What role does a Bitcoin Full Node play

What you’ll learn

1. Bitcoin functions & participants
2. Running a Full Node
3. Storing the Blockchain
4. Routing Transactions

In the previous article in this section we looked at an overview of the architecture of Bitcoin as a decentralised monetary system running across a peer-to-peer network. Keeping things high-level, we split the architecture into two broad components. The rules that define how Bitcoin works as a monetary system, delivered as a piece of software and a hierarchy of network participants who run it.

In this article we’ll flesh out more details of the essential system functions and then look at the first of the network participants – a Full Node. Full Nodes play a crucial role in fulfilling Bitcoin’s core functions and enabling others to connect to the network.