diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index db36b34..04ffd4b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ metals.sbt
 .idea/*
 graphsense-spark.jar
 test_ref
+.vscode/
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ea537d3..2d667fb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
+## [24.11.1] 2024-12-06
+### Fixed
+- block difficulty and total difficulty can now be null
+
 ## [24.11.0] 2024-11-14
 ### Changed
 - Upgrade to Spark 3.5.3
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b725b6e..c12a4f4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-RELEASE := 'v24.11.0'
+RELEASE := 'v24.11.1'
 # RELEASESEM := 'v1.6.2'
 
 all: format lint build
-	
+
 # -v graphsense-spark-temp-volume:/tmp/spark:z 
 RUNTRANSFORM=sh -c '\
   docker run --rm \
diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/graphsense/account/Model.scala b/src/main/scala/org/graphsense/account/Model.scala
index f67c7b4..6a46df7 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/graphsense/account/Model.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/graphsense/account/Model.scala
@@ -134,8 +134,8 @@ case class Block(
     stateRoot: Array[Byte],
     receiptsRoot: Array[Byte],
     miner: Array[Byte],
-    difficulty: BigInt,
-    totalDifficulty: BigInt,
+    difficulty: Option[BigInt],
+    totalDifficulty: Option[BigInt],
     size: Int,
     extraData: Array[Byte],
     gasLimit: Int,