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Uncle Block Meaning

An uncle block (known as an ommer block in Ethereum) is a valid block that was mined almost concurrently with another block that ends up being part of the canonical blockchain. Due to network latency or propagation delays, multiple miners may solve a block at roughly the same time.

The network’s consensus algorithm must choose one of them as the official block, typically based on which one propagates more widely or is built upon by subsequent blocks. The blocks that are not selected become uncle blocks.

To incentivise decentralisation and minimise wasted work, blockchains like Ethereum reward miners for including references to uncle blocks in subsequent blocks.

This mechanism encourages miners to continue mining even if their block is not chosen, reduces the advantage of miners with low latency connections, and improves the security of the chain by rewarding honest participation.

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