Can Blockchain Size Ever Be Too Big?

So, are there any limits on how big block files can get? I mean, like, they store multiple blocks in those.dat files. Can it keep validating more and more files forever or is there a point where it just stops working?

Honestly, I wouldn’t stress about it much. The blockchain is built to handle massive amounts of data. We’re probably decades away from hitting any limits. By the time that happens, tech will have advanced so much that we won’t even notice.

Yeah, it's more of a filesystem issue than a blockchain issue. The blocks are already split up into smaller files. As for volume size, most filesystems can handle tons of data, like exabytes and stuff. You could just link files across different drives if needed.

Every SHA-256 hash call can max out at about 2^64-1 bits. So there's a limit there, sure.

I remember back in the day, DOS and early Windows had much smaller limits. But look how far we’ve come. By the time Bitcoin hits any size limit, our operating systems will have evolved to handle way more files and data.

I think there is a theoretical limit based on some physics stuff, like the Bekenstein bound, related to black holes. No tech we can imagine can handle a size beyond that.

Just a heads up, even older systems might get updates to allow more storage. So, no need to freak out about BTC being stuck on older filesystems. It’s still a topic worth considering.

Imagine if we treated filesystem updates like Bitcoin updates. We'd still be stuck with 4GB max sizes like FAT32!

Anyone tested symlinks on Linux? Like, if I run out of file numbers in a folder, can I just link it to another one? Would Bitcoin Core need to know where those links are?

If you can't trust your setup, then what can you trust? Think about going beyond x86 or even switching to libreboot. But honestly, Windows might be a bigger threat than Intel ME.

Bitcoin clients can use any format for blockchain info. They mainly store unspent outputs and there’s a limit to that since there’s only so many bitcoins. If the blockchain gets super big, we could spread it out over multiple drives.

Actually, you can create zero satoshis, so the number of blocks is practically infinite. You can have a huge chain that doesn't take much space at all. The limit is more about the message size in SHA-256.

Big files can slow down a system, but it won’t just crash. There’s no set number for how many.blk files can be created, it will keep adding. But honestly, Bitcoin was built to manage large files, so I wouldn’t sweat it. And don’t forget about Pruning, it helps with old data.