What Is a ‘Mempool’ in the Context of Transaction Validation?

A mempool, short for memory pool, is a collection of all unconfirmed transactions waiting to be included in a new block on a blockchain. Every full node maintains its own version of the mempool.

When a new transaction is broadcast, it first enters the mempool. Miners select transactions from this pool, typically prioritizing those with higher transaction fees, to assemble the next block.

It acts as a staging area before permanent inclusion on the distributed ledger.