Pruned Archive of the Bitcoin Blockchain

[nasipecelbuyas]

A pruned archive of the Bitcoin blockchain is now available for download on GitHub

Key Details:
A lightweight version of the Bitcoin blockchain, retaining essential data while significantly reducing size.
Useful for research, development, or education without requiring full blockchain storage.
Download:
Access the archive here: GitHub Release

https://github.com/arvinega/bitcoin-blockchain/releases/tag/Bitcoin

Feel free to explore, and let us know if you have any questions or feedback.

[hd49728]

A pruned archive of the Bitcoin blockchain is now available for download on GitHub

Download the blockchain from any source is not good, that's reason if you run a Bitcoin node, either full node or prune node, you must do the Initial Blockchain Download IBD.

Bitcoin Core pruned blockchain: download it here! (DON'T DO THIS!)
theymos adviced don't do this, on Reddit years ago too.

If you don't want to do IBD, you can choose SPV wallet like Electrum wallet.

This is massively insecure. Bitcoin Core trusts its block database files absolutely. /u/nullc has said that it is not particularly unlikely that a maliciously-modified block database could be used for arbitrary code execution. And even if that's not possible, all sorts of more obvious evil could be done, such as allowing the provider of the block database to create a special killswitch transaction which forks everyone who used his block database, or having everyone who used his block database think that he actually owns 22 million BTC.

Nobody should ever receive block database files from untrusted sources.

Also see: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory#Transferability

[NotATether]

This is not recommended at all.

The only use case I see this making sense is if you have to debug your crypto application and it needs a Bitcoin node, and you can't download 600GB of data. But even those generally  require a full node, and maybe the txindex switch (which is incompatible with pruning). And there are public Bitcoin nodes with their RPC ports exposed for this purpose.

Or maybe if you want to run a Lightning client, but even that can be done by toggling 'neutrino mode' in lnd's config file without running your own node.

[ABCbits]

This is not recommended at all.

The only use case I see this making sense is if you have to debug your crypto application and it needs a Bitcoin node, and you can't download 600GB of data. But even those generally  require a full node, and maybe the txindex switch (which is incompatible with pruning). And there are public Bitcoin nodes with their RPC ports exposed for this purpose.

Or maybe if you want to run a Lightning client, but even that can be done by toggling 'neutrino mode' in lnd's config file without running your own node.

Even on such use-case, you better use UTXO snapshot feature instead[1]. It's compatible with pruned node and Bitcoin Core do some kind of verification, rather than blindly trust the file.

[1] https://blog.lopp.net/bitcoin-node-sync-with-utxo-snapshots/

[nasipecelbuyas]

Thanks for the feedback and points raised.

To clarify:

The version of the blockchain I posted is based on previous releases from https://github.com/Blockchains-Download/Bitcoin/releases, which no longer provides blockchain downloads.
I understand the risks of using pruned archives, but the intent behind this release is for educational and experimental purposes. If you're planning to use it, it's meant to demonstrate blockchain transferability, not for production use.
While it's risky to download from untrusted sources, you can use the UTXO snapshot method (thanks to ABCbits) .

For safety reasons, if you choose to use my archive, you can sync Bitcoin Core starting after the block height provided in my release. This ensures that you don't need to rely entirely on my archive's blocks, as Bitcoin Core will verify all subsequent blocks during synchronization. This approach minimizes potential risks while allowing you to safely send and receive transactions.

Thanks again for the discussion and insights!

[ranochigo]

For safety reasons, if you choose to use my archive, you can sync Bitcoin Core starting after the block height provided in my release. This ensures that you don't need to rely entirely on my archive's blocks, as Bitcoin Core will verify all subsequent blocks during synchronization. This approach minimizes potential risks while allowing you to safely send and receive transactions.

You still need to rely on your archive's blocks; subsequent Bitcoin blocks are still dependent on your blocks. Core assumes all of the blocks that you provide are valid and there is no way to validate these. These are key attack vectors in practice and it's fair to be cautious.

Good that you're saying that it's not for production use. However, strongly advise against using, anyone using this should still be cautious when handling the files, should not be using it with any funds and just use SPV clients as recommended. Pruned files are not of much use anyways.

[ABCbits]

I'll raise my distrust.
1. I think OP use AI-generated text on both his thread and post.
2. I doubt OP is owner of that GitHub repository, when username on GitHub and Bitcointalk sound very different.
3. I doubt OP is owner of that GitHub repository, when GitHub repository created 3 weeks ago but only share about it yesterday.

I hope anyone who read my post won't blindly give merit to newbie/new account.

To clarify:

The version of the blockchain I posted is based on previous releases from https://github.com/Blockchains-Download/Bitcoin/releases, which no longer provides blockchain downloads.

When i write this post, that link still provide download for Bitcoin Core data.