Written By
Ted Stevenot
By running your own node, you contribute to enforcing bitcoin’s ruleset, which is good for both you and the bitcoin network.
Enforcing the ruleset also helps protect your investment in bitcoin. Arguably, the most important rule impacting bitcoin’s value is the limit on its total supply, expressed as an equation and embedded in the bitcoin code.
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By running your own node and connecting a bitcoin wallet to it, you can verify inbound transactions yourself.
Though the risk is small, when you use a light wallet, your ability to perform verification is limited and you’re trusting the node(s) it’s connected to.
Running your own node and connecting a wallet adds to your privacy because it enables you to query, transmit, and verify your own transactions.
Conversely, when you rely on a light wallet, the servers and nodes you’re connected to can see your IP address, all your queries, and therefore, your balances and spending activity.
Running your own node gives you better access to information about bitcoin and the bitcoin blockchain, most notably through a locally-hosted block explorer.
Additionally, the console can process commands for retrieving information from your node, like “gettxoutsetinfo”, which lets you to verify the total current supply of bitcoin.
Running a node prevents censorship and contributes to the redundancy of the blockchain while helping improve its geographic distribution.
There are two types of nodes: Archival nodes, which play a special role because they retain a complete copy of the bitcoin blockchain, and pruned nodes, which take up less space. Both types add value to bitcoin.
Image Source: Bitcoin Whitepaper
The Lightning Network (LN) moves transactions off of the main bitcoin blockchain, enabling faster processing time and lower costs.
Running a Lightning node gives you the ability to make fast payments to various retail stores, pay for content online, and receive payments yourself.
Image Source: Lightning Network Summary
With the knowledge and experience you gain from running a node, bitcoin becomes more useful to you, and you’re able to help others use it as well.
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