Bitcoin Forum

I recently noticed that Bitcoin Core allows you to download the entire block, or just the last blocks - allocating just one x GB for that purpose.

Of course, having the complete number is always better. But, to have only the final part of the no, is it viable for the person to obtain the same confidentiality or privacy?

In most cases you do not need all of it. A lot depends on the case use.

If I want a wallet to receive my signature funds. I do not need to know more than the last month of the blockchain.

Myself when I do a bitcode core down load I do it all.

I just did one on a 2tb ssd along with a linux os build.

So is there any kind of advantage to having the full node?


But, everything together isn't taking up 2TB, is it? You are already preventing the future, right?

Many advantages, one is that you get to import a new key on the wallet, but if it is half node I think you cannot run another wallet (imported key) on it. Because an importing a wallet will need transaction history of that wallet and it might be that the few blocks there will not have all of them available.

In other words, it will only be useful for the wallet you currently have or that you create after having part of the node assembled. It even makes sense. If it is something older, it can no longer obtain all the transaction information.

But, if you think about it, the same thing will happen in a new wallet, if it only has part of the knot. Older transactions are no longer listed in the wallet. Or am I wrong?

Yeah, you know the pruned node will only have just few 100 blocks, so transaction below that few 100 blocks associated to the key will need to be updated and this can be done by downloading everything again. So if you’re just going to use a new created wallet after that hundreds it will be possible. Not much other than not having the benefit of sync the full blockchain

But the other part is you using a pruned node means you’re trusting a third party

In terms of privacy, yes it has the same level of confidentiality and privacy as a non-pruned node.
Both non-pruned and pruned node start to download and verify from block height 0, the only difference is how those store the blockchain.
One keeps full and the other deletes the old blocks.

Even if pruned node only saves N number of blocks, it still verified ALL the previous blocks that it downloaded (and deleted).
It doesn't just download them from a server nor work like an "SPV client" that relies on other persons' full node.

I understand. In this sense, if the person has this space availability, it is recommended to have the complete node. If you really want to operate a node, of course.

In fact, if a person also wants to have an LN channel, they need the full node, right?

The main advantage I see is being able to open an old wallet, or import an old address (watch-only) or private key.

It's about 550 GB now, and usually grows by around 2 GB per week.

I'd like to add: for privacy, run Bitcoin Core through Tor, and always make use of Coin Control.

Any good tutorials for this? Run Bitcoin Core via Tor?
Or just click on the option that appears in Bitcoin Core?

Is it viable to use a VPN system that allows SOCKS5?

If you only want Bitcoin Core connect through Tor, you can just tick option which available on Bitcoin Core GUI. Otherwise, check this guide https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/tor.md (https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/tor.md).


Did you mistype something? Pruned node download and verify whole blockchain, so it doesn't trust any 3rd party.

Mixed up by me, only with SPV clients that one needs to full rely on other full nodes. And since it’s a third party then it is a risk trusting them. Definitely off topic on the discussion of prune nodes

There are several topics about it, for instance this one (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5398858.0) and this one (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5357339.0). I'd like to see a full tutorial.

I'm confused :P I expected this to require installing additional software.

Bitcoin Core will just work with any normal VPN service (but that's not Tor).

Actually, I was hoping.  :P
I mean, do you need to have Tor installed on your PC or not?

By any chance, I have VPN that gives me onion IP. Would it be an option?

Questions, to understand the various possibilities that exist.  ;)

Seriously?
I have been using NordVPN which has the ability to connect to an onion server. I've already managed to access onion addresses, in Chrome.

Size of the Bitcoin blockchain from January 2009 to August 21, 2023 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/647523/worldwide-bitcoin-blockchain-size/)
Bitcoin blockchain data size increases when new blocks added to Bitcoin blockchain and 2TB is a safe reserved space for many more years because each year, blockchain size increases about 50 GB.

Currently, the Bitcoin chain size (https://bitcoinvisuals.com/chain-size) is nearly 520 GB.
On 13 October 2022, chain size is 432 GB and today it is about 518 GB.

With prune node, you can not rescan your wallet because your wallet in prune node does not store the complete blockchain so you have to redownload it again.
Bitcoin blockchain pruning (https://coinguides.org/bitcoin-blockchain-pruning/)
Block file pruning (https://bitcoin.org/en/release/v0.11.0#block-file-pruning)

But connect to/access onion address and giving onion address (also called Tor Hidden service) are two different thing though. I briefly read NordVPN's page about Tor/onion, but there's no indication they setup Tor Hidden service for their VPN users. And FWIW, accessing onion address without Tor Browser offer less privacy since your browser have unique fingerprint.

