First of all, running a bitcoin node is not easy because it is time consuming and if it was easy, a lot of users would have dived in
this thread by NotATether to earn 14 free merits after running it for good 14 days. And it requires a strong laptop/computer to run a bitcoin node if not it might just crash the system. It got to my knowledge recently that downloading the full bitcoin node (latest version) will take more than 600 gigabytes which means it requires enough data subscription to download and run it completely and it will still get to a time when it will take more than 1 terabyte to download the full bitcoin node which will even make it more difficult. Except those that uses unlimited data subscription that will still be running a bitcoin node otherwise in the future, not many people will be running a bitcoin node again.
Yeah I remember this thread. I don’t think a lot of Nigerians participated in it and the reasons are quite clear. Considering how much it would cost to run a node for 14 days, it’s not surprising that many of us didn’t indulge in the task.
You're right,a lot of Nigerians haven't participated in the Bitcoin node thread because of the cost. I know how much it cost me to successfully run a Bitcoin for 14days. At the starts I had to buy a cheaper data plan of 14Gb thinking it be enough to run my node to completion but to my surprise, my 14GB data plan was almost exhausted within some hours of keeping the node running smoothly using my laptop . It was at that moment that I knew I had to spend more if I am eager to achieve the require result needed. I immediately start budgeting to purchase a pockett WiFi which I later purchased for N34,000 while also subscribing for 250GB data plan for MTN network. If we're to consider the costs,I think a lot of us will be very discouraged In running a Bitcoin node but it's all good considering the fact that my contribution in running the node keeps and helps in validating Bitcoin transactions within the blockchain while also getting rewarded for contributing.