# mempool.space > Source: https://timechain.wiki/wiki/mempool-space · TimechainWiki, the Bitcoin encyclopedia. (source · education · introductory) > **mempool.space** — the Mempool Open Source Project — is a Bitcoin blockchain and mempool explorer focused on the transaction fee market and the multi-layer ecosystem, designed to run **completely self-hosted without any trusted third parties** ("be your own explorer"). It visualizes the live mempool as projected blocks, estimates fees, and provides block, transaction, and address lookups; deeper sections cover mining (pool distribution, hashrate, difficulty), Lightning (node and channel graphs), and network graphs. It is free, open-source (github.com/mempool), and bundled into the major self-hosted node packages ([Umbrel](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/umbrel.md), [Start9](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/start9.md), myNode, RaspiBlitz). Register: **Introductory → Advanced** — a newcomer can watch a transaction confirm; a professional reads fee dynamics and mining data. It is a rare educational resource that teaches by letting the reader explore the live chain directly. --- ## Level **Introductory → Advanced.** The core explorer is immediately usable by a beginner watching their own transaction confirm or checking a fee estimate. The mining, Lightning, and graphs sections reward users with protocol-level grounding who want to read fee-market and network dynamics quantitatively. --- ## Why this source matters Most educational resources *describe* how Bitcoin works; mempool.space lets a reader **watch it work in real time**. Seeing the mempool fill with pending transactions, projected into the next several blocks by fee rate, and then watching a block confirm and clear them, makes the fee market, block space scarcity, and confirmation dynamics tangible in a way no diagram does. For a learner, it converts abstract concepts — the [UTXO model](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/utxo-model-and-bitcoin-transactions.md), the [fee market](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/network-capacity-and-fee-market-critiques.md), mempool congestion — into something observable. Its second contribution is a sovereignty lesson embedded in the tool itself. mempool.space is engineered to run self-hosted against one's own [full node](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/running-a-full-node.md) — "without any trusted third parties." A user who runs it on their own node ([Umbrel](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/umbrel.md), [Start9](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/start9.md)) is not querying someone else's view of the chain; they are querying their own. The tool thereby teaches, by construction, the difference between trusting a block explorer and verifying with your own node — the same lesson the self-custody section argues in prose. --- ## Bibliographic details - **Title:** mempool.space (The Mempool Open Source Project) - **URL:** [mempool.space](https://mempool.space/) - **Format:** Web-based blockchain and mempool explorer; self-hostable software - **Source / license:** Open-source — [github.com/mempool](https://github.com/mempool/mempool) - **Hosting model:** Public hosted instance at mempool.space, plus self-hosted deployment on personal nodes; no required account - **Pricing:** Free (Community and Enterprise sponsorships fund development; Enterprise sponsors receive higher API limits and co-branded instances) - **Networks:** Mainnet, Signet, Testnet - **Level:** Introductory → Advanced - **Bitcoin scope:** Bitcoin and its layers (base chain, mempool, mining, Lightning) --- ## What the explorer provides - **Mempool visualization** — the live pool of unconfirmed transactions rendered as projected upcoming blocks, colored by fee rate. The signature view, and the most pedagogically vivid. - **Fee estimation** — recommended fee rates for target confirmation speeds, drawn from live mempool state rather than a static table. - **Block, transaction, and address explorer** — standard lookup of any block, transaction, or address, with input/output detail and confirmation status. - **Mining dashboard** — pool distribution, hashrate and difficulty trends, block rewards and fees, and reward-era context. A quantitative window onto the mining section's concepts. - **Lightning explorer** — node and channel graph, capacity and connectivity statistics for the [Lightning Network](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/the-lightning-network.md). - **Graphs** — historical fee, mempool, and network data for longer-horizon reading. --- ## How to engage this platform **As a live teaching aid.** Point a newcomer at their own pending transaction and let them watch it sit in the mempool and then confirm. Pair the mempool-goggles view with the [fee-market](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/network-capacity-and-fee-market-critiques.md) and [transaction](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/utxo-model-and-bitcoin-transactions.md) notes to ground the theory in observation. **As a self-sovereign tool.