I'm about to download Bitcoin Core, but I've got a few questions and some confusion first.
So I found info from the official site that it’s gonna need 600 GB of space, but my PC can’t handle that much. I read something about enabling pruning, but I’m not really sure how to go about it.
Here’s my setup:
Bitcoin Client Version: Bitcoin Core 27.0
OS: Windows 11 64-bit
Specs: 3.60 GHz AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with 16 GB RAM and only 60 GB left on my SSD.
Now for my questions:
1. How can I enable pruning?
2. Do I really need to run a full node?
3. What advantages do I get from running a full node?
You either have to edit your bitcoin.conf file and add the line prune=<Number of Mb> or start bitcoind with the parameter --prune=<Number of Mb>. In windows, you could probably make a shortcut to your bitcoind.exe or your bitcoin-qt.exe, edit said shortcut and add -prune=<Number of Mb> to the command line itself, then use said shortcut to start your daemon or gui... Afterwards, you could look in the directory structure that was generated for the bitcoin.conf file and add the prune=<Number of Mb> to said file, so you cannot start your client without pruning by mistake.
Do realise a pruned node will still download all blocks, but it will prune those blocks after they've been parsed, so they don't occupy all that much space on your disk.
The upside of running your own node is that you've verified every block yourself, all the way to the first (genesis) block. By running a node you're also part of the decentralisation of the network. Oh yeah, one more big upside is that you're able to increase your privacy if you set everything up right.
The biggest downside (in my opinion) of running a pruned node is that you should not import other keys/addresses. If your node is forced to rescan the blockchain, it has to download every block again, since a pruned node removed most blocks after parsing.
Personally, i'd probably advice you to just buy a bigger disk to store everything (if feasible offcourse)... A 1Tb disk is pretty cheap nowadays.
Ps: you don't have to wait to long to check if pruning was enabled correctly, just look at your debug.log file in a file editor, it should mention the fact that Pruning was enabled.
Actually it's always better to run a full node if you can, since you are not going to be depending on a third party to verify a block and as mocacinno said it improve decentralisation of the Bitcoin network.
Also this thread will be helpful to you Questions about pruned nodes.
Are you using the bitcoin-qt with GUI . If yes you can just do this on the GUI
✔️ check the prune block storage to your desire with a minimum of 2GB (also by default)
If not you can also set it using the bitcoin.conf just as it's been mentioned
Not really but if you have the storage you can just run you full node to save you from redownloading the blockchain again when you encounter Error like this
The first time you open Bitcoin Core, it'll display a "Welcome Screen", there you can set both prune settings and the custom data directory.
Those setting will be applied to Bitcoin-qt (GUI) which the 'pruned block storage' option can be edited later in its settings.
Bitcoind (daemon) will use the default datadir or the datadir settings in your bitcoin.conf file or command line arg.
Be advised that even with the lowest possible prune value of 550MiB, your Bitcoin data directory will still take at least 12GB of storage due to other data specially the UTXO-set which is now larger than 10GB.
So take that size in consideration when deciding on your prune block storage setting.
Decentralization is subjective, since you're only having a small portion of the blocks, you are not contributing that much to the network and just marginally. People won't exactly be able to rely on you for IBD for example, though they can still get whatever you've got on the disk. Privacy wise, it would require quite a bit more than running a pruned node and using it. Further setup is required.
You can import keys and addresses without triggering rescan. Afterwards, you can just rescan a portion of the blockchain and it won't require a reindex.
2) No. Most people can do with a SPV node, if they're okay with sacrificing a bit of security and privacy. In fact, SPV clients are safe and secure for everyday use and if you can't run a full node, you can consider running an SPV wallet like Electrum.
3) You can validate every block and have a bit more privacy than SPV clients. It's a tradeoff but you would have to spend more time validating and more storage as well.
Pruned nodes are also full nodes.
This is best answer since it seems OP haven't run Bitcoin Core yet. And for reference, here's example screenshot of the welcome screen.
The apperance would be slightly different since i use Linux, while OP use Windows. And take note you'll need almost extra 12GB of free storage space to store folder called "chainstate", which is necessary to run prune node.
IMO it's up to debate. Although it's more important to state that pruned node doesn't depend on third party (aside from Bitcoin Core developer).
It is not really up for debate. Full nodes are by definition nodes that fully validates the network rules, this was established years ago when it is compared against simplified verification wallets, aka. SPV wallets. Ideally, you don't have to trust anyone, not even the developers because you can read the code and see what goes on during the validation, and the usage of the wallet.
IMV I think OP already download and maybe skipped the prune part while installing
Just saw this
But incase OP already download
With this
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And if true uninstalling and redownloading won't prompt the pruning again i think [correct me if I'm wrong please]
It's good that you learned somehow and came to Bitcoincore.org website to download Bitcoin Core. Bitcoin is a decentralized project and its source code can be stored on many websites. Download it from Bitcoincore.org is good but you need to verify the downloaded file before using it.
You can see their guides there https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/
If you skipped it, now it's time for reading.
It's easy and I recall that Bitcoin Core software will give you a default setting for prune node when you install the wallet software the first time.
It's easy but you need to have enough disk space, RAM and your processor.
Many questions and technical answers are there.
Pros and Cons of Bitcoin Node types (Full node and Prune node)
I have got answers to my 3 questions from the above discussion. Now my confusion is completely clear. Now I am confident to download and install Bitcoin Core. Thanks, everyone for helping me with the information. Since I got the answer I am closing my thread to keep the forum clean. If I face any problem with Bitcoin Core in the future I will unlock this thread and will ask for help again.