Is the bitcoin client going to break the economy?

[jerk_dilution]

Running a node is sort of a pain. It takes days to sync fully, and there doesn't seem to be any way around it.

The beauty of bitcoin was that each user of it was to physically recognize the value and scarcity produced by the blockchain. However, while not yet as dangerous as central banking. There is still some sort of stratification appearing between users who keep there wallet on a personally controlled node, and keep there wallet elsewhere.

In 3 more years, the system may be so complex that the only people who are able to run the client are the ones who have been running for the past 3.

The only clear solution is to put a focus on the value of running a node, and to also ensure that it is more feasible to actually install and use it realistically.

[payb.tc]

In 3 more years, the system may be so complex that the only people who are able to run the client are the ones who have been running for the past 3.

or... people who realise the first 99% of the blockchain can be downloaded via torrent, purchased on BD-R*, etc, and then only use the client to download the remaining 1%

maybe one day, your local library will have up-to-date copies of the blockchain on disc that you can borrow

[John (John K.)]

In 3 more years, the system may be so complex that the only people who are able to run the client are the ones who have been running for the past 3.

or... people who realise the first 99% of the blockchain can be downloaded via torrent, purchased on BD-R*, etc, and then only use the client to download the remaining 1%

maybe one day, your local library will have up-to-date copies of the blockchain on disc that you can borrow

This, or use one of those lightweight clients. You could even just sign your transactions manually with Armory/Bitcoin-QT and pushing the transactions manually over blockchain.info.

[jerk_dilution]

The official torrent still only nets you the first 90%, and the last 90% has taken me 2 days to download. And even then, why all the steps? Why isn't the client a bittorrent client itself, like most p2p media distribution? Surely there's a quicker way to transact this in an integrated solution. And surely you see that running the node instead of a lightweight solution is what really brings alot of beauty to this currency.

[payb.tc]

The official torrent still only nets you the first 90%, and the last 90% has taken me 2 days to download.

hehe with maths like that, i'm not surprised it's taking so long

[Mooshire]

I don't see any problem with this, solutions will come out as it becomes a problem.

[payb.tc]

Why isn't the client a bittorrent client itself, like most p2p media distribution?

definitely room for improvement here... currently the client downloads blocks sequentially whereas bittorrent grabs whatever data it can, regardless of the order.

[gnu]

Using bittorrent to download the block chain is a really interesting idea. I wonder if it'd go faster that way because of all the potential peers to download from... interesting idea.

[payb.tc]

Using bittorrent to download the block chain is a really interesting idea. I wonder if it'd go faster that way because of all the potential peers to download from... interesting idea.

as mentioned above, it's not the number of peers that makes it go faster, it's that it grabs any available data, in any order, and reconstructs all those pieces in the right order once they've been downloaded

the bitcoin client on the other hand, downloads block 1, 2, 3, etc, in that order... if the peer that is sending them block #1000 is slow, that means all blocks #1000+ are delayed

[FirstCitizen]

Is it possible the rise in internet download speeds will happen rapidly enough so that the blockchain takes the same amount of time to download in the future?

Or has historic data already rendered this unlikely?

[DruffDuff]

People are clever. There are plenty of existing solutions, as mentioned here. More solutions will come along as needed.

[Gabi]

Use a lightweight client

[rayvellest]

With so many web-based wallets popping up everywhere, I wonder, will the client even be necessary, and, wouldn't that be a risk to Bitcoin p2p model?

[nfowest]

I think bitcoin users must be concerned about the project. So they should take actions to help to the project, for example switch on a node for sharing the blockchain and enlarge the network, help with the mining task to provide security and reliability to the protocol, talk about the project to friends and look for new uses for the protocol (new services...).
So if you have to have a 500GB hdd, only for alocate the blockchain and mantain the node it will become more and more important for the project that more people take care of.

[Bytas]

In 3 more years, the system may be so complex that the only people who are able to run the client are the ones who have been running for the past 3.

or... people who realise the first 99% of the blockchain can be downloaded via torrent, purchased on BD-R*, etc, and then only use the client to download the remaining 1%

maybe one day, your local library will have up-to-date copies of the blockchain on disc that you can borrow

That would be awesome

[rayvellest]

In 3 more years, the system may be so complex that the only people who are able to run the client are the ones who have been running for the past 3.

or... people who realise the first 99% of the blockchain can be downloaded via torrent, purchased on BD-R*, etc, and then only use the client to download the remaining 1%

maybe one day, your local library will have up-to-date copies of the blockchain on disc that you can borrow

That would be awesome

If that happen Bitcoin would become a centralized form of currency, isn't that what we're all trying to avoid?

[warpio]

I think Litecoin will be a vital part of Bitcoin's growth, as it can take a lot of the stress off BTC's blockchain.