Over an over the top posts on reddit are issues that directly affect the bitcoin network, currency or protocol. Today that top post would be a PSA about the number of bitcoin nodes decreasing. Nodes are the number of computers on the network with a full copy of the blockchain:
A full Bitcoin node is the backbone of the Bitcoin network. Miners are important, but full nodes are too. They spread transactions across the network. They have the only copy of the entire blockchain, and run the memorypool. Without full nodes in operation there is no Bitcoin.
But the blockchain is pretty bulky, taking weeks to download, and it’s only going to get bigger. This has driven traffic to alternative wallets like MultiBit, who’s wallet is operational immediately without having to download the blockchain.
In the past we have seen posts like:
- GHASH.IO IS NEARING 51% – LEAVE THE POOL
- PSA: MtGox are not processing bitcoin *withdrawals*!!!
- [Fall of] Neo & Bee – A consultant’s perspective and statement by Andreas M. Antonopoulos
- PSA: BACK. UP. YOUR. WALLET.
- PSA: Don’t buy anything from Butterflylabs
And the list goes on….
Seeing the community come together as a whole and do whats right for everyone is something we don’t see often in today’s markets. I’m not saying it’s perfect, as it’s far from, but so far the Bitcoin community identifies it’s weaknesses and takes action to correct them, almost immediately. The majority of those using bitcoin have a vested interest in seeing it succeed, so it has a very high probability that it will.
Moon!
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