Bitcoin Network Scraper: Hashrate, Fees & Mempool

Agent skill: SKILL.md

https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/t7YoTxpZEJOWvw4Ug/records/bitcoin-network-stats-scraper.md

What it does

Scrape Bitcoin network statistics: hash rate, difficulty, block count, mempool size, transaction fees, block interval and total value transacted. Network fundamentals. Give it metrics and it returns one structured record per snapshot.

Each run is one snapshot, a single dataset record capturing the state of the Bitcoin network at that moment. Run it on a schedule and the dataset becomes a time series: hash rate against difficulty, mempool backlog against block interval, fee pressure against price.

It reads three public Blockchain.com endpoints: the network stats aggregate, the live unconfirmed-transaction count, and the fiat ticker used to convert USD values into your reporting currency.

Input

Field	Type	Default	Notes
metrics	array	[]	Restrict the record to these metric names. timestamp, currency and scrapedAt are always kept. Empty = every metric. An unrecognised name fails the run immediately with the valid list.
includeMempool	boolean	true	Fetch the live unconfirmed-transaction count into mempoolSize. One extra request; turn it off for the daily aggregates only.
currency	string	"USD"	Fiat currency for the converted value block. One of the 30 currencies Blockchain.com's ticker quotes.

Valid metrics values: marketPriceUsd, hashRate, difficulty, totalBtcMined, blocksSize, minutesBetweenBlocks, totalTransactions, transactionsPerSecond, mempoolSize, minerRevenueUsd, totalFeesBtc, estimatedTransactionVolumeUsd.

Which combinations make sense

• metrics and includeMempool: false: if mempoolSize is in metrics but the mempool is disabled, the field is present and null. Ask for one or the other consistently.
• metrics and currency: asking for a USD metric keeps its fiat twin too, request marketPriceUsd and you also get marketPrice and fxRateUsd. Metrics you did not ask for do not drag their twins along.
• currency: "USD" skips the ticker request entirely, fxRateUsd is 1 and the fiat fields mirror the USD ones.
• No input at all is a valid, complete run: all 19 fields, mempool included, in USD.

Example input

{
 "metrics": ["hashRate", "difficulty", "mempoolSize", "marketPriceUsd"],
 "includeMempool": true,
 "currency": "USD"
}

Output

One dataset item per snapshot. A real record, exactly as produced by a live run:

{
 "timestamp": "2026-08-06T11:26:44.000Z", // Blockchain.com's own data timestamp
 "marketPriceUsd": 64565.51, // BTC spot price, USD
 "hashRate": 834575299886.082, // network hash rate in GH/s (÷ 1e9 for EH/s → 834.58 EH/s)
 "difficulty": 126231507121868, // current mining difficulty
 "totalBtcMined": 20066512.5, // BTC in circulation (source reports satoshis)
 "blocksSize": 222048135, // total size of blocks mined in the last 24h, bytes
 "minutesBetweenBlocks": 10.2727, // observed average block interval
 "totalTransactions": 568358, // transactions confirmed in the last 24h
 "transactionsPerSecond": 6.5782, // totalTransactions / 86400
 "mempoolSize": 49569, // unconfirmed transactions waiting right now
 "minerRevenueUsd": 0, // miner revenue over 24h, USD (see quirks below)
 "totalFeesBtc": -415.625, // total fees over 24h, BTC (see quirks below)
 "estimatedTransactionVolumeUsd": 7640022241.04,// estimated 24h on-chain value transacted, USD
 "currency": "EUR", // currency of the converted block below
 "fxRateUsd": 0.86619497, // units of `currency` per 1 USD, from the ticker
 "marketPrice": 55926.32, // marketPriceUsd × fxRateUsd
 "minerRevenue": 0, // minerRevenueUsd × fxRateUsd
 "estimatedTransactionVolume": 6617748831.53, // estimatedTransactionVolumeUsd × fxRateUsd
 "scrapedAt": "2026-08-06T11:32:51.828Z" // when this Actor read it
}

Fields ending in Usd are always USD, whatever currency you set. The five-field block from currency to estimatedTransactionVolume carries the converted view, with the exact rate used so the numbers are auditable.

Known source quirks

These are Blockchain.com's numbers, passed through faithfully rather than patched:

• totalFeesBtc can come back negative (-415.625 in the sample above, the exact negation of the 24h BTC issuance). The upstream total_fees_btc field is occasionally sign-flipped. Take Math.abs() if you need a magnitude, but be aware you are working around a source bug.
• minerRevenueUsd is often 0. Blockchain.com does not always populate it. Derive revenue from issuance × price if you need it reliably.
• totalTransactions is a 24-hour count, not the all-time total. Same for blocksSize and estimatedTransactionVolumeUsd.

