Sovereignty — Node Infrastructure

Run Your Own Bitcoin Node

The most important thing you can do for Bitcoin is verify it yourself. A full node is your personal copy of the entire Bitcoin blockchain — the only way to trustlessly validate every transaction and block.

Start Setup Guide Add Tor Privacy

Full guide coming soon. Detailed platform-specific walkthroughs are being prepared. In the meantime see bitcoincore.org or contact dev@houseofbitcoin.com.

Why Run a Node

Your Node, Your Rules

When you do not run a node, you are trusting someone else's node — a third party that could lie to you about your balance, censor your transactions, or go offline. A full node makes you a first-class citizen of the Bitcoin network. You enforce the rules. You verify the chain. No trust required.

Choose Your Setup

Node Configurations

Three configurations cover the full range of use cases — from a privacy-first personal wallet to a full archival node for developers and institutions.

Recommended

Full Node

Downloads and validates the entire blockchain from genesis. No trust in any third party. Required for Lightning and BTCPay Server.

Storage600GB+ SSD

RAM8GB+

IBD1–3 days

Lightweight

Pruned Node

Validates all blocks but discards old data after confirmation. Full validation with a fraction of the storage requirement.

Storage10–50GB SSD

RAM4GB+

IBD1–2 days

Power User

Archival Node

Retains the full, uncut blockchain including all UTXO history. Used for block explorers, analytics, and serving data to the network.

Storage700GB+ SSD

RAM16GB+

IBD3–5 days

Hardware Options

What to Run It On

A Bitcoin node can run on anything from a $50 single-board computer to a dedicated server. The key requirements are storage speed, adequate RAM, and a reliable internet connection.

Raspberry Pi 4/5

The most popular home node setup. Pair with a fast 2TB USB SSD. Low power, quiet, always-on.

Umbrel / Start9

Pre-configured node-in-a-box platforms. Simplest onboarding — plug in, download, done.

Old Laptop / PC

Any machine with 8GB RAM and an SSD can run a full node. Repurpose existing hardware before buying new.

Cloud VPS

Run on a virtual private server for uptime guarantees. Pair with Tor for privacy. Less sovereign than local hardware.

Setup Guide

Getting Started with Bitcoin Core

The reference implementation of Bitcoin. Open-source, maintained by hundreds of contributors, and the most widely-run node software in the network.

01

Download Bitcoin Core

Get the latest release from bitcoincore.org. Always verify the GPG signature before installing — this is non-negotiable.

gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.asc

02

Configure bitcoin.conf

Set your data directory, prune settings, RPC credentials, and privacy options. A minimal config is sufficient to start.

datadir=/mnt/bitcoin
prune=0
server=1

03

Start Initial Block Download

Bitcoin Core will begin downloading and validating every block from genesis. This takes 1–5 days depending on hardware and connection speed.

bitcoind -daemon

04

Monitor sync progress

Check sync status with bitcoin-cli. A progress value of 1.0 means your node is fully synced and ready to serve the network.

bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo

05

Connect your wallet

Point Sparrow Wallet, Electrum, or any Bitcoin wallet to your local node. You are now verifying your own transactions — no third party required.

06

Add Tor for privacy

Route your node's traffic through the Tor network to protect your IP address and prevent surveillance of your Bitcoin activity. Read the Tor setup guide

Requirements

Minimum System Requirements

Component	Minimum	Recommended	Notes
Storage	600GB SSD	2TB NVMe SSD	HDD too slow for IBD
RAM	4GB	8–16GB	More = faster IBD
CPU	Any 64-bit	4+ cores	ARM works (Raspberry Pi)
Bandwidth	~200GB/month	Unlimited	Metered connections not ideal
Uptime	12h/day	24/7	Always-on is ideal for the network

External Resources

Bitcoin Core mempool.space bitcoin.org Node Guide RaspiBolt Umbrel Start9

Full node guide coming soon

Detailed walkthroughs for Raspberry Pi, Ubuntu, macOS, and Windows — with Sparrow Wallet and Lightning integration — are being prepared for this page.

Notify me at launch