By running Bitcoin Core anyone with a modest computer set-up and competence can become a Node on the Bitcoin’ network, helping fulfill the important functions, as well as providing a bridge to those that want to build services to expand the ecosystem and user adoption.
It is an open source piece of software maintained and developed by a voluntary team which is known, confusingly, by the same name – Bitcoin Core.
It is written in C++ and can be downloaded for free from Bitcoin.org. It will take several days to synchronise as it includes a copy of the ledger of transactions, known as the Bitcoin Blockchain.
The full Bitcoin Blockchain is currently over 350 GB but once the download is complete – known as Initial Blockchain Downloading (IBD) – you can start playing a direct role in supporting the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Running a Full Node means maintaining a constantly updating record of the ledger of bitcoin transactions, known as the Bitcoin blockchain. This means there is a significant bandwidth requirement for running a Full Node.
- A full node is responsible for inspecting the authenticity of each digital signature before adding a new block to the blockchain.
- A full node has the authority to reject transactions or blocks that don’t follow the protocol.
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