Author: Pieter Wuille 2015-08-07 17:09:30
Published on: 2015-08-07T17:09:30+00:00
In an email exchange on the bitcoin-dev mailing list, Thomas Zander and Pieter Wuille discussed the incentives for running a full node on the Bitcoin network. Thomas argued that if the incentives don't outweigh the cost or difficulty of running a node, there is a problem with the system. He believed that as Bitcoin's primary advantage over other systems is its lack of need for trust, increased adoption should lead to greater incentives for people to run full nodes. However, he observed the opposite trend and found it worrying. Pieter agreed that running a node is crucial in keeping Bitcoin secure and immune from malicious influence. While not everyone needs to run a node, the community has a responsibility to make it easy enough for those who want to. He believed that the block size is the primary way to achieve this goal and suggested that joint incentives should exist among users to keep the system secure. Overall, the email exchange highlighted the importance of full nodes in the Bitcoin ecosystem and the need for the community to ensure their accessibility.
Updated on: 2023-05-19T21:18:59.925729+00:00