RETURN tx share
17.004 %
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 57,027,010 56,938,145 950.51 MB 1.12 GB 16.7 B 18.910 % 184 KB 28,073
2025 44,342,296 44,190,163 751.00 MB 881.89 MB 16.9 B 14.941 % 985 KB 53,082
2024 83,164,438 83,087,898 563.37 MB 811.52 MB 6.8 B 11.208 % 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 2.527 % 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 8.812 % 86 B 53,222
2019 28,398,777 28,360,598 1.55 GB 1.63 GB 54.7 B 30.913 % 80 B 54,232
2018 6,795,367 6,788,399 302.89 MB 319.09 MB 44.6 B 6.026 % 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 0.618 % 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 44.126 % 80 B 210,000
Epoch 4 11,311,356 11,041,938 556.29 MB 586.09 MB 49.2 B 11.067 % 8 KB 210,000
Epoch 5 183,259,044 182,967,937 2.23 GB 2.78 GB 12.2 B 44.363 % 985 KB 118,414

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.
0 512,918 1-40 203,982,839 41-75 5,812,172 76-80 28,132,102 81-223 23,691 224-255 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
0 512,918 0.2151 % 2013-03-29 14:18:58 UTC 228,596
1-40 203,982,839 85.5392 % 2013-03-29 14:18:58 UTC 228,596
41-75 5,812,172 2.4373 % 2013-10-29 22:11:04 UTC 266,766
76-80 28,132,102 11.7971 % 2013-11-05 11:23:00 UTC 268,060
81-223 23,691 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
706,966 2021-10-27 17:47:45 UTC Record max OP_RETURN outputs per tx New record: max OP_RETURN outputs in single tx 5c4f...bd72 43
646,286 2020-09-01 14:29:26 UTC Record max OP_RETURN outputs per tx New record: max OP_RETURN outputs in single tx 0fdd...b348 4
577,335 2019-05-23 02:31:24 UTC Record max OP_RETURN outputs per tx New record: max OP_RETURN outputs in single tx d19b...eec6 3
310,818 2014-07-15 08:48:25 UTC Record max OP_RETURN outputs per tx New record: max OP_RETURN outputs in single tx 464f...a47c 2
268,060 2013-11-05 11:23:00 UTC Record max payload New record: max OP_RETURN payload bytes d29c...bc9b 983
268,060 2013-11-05 11:23:00 UTC First in bucket 76-80 First OP_RETURN payload in bucket 76-80 e145...75be –
268,060 2013-11-05 11:23:00 UTC First in bucket 256-1000 First OP_RETURN payload in bucket 256-1000 d29c...bc9b –
266,766 2013-10-29 22:11:04 UTC First in bucket 41-75 First OP_RETURN payload in bucket 41-75 b45c...a96c –
257,727 2013-09-13 11:46:09 UTC Record max payload New record: max OP_RETURN payload bytes a11b...e1ed 190
244,591 2013-07-03 15:48:33 UTC Record max payload New record: max OP_RETURN payload bytes e4d2...8595 134
244,591 2013-07-03 15:48:33 UTC First in bucket 81-223 First OP_RETURN payload in bucket 81-223 e4d2...8595 –
228,596 2013-03-29 14:18:58 UTC Record max payload New record: max OP_RETURN payload bytes 1a2e...93fc 20
228,596 2013-03-29 14:18:58 UTC Record max OP_RETURN outputs per tx New record: max OP_RETURN outputs in single tx eb31...2f29 1
228,596 2013-03-29 14:18:58 UTC First in bucket 0 First OP_RETURN payload in bucket 0 eb31...2f29 –
228,596 2013-03-29 14:18:58 UTC First in bucket 1-40 First OP_RETURN payload in bucket 1-40 1a2e...93fc –
0 2009-01-03 18:15:05 UTC Record max payload New record: max OP_RETURN payload bytes – 0
0 2009-01-03 18:15:05 UTC Record max OP_RETURN outputs per tx New record: max OP_RETURN outputs in single tx – 0
Showing 21–37 of 37
Rows: 10 20 50
1 2
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
958,390 2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 228 bytes 074b...6ff7 228
958,390 2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 228 bytes 12b5...63f3 228
958,390 2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 228 bytes 13e4...a979 228
958,390 2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 228 bytes 2114...8da7 228
958,390 2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 228 bytes 2334...73ee 228
958,390 2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 228 bytes 29b4...1b7f 228
958,390 2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 228 bytes 2f79...0665 228
958,390 2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 228 bytes 3434...4b54 228
958,390 2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 228 bytes 34dd...b628 228
958,390 2026-07-17 09:35:49 UTC Large payload transaction Seen tx with OP_RETURN payload of 228 bytes 3622...eedc 228
Showing 1–10 of 3,415
Rows: 10 20 50
1 2 3 … 342