Bitcoin network node count sets new all-time high

Published at: July 15, 2021

The number of reachable Bitcoin network nodes has crossed the 13,000 mark for the first time. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the previous all-time high was 11,613 achieved back in January.

According to data from Bitcoin network statistics dashboard Bitnodes.io, this milestone was reached back on July 5 when the number of reachable nodes clocked in at 13,374. At the time of writing, Bitnodes’ data puts the current network node count at about 12,835,

Coin.Dance, another tracking website, also has Bitcoin’s node count at a new all-time high of 12,825. Nodes running the Bitcoin Core software make up 98.77% of the number, with the remaining scattered across less popular implementations like Bitcore and Bitcoin Knots.

Bitcoin Core 0.21.1 was released back in May with a Taproot activation code, and at almost 5,000 nodes (according to Coin.Dance), it is currently the most utilized version of the software among entities running reachable nodes. Figures from Bitnodes put the number at 5,125, or 40% of the total network node count.

Bitnodes’ data also shows at almost half of the network node count is running on Tor. Back in January, only about a quarter of all reachable nodes were running on the hidden network Tor. Running a client like Bitcoin Core using Tor provides an additional privacy layer since the IP addresses of connecting nodes are obfuscated.

Related: Tor-enabled Bitcoin nodes are back after bug on network

According to Bitnodes’ data, the network node count has increased by 2,739 nodes in the last year, reinforcing Bitcoin’s decentralization ethos.

The growth in the network node count is also akin to the expansion currently taking place in the Lightning Network ecosystem where capacity has gone up over 70% in less than six months.

Earlier in July, public Lightning Network capacity crossed 1,800 Bitcoin (BTC) after adding 100 BTC in less than a week. Data from Lightning Network statistics tracker Bitcoin Visuals puts the number of LN nodes at above 12,800, which is also an all-time high value.

Tags
Decentralization
Technology
Bitcoin
Developers
Privacy
Lightning Network
Nodes
Bitcoin Core
Software
Bitcore
Related Posts
Bitcoin node count hits new all-time high
The number of Bitcoin nodes is at an all-time high, with 11,558 reachable nodes currently active, according to Bitnodes.io. Another Bitcoin network statistics tracker, coin.dance, calculates the total number of Bitcoin nodes at 11,613, which is just above the previous high of 11,250 set one year ago this month. The Bitcoin Core software update 0.21.0 was released for public download on Jan. 14 2021 and is currently the fourth most utilized version of the software among nodes There are currently 619 nodes running this version of the software, which represents about 5.5% of all nodes running some version of Bitcoin …
Decentralization / Jan. 20, 2021
Tor-enabled Bitcoin nodes are back after bug on network
The Bitcoin (BTC) network has been steadily recovering in terms of running BTC nodes after a major outage on the Tor network. According to the latest data from node monitoring resource Bitnodes, Tor-enabled Bitcoin (BTC) nodes are back to normal following almost a full-swing crash in early January 2021. As of Jan. 13, the number of reachable Tor-based BTC nodes amounted to 2,581, up from as few as 122 nodes on Jan. 9. Based on Bitnodes data, Tor-enabled Bitcoin nodes make up a significant part of the Bitcoin network, normally accounting for about 25% of totally reachable running nodes. According …
Decentralization / Jan. 15, 2021
Richard Stallman: A Discussion on Freedom, Privacy & Cryptocurrencies
Dr. Richard Stallman is well-known for his free software movement activism. His speeches and work revolve around a term: freedom. And it is precisely that word that prompted Stallman to launch the GNU Project, founding the Free Software Foundation and releasing the GNU General Public License, among other projects, to promote the free software concept. RMS, as Dr. Stallman is also known, has some opinions regarding the concept of cryptocurrencies that have been widely discussed within the crypto community. Three freedoms To understand the concept of freedom Stallman often mentions in his speeches, he explains the difference between "free software" …
Decentralization / Aug. 8, 2020
Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Found More Centralized Than Expected by Researchers
The Lightning Network’s (LN) configuration is becoming increasingly centralized, with multiple hubs being formed. This is the finding of a yet-to-be-reviewed research paper, released on pre-print site arXiv on Feb. 7. A team of academics from Switzerland, France, Italy and Canada authored the paper. Jian Hong-Lin and Kevin Primicerio conducted the analysis, while others, including Blockstream Inc. researcher Christian Decker, designed the research. Core-periphery model The team gathered Lightning Network information for a period of 18 months from Jan. 18, 2018 to July 13, 2019. Researchers then analyzed the payment network in terms of its node and wealth distribution. They …
Decentralization / Feb. 21, 2020
Web3 developer growth hits an all-time high as ecosystem matures
“Web3” may be one of the biggest buzzwords of 2022, but the idea of creating an entirely decentralized platform to host decentralized applications has long been a vision of the crypto community. While it’s notable that some blockchain companies began building out Web3 applications four or five years ago, the Web3 space has only started gaining traction recently. The recent growth of Web3 was highlighted in a new report from Electric Capital, a venture capital firm that has been investing in Web3 companies since 2018. The “Electric Capital 2021 Developer Report” analyzed data from nearly 500,000 code repositories and 160 …
Decentralization / Feb. 3, 2022