Plain English
Block time is how often a blockchain produces a new block. Bitcoin: ~10 minutes. Ethereum: ~12 seconds. Solana: ~400 milliseconds. Faster block times mean transactions confirm faster, but trade off finality guarantees and validator decentralization.
How it actually works
Block time is targeted, not exact. Bitcoin’s difficulty adjusts every 2,016 blocks to keep the average at 10 minutes regardless of hashrate changes. Ethereum and most modern PoS chains target a fixed slot duration that hits exactly because validators are scheduled.
What it means for you
Block time affects user experience and design choices. A 10-minute Bitcoin block is fine for store-of-value transfers but unusable for point-of-sale payments — which is why Lightning Network and stablecoin rails exist. For active DeFi, sub-second block times are required for usable UX, which is why Solana, Sui, and Sei have grown.
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Educational content only. Not investment, tax, or legal advice.