Topic: Blockchain size (another thread, yes) (Read 1688 times)

A lot of people use online wallets, and I think newbies will also use online wallets.


I think there are wallets that only download part of the blockchain. Also, I just leave the wallet syncing at night, and its usually done by the time I wake up.


I think there are wallets that download only part of the blockchain, and ofcourse there are online wallets.


You can check the source: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum

At some point in the future, if the transactions do pick up by the masses, someone will probably need to optimize and clean out the data.

and anyone with bitcoins would/should have the entertainment of knowing that their bitcoins wont disappear with a webwallet owners lie of "we've been hacked" tweeted from his sunbed on a expensive resort.

because
1, their bitcoins are safe in a proper bitcoin wallet(node)
2. the node is also securing bitcoin to stop nasty protocol changes that can make bitcoins valueless

at a price far far cheaper then a game, and having that warm, safe, feeling for not only 6 hours pay-time. but for life.

but if you dont care about keeping bitcoin safe from protocol changes, possible hacks/insider webwallet thefts.. maybe you should donate all funds to seans outpost or to someone that does care about bitcoins.

its like complaining that bitcoins is expensive and not worth the hassle, maybe worth you going back to credit cards. storing gold has more hassle and alot more expense to trade/move/use. i think you need a little more time to soak in what bitcoin is truly about.

in short if 100,000 people held 1bitcoin ($600) each and i told you tomorrow that by not having nodes every bitcoin would b worth $0 wouldnt you and the other 99k start to realise that being a node at a small expense of maybe $20 memory stick to ensure bitcoin stayed at $600 was a good thing

They receive entertainment while they are playing those games. 

You are right but keep also on mind that this is a completely new thing, and many people not only can't understand how they get hacked, many don't even install or keep updated an antivirus... the truth is that half population of the world is simply not ready for Bitcoin... it's like they would walk with a bag full of money on their shoulders and don't care if they are going into the bad famed spot of the city.

Erm... they PLAY, in return.
Bitcoin has no other function than replacing money, it's not so fun as CoD.

Look again it is using a Log scale.

they do, but most newcomers only have pocket money amounts at first. once they start getting more then a weeks salary worth of bitcoins they should switch to proper security, such as a node/offline store of bitcoins where they truly own the privkey.. not third parties

anyone using web services long term to store more then a week of labour is just asking to get hacked.

which is where i find the funny part, people argue about data stor that amounts to a $10 microSD card. and downloads of a week of fibre optic speed for full blockchain sync again only$3-$10. yet are willing to risk alot more throwing their funds in webwallets..

the mind truly boggles!

Don't many newcomer use webwalllets anyway?

it costs $50 for call of duty, and >$300 for a console to play it and be part of the playstation/microsoft network. but they get nothing back in return..

hmmmmmmm how many consoles are there in the world which proves that people dont truly care

This may be true but bandwidth and storage is not free. The fact that it costs people money to provide a service to the network (keeping it secure) while not receiving anything in return (anything tangible) will always have the number of nodes depressed.

I mean it, you gave good info, but the way you post is irritating.
Keep in mind there are probably something less than 7 billion people out there that know far less than what I know, about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
It's good to explain things, it's not good to talk to people like if they were idiots.

No reason to get insulting.

Dont thank me if you dont mean it.

Thank you for all the info, that's all good news, but even when you know everything about Bitcoin you shouldn't talk (write) like a presumptuous dick.

Anyway, the basic problem of giving people a good impression since the very first moment they enter Bitcoin, remains.

As I wrote, most people aren't computer experts or geeks, they just want to escape from the bank system (the ones who understand its perversion).

For how I see it, a Bitcoin light client ready in the very same page where you can download the Bitcoin full client, probably on the model of Electrum, would be the best solution.
Then they'll have all the time to learn that there are other wallets, web wallets, etc. but as first impact I think this should be done.

#1 get your quotes in order, it looks like I said that -_-
#2 there is no official wallet
#3 you have assumptions that are wrong, that is not the fault of the bitcoin-core devs or the devs that develop a solution for your problem.


Whut?



Nothing would happen.

Even if you used electrum (they actually have servers AFAIK) I can just export my private keys and import them somewhere else.


Most nodes do not confirm transactions. They verifiy them. What you are think about are miners, they are technically also nodes, but thats besides the point. Usually when people say "node" they dont mean miners.

I am not from the USA. If your connection is crap, use a light client. That is what they are for.


So? Dont download it. You can not contribute to the network anyway if your connection is shit. You just leech and contribute nothing. You are not helping the network you are leeching its resources.

Some of the devs talked about it years ago and to sum it up: if you have a crappy connection dont use bitcoin-core.

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/are-full-nodes-without-port-forwarding-useful-124319



So nice that there are people that made a solution for them.


Did you ever install a bitcoin app? They are very small.


There is no problem.

Newbies will most likely visite this site very early
https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet
and if they read what is written there, they will make a pretty good decision even though they do not know the details behind it.



Exactly. There is no problem here. IMHO its just someone spreading FUD to make money http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-nodes-need/
"Get your full node here and support the network for only 9.99$" - Which is nice, which (if done right) will support the network. But there is no need for this.

if your dont store the blockchain (20gb) then your not decentralising the ledger... your just a light wallet that relays unconfirmed transactions... you are giving limited help to security and the network.. not full help.... still better than nothing, which is what multibit offers, as that is just a transaction signer.. nothing more

This is not an issue simply because the falling cost and resource requirements for digital storage and bandwidth far out-paces the growth in the blockchain.

By the way I run a full node on the following 10 year+ old laptop running Trisquel (GNU/Linux)

CPU Pentium M 1.8 GHz
RAM 1 GB
Hard drive 128 GB
10/100 Ethernet (no wifi)
... and yes it even has a floppy drive and its original Windows 2000 logo!

The size of the .bitcoin folder in under 32GB.

So if my decade plus old laptop works to run a full node so will much newer technology provided of course it is not crippled by propriety software and DRM.

One could run a full node on many tablets and even high end smartphones but one would have a install a GNU/Linux OS on the device and in the process rid the device of DRM infections.

Less nodes probably means also slower confirmations of transactions.
But this shouldn't be a real problem, as the userbase widens, also full nodes will be more.
I would hold a node up as well if I didn't have this crappy connection.

But anyway, what I wanted to put the accent on, is that this file is becoming large and annoying.
I don't want to say that you can't deal with it, but the world is NOT USA, there are other countries.
With my connection, in that shit of country named Italy, I need more than two days to download the whole blockchain.
Space is not so much a problem FOR ME, as I have over 3 TB of hard disks, but many people have old computers, they are not geeks or nerds and are only interested in disconnecting themselves from banks and saving their money.
Not to mention people going around with tablets and smartphones. You can't ask them to fuck up all their memory with the blockchain.

What I want to pass on over here is that NEW USERS will get annoyed by this, and I think there's no doubt this file IS a bit heavy.
And I want to pass over that if Bitcoin will boom, like everyone of us hopes, the transactions number will grow exponentially.
Then what will you do if you go on 4GB per month growth of the blockchain size?
Better solve this problem now, I think.

Plurality is also a factor of security.
Once a dev shuts down its wallet for whatever reason, what will you do?