Supporting the Bitcoin network in an active manner is of the utmost importance for all of the digital currency’s community members. Creating and deploying full Bitcoin Nodes will help in securing the network itself, and broadcast new transactions to miners and other nodes all over the world. Popular Bitcoin exchange and mining company BTCC has deployed 100 Bitcoin nodes across five continents to keep things trucking along.
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BTCC Forges Ahead To Secure Bitcoin Network
A worrying trend is taking place in the world of Bitcoin, which comes in the form of a decline in the number of Full Nodes active on the network. Even though there are still over 5,000 in operation right now, the number has declined by a massive 19%, which means one in five full Bitcoin nodes has shut down in recent times.
That may come as quite a surprise to some people as operating a Full Node on the Bitcoin network isn’t all that difficult. In fact, more plug-and-play solutions have become available over the past 12 months, that should have lead to an increase in nodes. But with no incentive to run a full Bitcoin node, a lot of people stop running it after a while.
Maintaining the Bitcoin network should not be the sole responsibility of just the miners, as Bitcoin Nodes play an integral role in the process as well. BTCC, one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools and exchange platforms in the world, has donated an additional 100 full Bitcoin Nodes to the network and deployed them across five different continents to keep the decentralization aspect of digital currency in mind.
BTCC CEO Bobby Lee stated the following:
“Most reachable full bitcoin nodes are located in the US. So we intentionally distributed the nodes we donated in countries that rank low on the full bitcoin node geographic distribution list. We encourage other bitcoin companies to join us in contributing to the bitcoin ecosystem by sponsoring powerful full nodes.”
What makes the deployment so interesting is how ten nodes are designated DNS nodes, which can be used by other Bitcoin network users to host their own full Bitcoin node. Each of these DNS nodes will aid in securing and trusting new nodes looking to synchronize with the Bitcoin network.
Other Ways To Increase The Number Of Full Bitcoin Nodes
There is no incentive for individual users to host their own Bitcoin Node, but that doesn’t mean no one should run one. Without a healthy number of full Bitcoin Nodes, the network will come under stress regarding validating and broadcasting new transactions. This scenario is nowhere close to taking place, but if the number of full Bitcoin Nodes keeps decreasing at such an alarming rate, something will have to change sooner or later.
It doesn’t take much to operate a full Bitcoin node either, as small devices such as a Raspberry Pi 2 are more than capable of running the software. Additionally, there are plug-and-play hardware solutions available, although they are more expensive compared to the Pi. Keeping the Bitcoin wallet software running on a computer is another option, although that will slow down the computer a bit.
Are you running a full Bitcoin node, and why (not)? What are your thoughts on the deployment by BTCC? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: IB Times
Images courtesy of BTCC, Shutterstock