Setting up a personal Bitcoin node is easier than you think. A bitcoin node allows you (your computer) to verify and validate all the transaction history of the bitcoin blockchain, also known as a ledger. When you set up a bitcoin node, you are receiving the entire bitcoin blockchain from other peers running bitcoin nodes. Nodes are essential for the bitcoin peer-to-peer network to work.
If you have ever installed a computer program before, you can set up a bitcoin node. Bitcoin Core is the open-source software created by Satoshi Nakamoto that connects to the bitcoin network. Bitcoin Core also acts as a bitcoin wallet, allowing a user to send and receive bitcoin to and from other bitcoin addresses. When you create a bitcoin node, you can create multiple bitcoin receiving addresses. This allows you to transact on the bitcoin network without a third-party giving you a bitcoin address, such as when you use a centralized exchange. Bitcoin Core gives you more privacy and control over your bitcoin addresses, and allows you to backup your wallet. Each time you run Bitcoin Core, your node will begin verifying transactions on the bitcoin network.
To begin setting up a personal bitcoin node, visit the Bitcoin Core website at Bitcoin.org to download the open-source program installer. Once you install the program, you can easily start running your bitcoin node by choosing the default settings. Your bitcoin node will start downloading the bitcoin blockchain, and begin validating all the bitcoin transactions to date. Keep in mind the bitcoin blockchain has a size of 500GB+, and will likely take several hours, or even days to download and catch up to the current bitcoin transactions. The default settings prune the blockchain storage size to 2GB.
Bitcoin Core has the following minimum system requirements:
- Disk space: 350 GB
- Download: 500 MB/day (15 GB/month)
- Upload: 5 GB/day (150 GB/month)
- Memory (RAM): 1 GB
- System: Desktop, Laptop, and some ARM chipsets >1 GHz
- Operating system: Windows 7/8.x/10, Mac OS X, and Linux
To learn more about setting up a full Bitcoin node, visit Running a Full Node at Bitcoin.org