RUN_SUMMARY

Written to the default key-value store at the end of every run:

{
 "snapshotsSaved": 1,
 "sourcesQueried": 3,
 "sourcesFailed": 0,
 "failures": [],
 "blockHeight": 961284,
 "nextRetargetBlock": 961631,
 "filters": { "metrics": [], "includeMempool": true, "currency": "EUR" },
 "finishedAt": "2026-08-06T11:32:51.833Z"
}

blockHeight and nextRetargetBlock are bonus context: the difference tells you how many blocks remain until the next difficulty adjustment. failures holds one { source, error } entry per degraded source.

Use cases

1. Monitor mining economics

Hash rate against difficulty against price is the whole miner-margin picture. Poll hourly and you can see hashprice compress in real time.

{
 "metrics": ["hashRate", "difficulty", "marketPriceUsd", "minutesBetweenBlocks", "totalBtcMined"],
 "includeMempool": false,
 "currency": "USD"
}

RUN_SUMMARY.nextRetargetBlock minus blockHeight tells you how many blocks until difficulty adjusts, the number miners actually watch.

2. Time transactions around fee pressure

Mempool backlog is the leading indicator of what you will pay. A tight, cheap snapshot every few minutes is enough to spot the windows.

{
 "metrics": ["mempoolSize", "minutesBetweenBlocks", "totalTransactions", "transactionsPerSecond"],
 "includeMempool": true
}

A rising mempoolSize with minutesBetweenBlocks above 10 means the backlog is growing faster than blocks are clearing it, wait. Both falling means the window is open.

3. Network-health research

Take everything, in your reporting currency, once a day, and build a longitudinal dataset.

{
 "includeMempool": true,
 "currency": "EUR"
}

All 19 fields, converted, with the FX rate stored alongside so the series stays reproducible even as rates move.

Limits and behaviour

• Fast. The stats endpoint answered in 98 ms on probe, the fastest in the whole survey. A full three-source run finishes in well under a second, which makes high-frequency scheduling practical.
• No published rate limit. Blockchain.com advertises no rate-limit headers on these endpoints. Polling every few minutes is comfortable; sub-minute polling is not something the Actor is built to pace, and there is no useful new data at that resolution anyway.
• Graceful degradation. If the mempool or ticker endpoint fails, the snapshot is still saved, mempoolSize is null, or values stay in USD with currency reported as "USD", and the failure is recorded in RUN_SUMMARY.failures. Only a failure of the primary /stats endpoint aborts the run, because then there is no snapshot to save.
• Transient errors are retried. 429 and 5xx get three attempts with linear backoff (1 s, 2 s). Malformed responses fail fast rather than being retried into the timeout.
• ?currency= on the source endpoint does nothing. Blockchain.com accepts the parameter but returns USD regardless, so this Actor converts explicitly against blockchain.info/ticker and shows you the rate. That is why fxRateUsd exists.
• Public data only. No authentication, no personal data, no access-control bypass.

FAQ

Do I need a proxy? No. Proxy configuration is not required to run this Actor.

Do I need a Blockchain.com account or API key? No. You supply no credentials.

What happens if a source is unavailable? The mempool and ticker sources degrade gracefully, the snapshot still saves, with the gap noted in RUN_SUMMARY.failures. If the core stats endpoint is down after three retries the run errors out, since there would be nothing to record.

Can I schedule it? Yes, that is the point. One run = one snapshot; a schedule turns the dataset into a time series.

What unit is hashRate in? GH/s, as Blockchain.com reports it. Divide by 1e9 for EH/s: 834575299886 GH/s = 834.58 EH/s.

Why is totalFeesBtc negative? An upstream sign bug in Blockchain.com's total_fees_btc. The Actor reports what the API returns rather than silently correcting it, see "Known source quirks" above.

Can I get historical data? Not from this Actor, /stats is a live snapshot with no history parameter. Schedule it and accumulate your own series; timestamp and scrapedAt are your time keys.

Can I get individual transactions or blocks? No. This Actor covers network-level aggregates only.

Can I integrate it with something else? Yes, Apify API, client libraries, webhooks, scheduled runs, dataset exports (JSON/CSV/Excel) or MCP. Output is structured JSON.

API example

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/arman-bd~bitcoin-network-stats-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 -d '{
 "metrics": ["hashRate", "difficulty", "mempoolSize"],
 "includeMempool": true
 }'

JavaScript example

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('arman-bd/bitcoin-network-stats-scraper').call({ currency: 'EUR' });

const { items: [snap] } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(`${(snap.hashRate / 1e9).toFixed(2)} EH/s · ${snap.mempoolSize} tx queued · €${snap.marketPrice}`);