Bitcoin Forum

Is it possible?

I read this article (http://cointelegraph.com/news/115311/could-full-node-incentive-help-solve-the-blocksize-debate) about DASH which also claimed that the number of full nodes on the Bitcoin almost halved in a year. This data is really alarming.

So my question is is node incentivization for bitcoin possible and are there any incentives programs going?

The block reward is a node incentivization.

The block reward is an incentive to contribute hash power.  Running a node is secondary to this and an after thought for many, or not even a consideration for some.  Lots of people (maybe the majority of miners?) buy an asic miner and connect it to a pool and don't run their own node but still get block rewards. 

I am guessing that the majority of the nodes on the network are actually getting no block rewards at all and get no direct rewards, but instead are there because people want their own node to make transactions from, or they own a lot of Bitcoin and want to protect their investment so they contribute to the network. 

i think the op is talking about full node only not miners, there is no incentive to run one

So far the only incentive is the warm feeling of helping the bitcoin network. I'm not sure we will have too much trouble though.

No there is no direct incentive to run a node, only an indirect incentive that your Bitcoin stash will be safer if you are running a full node and helping a network.

I don't think we will have any problems concerning nodes. Even Satoshi has envisioned that almost all the people will run lots SVP clients, while only big data centers will run full nodes.

If you are using an SPV client, you have to rely on someone else's node to know if you've received a transaction.  The incentive for those running a node is that they don't have to rely on others.  Anyone using Bitcoin is probably a fan of the "be your own bank" ethos, but you're only technically doing that if you're running a full node and validating the blockchain yourself.  Plus the part where it helps secure the network.  Additionally, it gives you a say in how the network is run depending on the software you elect to use. 

That is true, running your own node guarantees you that you're getting correct information.

There isn't any inventive that is built into the protocol to reward the nodes. There is however, a third-party inventive program (https://getaddr.bitnodes.io/nodes/incentive/). I believe that it isn't the problem of the nodes, there is a good amount of nodes but the decentralisation is not there. Most people aren't running Bitcoin Core with port forward at their home but at datacenter, meaning that the nodes would be concentrated at one location and IP block. If let's say a natural disaster, the nearly the entire country of nodes would be down.

So far there is no incentive to maintain a full node (not the same as a miner). But if over the next years the number of full nodes drops exponentially there will be a need to add an incentive for those maintaining full nodes.