1.5 KiB
15.2: Mining the Regtest
NOTE: This is a draft in progress, so that I can get some feedback from early reviewers. It is not yet ready for learning.
This document explains how to generate (i.e. mine) blocks using a Regtest (Regression Test) blockchain. To generate the Genesis block and the next blocks on a new blockchain requires very minimal proof-of-work, due to the low difficulty and that it follows the Testnet rules.
Generating blocks
You can generate/mine new blocks using the RPC method generate. This method is only available in the Regtest mode, using the following command:
$ bitcoin-cli -regtest generate 101
[
"57f17afccf28b9296048b6370312678b6d8e48dc3a7b4ef7681d18ed3d91c122",
"631ff7b8135ce633c774828be3b8505726459eb65c339aab981b10363befe5a7",
...
"1162dbfe025c7da94ee1128dc26d518a94508f532c19edc0de6bc673a909d02c",
"20cb2e815c3d42d6a117a204a0b5e726ab641c826e441b5b3417aca33f2aba48"
]
The output is the block hash of every block generated (in our example, 101 hashes).
This command will generate 101 blocks using a special RPC which is only available in regtest mode. This takes less than a second on a generic PC. Because this is a new block chain using Bitcoin’s default rules, the first blocks pay a block reward of 50 bitcoins. Unlike mainnet, in regtest mode only the first 150 blocks pay a reward of 50 bitcoins. However, a block must have 100 confirmations before that reward can be spent, so we generate 101 blocks to get access to the coinbase transaction from block #1.