<p>It's hard to tell how the network will grow into the future because of both varying usage and IOHK introducing new chain optimisations etc.. However we can work out the hypothetical maximum growth using the current chain parameters.</p>
<pre><code>Max_Block_Size = 65536 bytes
Blocks_Per_Epoch = ~21000 
Epoch_Length = 5 days
</code></pre>
<p>So we could say a rough maximum chain size increase over an Epoch is <code>Max_Block_Size * Blocks_Per_Epoch</code> which comes out as <code>1.4155776 GB</code> per epoch or around <code>100 GB</code> per year.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-04T10:10:21.737Z
2021-05-04T10:10:21.737Z
Eddy Schauman-Haigh
<p>I'm only answering about the size for now: on one of the cardano nodes that I just checked some seconds ago</p>
<pre><code>$ du -sh state-node-mainnet
9.4G
</code></pre>
<p>I can't say how fast it grows. I just look at it from time to time.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-04T08:46:15.833Z
That is your size containing all the forks probably. Fresh sync of the mainnet is somewhere around 8.5GB.
Marek Mahut - StakeNuts
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-03T19:10:45.507Z
2021-05-03T19:20:33.033Z
2021-05-03T19:20:33.033Z
Stephane Rolland
<p>This may sound a naively simple question, but...</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How big is the blockchian today?</p>
</li>
<li><p>How big is it likely to become in future?</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>I note that Daedalus' state directory on my machine is currently <code>~10.3G</code>.</p>
<p>Is it correct then to say that that's the &quot;size of the chain&quot; today?</p>
<p>For the second question, we could hypothesize a number of scenarios, like:
5 million Digital Identities are issued.
What impact is that likely to have on storage requirements of Daedalus?</p>

<blockchain>
How big is the Cardano blockchain (now and in the future)?
# How big is the Cardano blockchain (now and in the future)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-05-03)

This may sound a naively simple question, but...

1. How big is the blockchian today?
2. How big is it likely to become in future?

I note that Daedalus' state directory on my machine is currently `~10.3G`.

Is it correct then to say that that's the "size of the chain" today?

For the second question, we could hypothesize a number of scenarios, like:
5 million Digital Identities are issued.
What impact is that likely to have on storage requirements of Daedalus?

**Tags:** blockchain

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-05-04. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

It's hard to tell how the network will grow into the future because of both varying usage and IOHK introducing new chain optimisations etc.. However we can work out the hypothetical maximum growth using the current chain parameters.
Max_Block_Size = 65536 bytes
Blocks_Per_Epoch = ~21000 
Epoch_Length = 5 days

So we could say a rough maximum chain size increase over an Epoch is Max_Block_Size * Blocks_Per_Epoch which comes out as 1.4155776 GB per epoch or around 100 GB per year.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2021-05-03. Score: 7

I'm only answering about the size for now: on one of the cardano nodes that I just checked some seconds ago
$ du -sh state-node-mainnet
9.4G

I can't say how fast it grows. I just look at it from time to time.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: That is your size containing all the forks probably. Fresh sync of the mainnet is somewhere around 8.5GB.  

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