There was another way to speed up the download of blockchains is to upgrade to SSD and increase ram.
If you put the chainstate-directory on SSD, it already gives a significant performance increase while you can keep the large blockdata on HDD.
More RAM helps a lot too.
If I can remember correctly, LoyceV had compiled a file including datas of this year even. You can download the file and use that
I shared a pruned blockchain, but stopped updating it. The last update was 14 months ago. See
Bitcoin Core pruned blockchain: download it here! (DON'T DO THIS!).
as LoyceV is more than enough trusted
Thanks, but:
You have to trust not only me, but also my VPS and shared hosting too, and I can't make any guarantees about the last 2.
In short: having Bitcoin Core download it's own blocks is by far the recommended method. On a fast computer with fast internet it can be done well within a day.