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Initial sync up of a full node doesn't need all 300 GB of chain history to be downloaded/validated. A pruned state can be downloaded with no more trust assumpt
by CryptoPunk 6y ago
Initial sync up of a full node doesn't need all 300 GB of chain history to be downloaded/validated.
A pruned state can be downloaded with no more trust assumptions than that required to trust the software distribution channel where you download the Bitcoin software from to actually serve Bitcoin.
Anyway, every one in the world doesn't need to run a full node. Even a few thousand geographically distributed full nodes is enough to offer resistance to network shut down, and there are more than a few million people that are capable of running a full node of a hypothetical Bitcoin with 1 GB sized blocks, which only requires downloading 1.67 MB/s of transactions to keep up with validation. That's a 1000 expansion of Bitcoin's throughput, letting Bitcoin become the world's most widely used currency.
The entire small block narrative is built on a shaky foundation that ignores the massive benefits of enabling more people to transact directly on the Bitcoin blockchain.
- tromp 6y ago> A pruned state can be downloaded with no more trust assumptions than that required to trust the software distribution channel where you download the Bitcoin software from to actually serve Bitcoin. Nonsense. Bitcoin software releases come with widely publicized checksums and signatures from reputable sources.
- dane-pgp 6y agoCouldn't those reputable sources also provide widely publicized checksums and signatures for a pruned blockchain state?
- tromp 6y agoThe pruned blockchain state changes every block. More importantly, Bitcoin is ideologically opposed to the idea of checkpoints, as they run counter to the Longest Chain Rule that says the true state is whatever valid chain has the most cumulative work. Even if that chain is the result of a very deep reorg that invalidates the last checkpoint.
- CryptoPunk 6y agoI am only including those "widely publicized checksums and signatures from reputable sources" in my definition of "software distribution channel".