Running a Bitcoin Node — Verifying for Yourself

A full node is software that verifies the entire history of the blockchain for itself and rejects, on its own judgment, any block or transaction that breaks the rules. As of August 2026 the block data alone (excluding database indexes) is roughly 760GB, so the default configuration that keeps everything needs a roomy SSD and an initial download of comparable size — yet a pruned configuration brings disk use down to about 7GB without loosening the strictness of validation at all. Running one earns no monetary reward whatsoever; what you get is the ability to check things without asking anyone else.