At the risk of being slightly off-topic: I wouldn't use .onion sites on a normal browser through a third party. It has none of the benefits and all of the drawbacks of using Tor. Just Download Tor Browser (https://www.torproject.org/download/) for this.

Plus around 33 CB of testnet data if you are used ( like me) to fiddle with bitcoin transactions  using testcoins first before trying the real things on mainnet. My 1 TB NTFS formatted external SSD used exclusively to hold full blockchains from both mainnet and testnet has only ~ 367 GB left to be full , so probably in half of year I will think about acquiring new SSD drive with capacity of 2 TB. Luckily the price for such drives are steadily dropping.  

No rush: you have about 3 years left before it's full.

Not generating much offtopic, I just used this NordVPN function for testing purposes.

Now, in the case of Bitcoin Core, the IP that appears in the Tor connection option is already the same as the one used by the Tor browser, is that it?

Do you mean 127.0.0.1? That's localhost, your own computer.

yeah unless we go with a lot of ordinals  but right now good ssd's are cheap.


https://www.newegg.com/samsung-t7-shield-2tb/p/N82E16820147838

I was liking external Samsung's for my Mac mini's but apple went and fucked up the Mac mini's with the m1 and m2 chips.

My refurbed Asus linux laptop is happy with the 2tb crucial I got for only 85 bucks with tax.

It will last a while before it is filled.

Well... So what is the IP that is placed in this field? Do I have to install Tor?

Sorry for the questions, I'm not a Tor expert.  :-X

Yes first of all you have to install Tor.
After that go to the settings/configurations on Bitcoin Core where you found ur localhost ip. Depending on ur setup of the tor service you have to add the port. Usually its '9050' with the default configuration.

What you are simply doing:
When you put ur localhost ip (127.0.0.1) in the IP-field you are telling Bitcoin Core to connect to the Tor-service that is running on ur system.

To add: for using the Tor browser, you don't need to install a separate Tor client. It's all included in the browser. Just like Unstoppable Wallet on Android has everything it needs to connect through Tor already.
I guess Bitcoin Core sticks to the basics, and doesn't add anything that can be handled outside Bitcoin Core. That makes sense, it's just more work.

That works, although there are few things to note,
1. The port opened by Tor Browser is 9150, not 9050. I don't remember whether mobile version have same behavior though.
2. Make sure Tor Browser already opened and connected.
3. For mobile device, you also can use Orbot.

Speaking of mobile versions, is there the possibility of setting up a Bitcoin node on a mobile device (Android/iOS)?

Which OS do you prefer? For iOS you could use 'Fully Noded' from the app-store. (https://github.com/Fonta1n3/FullyNoded/ (https://github.com/Fonta1n3/FullyNoded/))
This app is a bitcoin wallet which is completely powered by ur own node via tor. But its not a full node by itself, it 'just' interfaces with ur own personal node. Not sure if you are looking for thus.

Even though mobile devices are getting more and more memory and power, you simply can't compare it to a desktop or a server running a node, especially in terms of capacity, processing power or the connectivity to the network which are all important things for running a node successfully.

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I just checked again to see if there might be an option on Android devices. In fact, there should be project ABCore (https://github.com/greenaddress/abcore (https://github.com/greenaddress/abcore)), which allows you to run a full node on an Android device. But I have zero knowledge with this system - might be worth to look into dat.

There's even one in the Play Store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.lndroid.bitcoincore&hl=en&gl=US), but reviews aren't promising.

I don't really see the point of doing this. It's much better to connect a mobile wallet to your own node. Or even it's default node. I wouldn't want 550 GB on my mobile, even if it has enough storage, bandwidth and processing power.

Unless the person uses an old cell phone, with an SD card to store the node.

But, I asked out of curiosity, because I agree that a node should be installed on a desktop or server.

Out of curiosity a lot is possible :P You can install a Linux shell on your phone, and start from there. Compile it from source.
I wouldn't use a very old phone, you're going to need enough RAM. I'd say give it a few years, storage capacity increases faster than the blockchain size.

I'd absolutely avoid running a pruned node if I'd have been running a business. If you go pruned, you should expect that Bitcoin database might corrupt and you'll have to re-index. While it is trivial to do that with a non-pruned node, you'd need to request downloading every single block all over again in pruned mode. It is also useful for a business to be flexible with the blockchain, with stuff such as lightning nodes and block explorers, which are designed to work on non-pruned nodes.