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I'll copy a response I left below: The value of full nodes is widely understood by bitcoin contributors [0][1][2]. Increasing the block size directly increases

by hudon 9y ago

I'll copy a response I left below: The value of full nodes is widely understood by bitcoin contributors [0][1][2]. Increasing the block size directly increases the amount of resources required to run a full node. Increased bandwidth requirements is especially a problem. It is up to the candidate (s2x), not the incumbent (core) to show that no, it won't be harder to run full nodes, or to show that you can have just as much security by running an SPV node. Because the candidate has failed to back up their proposal with evidence that security is not harmed, the proposal should not move forward. [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinBeginners/comments/3eq3y7/full_node_question/ctk4lnd/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinBeginners/comments/3eq3y7/fu... [1] https://medium.com/@morcos/no2x-full-nodes-889c20100a8d https://medium.com/@morcos/no2x-full-nodes-889c20100a8d [2] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Full_node https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Full_node

xwvvvvwx 9y ago
Why would a full node be more secure than an SPV node? I had understood that SPV nodes store only the merkle root of all the transactions in each block, so as I understand it should be able to verify whether a given transaction is valid or not?
- hudon 9y ago
  Peter Wuille provides one answer to this in the first link I shared: > SPV nodes (such as some mobile clients, and Multibit) place a blind trust in the majority of miners, without checking validity of the blockchain they produce. It still requires a majority of miners to mislead an SPV node, but they can make it believe anything (including "You received 10000000 BTC!"). The reason why this does not happen is because full nodes would not accept such blocks, and assuming a large portion of the ecosystem does rely on full nodes, miners who do this would not see their blocks accepted by the larger economy, resulting in them wasting money. Further, on this page, you can read about security considerations between light clients and full nodes: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Thin_Client_Security https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Thin_Client_Security Basically, a network comprised of only SPV nodes and miners places the SPV nodes at the mercy of the miners. Because of how centralized and state-controlled mining is (see Russia and China), this would be a very easy way for states to attack bitcoin.
  - xwvvvvwx 9y ago
    OK clear now. Thin clients can only verify that a given transaction exists on the chain, but are not able to verify the contents of the transaction itself. Thanks for the links :)

by hudon 9y ago

xwvvvvwx 9y ago

Why would a full node be more secure than an SPV node? I had understood that SPV nodes store only the merkle root of all the transactions in each block, so as I understand it should be able to verify whether a given transaction is valid or not?

hudon 9y ago
Peter Wuille provides one answer to this in the first link I shared: > SPV nodes (such as some mobile clients, and Multibit) place a blind trust in the majority of miners, without checking validity of the blockchain they produce. It still requires a majority of miners to mislead an SPV node, but they can make it believe anything (including "You received 10000000 BTC!"). The reason why this does not happen is because full nodes would not accept such blocks, and assuming a large portion of the ecosystem does rely on full nodes, miners who do this would not see their blocks accepted by the larger economy, resulting in them wasting money. Further, on this page, you can read about security considerations between light clients and full nodes: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Thin_Client_Security https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Thin_Client_Security Basically, a network comprised of only SPV nodes and miners places the SPV nodes at the mercy of the miners. Because of how centralized and state-controlled mining is (see Russia and China), this would be a very easy way for states to attack bitcoin.
- xwvvvvwx 9y ago
  OK clear now. Thin clients can only verify that a given transaction exists on the chain, but are not able to verify the contents of the transaction itself. Thanks for the links :)