Been reading up on Bitcoin nodes and wanna run one myself, but downloading 500 GB of blockchain is tough with my internet speed. I know there are around 75k active nodes, but what if all those operators just decided to turn them off? Sounds a bit extreme but nothing's impossible right?
What If All Bitcoin Nodes Shut Down?
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Honestly, I doubt all nodes could go offline at once. That would mean the world is ending or something. If all 75k nodes went down, Bitcoin would basically crash to zero. It's like erasing it from existence.
Gotta say, that scenario seems impossible. No nodes mean no Bitcoin network. And don’t forget, miners are also full nodes.
So if the nodes shut down, all transactions pause? How does that hit the price?
If you really want to run a node, you don't have to download the whole thing. Pruned nodes let you save space by not storing every block. Current blockchain size is over 650 GB, so yeah, that’s more than your 500 GB.
A few days ago, someone asked a similar thing here. Check out what people said about mining and node issues.
real_tokenFull Member
Posts: 3 · Reputation: 645
#7May 3, 2019, 05:42 PM
Bitcoin is about freedom, right? If all nodes shut down, it’s because the community wanted it. If not, I can set up my own node and so can you. As long as there are Bitcoin believers, Bitcoin will survive.
chris.novaMember
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#8May 4, 2019, 12:00 AM
With a pruned node, still gotta sync with the blockchain and download all the blocks first. Internet speed is the real issue, not space.
If all nodes go down, Bitcoin goes down too. Miners are node operators too. No miners means no new Bitcoin. Nodes verify transactions, super vital for the network.
Let’s be real, the odds of all nodes failing is almost zero. If that happens, the Bitcoin network just stops existing. Nodes are computers that share data, and they follow protocols to keep everything legit.
In a decentralized network, if you can’t do it, there are plenty who can. If your internet's slow, 75k others have probably downloaded the blockchain just fine. Same with mining you might not invest in the gear, but others do. That’s why decentralization is awesome.
ben.matrixNewbie
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#12May 4, 2019, 09:59 AM
There are full nodes and pruned nodes. You’re talking about a full node which downloads the whole blockchain. Luckily, there are pruned nodes you can customize based on your storage needs.