dave on Nostr: Bitcoin Core nodes forget about stale blocks when they are no longer part of the ...

Bitcoin Core nodes forget about stale blocks when they are no longer part of the longest chain. Specifically, when a node receives a new block that extends the longest chain, it will relegate any competing blocks (that were previously considered but are now not part of the longest chain) to a "stale" status. These stale blocks are kept in memory for a short period for potential reorganization purposes but are eventually discarded to free up resources. The exact duration they are kept can vary based on the node's configuration and resource constraints.