** The strongest use is self-hosted: run mempool.space on a personal node ([Umbrel](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/umbrel.md), [Start9](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/start9.md), myNode, RaspiBlitz) so that lookups verify against one's own copy of the chain. This turns a convenience explorer into a trust-minimized one — the practical embodiment of the [verify-don't-trust](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/full-nodes-vs-pruned-vs-spv.md) principle. **As a fee-and-mining reference.** For operational use — timing a transaction, reading pool concentration, checking Lightning connectivity — the mining and Lightning dashboards are quick, current references. --- ## Counter-arguments and tensions **The hosted instance is still a third party.** Using mempool.space in a browser means trusting the hosted server's view of the chain and leaking the addresses and transactions one looks up. The project's own design answer is self-hosting — the tool is built to run on your node precisely so you needn't trust the public instance. A privacy-conscious user should self-host rather than query the public site for their own addresses (see the [chain-analysis](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/address-reuse-and-chain-analysis.md) considerations). **A tool, not a curriculum.** mempool.space shows the chain; it does not explain the monetary case or sequence a learning path. It is the observation layer beneath the concepts, best paired with the notes and courses that supply the framework — it complements a curriculum rather than replacing one. **Depth requires grounding.** The mining and Lightning dashboards assume the reader knows what hashrate, difficulty, or channel capacity mean. Their value scales with prior understanding; a total newcomer gets the mempool-and-confirmation lesson but not yet the quantitative sections. --- ## Where to find this source - **Public instance:** [mempool.space](https://mempool.space/) - **Source code (self-hosting):** [github.com/mempool](https://github.com/mempool/mempool) - **Bundled in node packages:** [Umbrel](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/umbrel.md) · [Start9](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/start9.md) · myNode · RaspiBlitz ### Place in the broader Bitcoin canon - [Running a full node](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/running-a-full-node.md) — the self-sovereign context mempool.space is designed for - [Network capacity and fee-market critiques](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/network-capacity-and-fee-market-critiques.md) — the fee-market dynamics the explorer visualizes - [Educational websites and online resources](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/educational-websites-and-online-resources.md) — this source's sub-MOC (Data, charts, and dashboards / Reference) --- ## Open questions - How many users self-host versus rely on the public instance? The privacy and trust properties differ sharply between the two, and the project's educational value is strongest in the self-hosted mode. - As the fee market and Lightning evolve, does the explorer remain the community-default reference, or do alternatives ([on-chain analytics](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/checkonchain.md) platforms, other explorers) capture specific niches? --- ## Related notes **The self-sovereign context** - [Running a full node](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/running-a-full-node.md) · [Full nodes vs pruned vs SPV](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/full-nodes-vs-pruned-vs-spv.md) · [Node hardware options](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/node-hardware-options.md) · [Connecting wallets to your own node](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/connecting-wallets-to-your-own-node.md) — running your own explorer against your own node - [Umbrel](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/umbrel.md) · [Start9](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/start9.md) — node packages that bundle mempool.space **Concepts the explorer makes observable** - [UTXO model and Bitcoin transactions](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/utxo-model-and-bitcoin-transactions.md) — inputs, outputs, and transaction structure - [Network capacity and fee-market critiques](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/network-capacity-and-fee-market-critiques.md) — the fee market visualized as projected blocks - [Proof of Work](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/proof-of-work.md) — the mining dashboard's difficulty and hashrate context - [The Lightning Network](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/the-lightning-network.md) — the Lightning explorer's node-and-channel graph **Other data and reference resources in §16** - [Checkonchain](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/checkonchain.md) · [On-Chain Mind](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/on-chain-mind.md) — on-chain analytics (interpretive layer above raw chain data) - [Educational websites and online resources](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/educational-websites-and-online-resources.md) — the broader sub-MOC