Post
Topic
Board Development & Technical Discussion
Re: Can I just run a pruned node without downloading historical data?
by
n0nce
on 08/10/2021, 16:26:14 UTC
So I want to know if there is an implementation of Bitcoin where I can just start with a pruned node. I will sacrifice the security of verifying the entire chain from genesis for the convenience of just downloading what is necessary to construct a pruned node.
Yes there is, the category is called SPV clients and the example of it is Electrum.
In this category, you download a very small amount of data known as block headers and perform minimal verification on a lot of things. Your communication with nodes will also be minimal each time you want to synchronize.

I just want to run a full node where I can just type in a certain public key, and it tells me which UTXOs are associated with this key
Maybe you should first explain what your real goal is.

This is definitely starting to sound like a classic XY Problem.
I was just thinking about it Cheesy
The XY problem is asking about your attempted solution rather than your actual problem. This leads to enormous amounts of wasted time and energy, both on the part of people asking for help, and on the part of those providing help.
~
The problem occurs when people get stuck on what they believe is the solution and are unable step back and explain the issue in full.