Could a New Genesis Block Happen?

I've been trying to keep up with the blockchain, and it's just so massive now. Kind of frustrating to run a full node. What if there was an "Armageddon"? Like a huge block that resets everything to a new Genesis block with all balances without the history. Might not be terrible, depending on who you ask.

The Bitcoin community probably won't go for that. Technically, you'd hit some snags too. Like, certain outputs don’t even have addresses. Ever check on a block explorer? Sometimes it just shows junk info or errors. But if you somehow save all UTXOs, it might actually be possible.

If running a full node is too much hassle, you could go for a pruned node instead. But come on, having to trust others kinda defeats the point of Bitcoin. The whole idea is to verify everything yourself, not just rely on some big block. Plus, you could look at other ways to clean up the blockchain too.

There's already a thread about this here by LoyceV; you can find all Bitcoin addresses with a balance. But without the transaction data, it's not really a full node. You could always print data to save space and still help decentralization.

You've been around since 2011? Just download 1-2 GB weekly to stay updated. You could create your own version of Bitcoin Core that does this, but I doubt many people would want to run it. Your blocks would be off from the rest of the network. If you don’t wanna download everything, just use Electrum.

Yeah, but that still means downloading the full blockchain first. And with a pruned node, if you need an old address, you’re kinda outta luck because the history isn't there, right? What I meant was to have an Armageddon block that’s just another block, not a clean break.

What you might be looking for are UTXO snapshots. Those could help a ton.

Totally doable, honestly. I don’t see why nobody has even tried a draft in Bitcoin Core. Just gotta pick a good starting block height, maybe something around 900,000. Seems reasonable.

No need for that, really. I haven't tried it, but Lopp's idea looks easy enough to get going.

The blockchain is under 1 TB, costs around $150 to maintain a node. That's chump change compared to what you're dealing with in crypto. If storage is a problem, just go with a pruned node.

Home hardware can keep up with blockchain growth pretty easily. With a decent SSD, you should be fine for years. It's not really the hardware that’s a biggie. But if you keep things updated, running a node isn’t an issue.

Honestly, I'm more worried about RAM over storage. Back when Bitcoin launched, RAM was doubling almost every year. Now I'm stuck on 16 GB just like I was a decade back. Most laptops can’t handle that. Chainstate is getting bigger, and syncing is painful.

If you trust someone else, you can always grab a pruned Bitcoin Core folder. There are groups that provide this. They even call it "Fast sync". But trusting someone when RAM is already tight? That's a bad combo.

If people want it, I could bring back my pruned Bitcoin Core: just download it here! (DON'T DO THIS!) Way easier to just use Electrum if you don’t want a huge download.

Honestly, my 10+ year old PC with decent specs can go from zero to fully running node in less than a week. These older PCs are being tossed out, so I just picked one up. It’s not frustrating for me at all.

Beyond AssumeUTXO, there’s another tech being developed that could eliminate the need for this "Armageddon" thing altogether: ZeroSync. This wouldn’t require trusting a snapshot either. It lets you sync in seconds using Zero Knowledge Proofs from the genesis block.

Pruning at first looks like a fix, but it still means downloading the whole blockchain before you toss blocks. So it doesn’t take away the initial burden. LoyceV has a solid point with UTXO snapshots as a better option. You can choose to verify the full history later on.

Just to clarify, I’m not talking about erasing history for everyone. Why would it weaken long-term value? If an address has balance, it shows in the Armageddon block. Everything would still be intact.

From an accounting point of view, freezing all balances doesn’t mean any satoshis vanish. Problem isn't the satoshis existing; it's ensuring they weren't created or spent improperly. We trust Bitcoin because we can verify every single transaction since Genesis.