Types of Nodes: Full, Pruned & SPV

Not all Bitcoin nodes are the same. There are several types, each with different trade-offs between storage requirements, verification capabilities, and trust assumptions.

Full Nodes (Archival Nodes)

A full node downloads and stores the entire Bitcoin blockchain — every block and every transaction since January 3, 2009. As of 2026, this requires approximately 600+ GB of storage.

• Highest security: Verifies every single transaction and block independently.
• No trust required: Does not rely on any third party for information.
• Full rule enforcement: Rejects any block or transaction that violates consensus rules.
• Storage heavy: Requires significant disk space that grows over time.

Pruned Nodes

A pruned node downloads and validates the entire blockchain but only keeps the most recent blocks in storage (you configure how much to keep — as little as ~5 GB). It deletes older block data after validation.

• Same validation as full nodes: Every block is verified during initial sync.
• Much less storage: Can run with just a few GB of disk space.
• Trade-off: Cannot serve historical blocks to other nodes — slightly less helpful to the network.
• Perfect for: Users with limited storage (like a Raspberry Pi or laptop).

SPV (Simplified Payment Verification) Clients

An SPV client (also called a "light client") does not download the full blockchain. Instead, it only downloads block headers and uses a technique called Merkle proofs to verify that a transaction was included in a block.

• Very lightweight: Requires minimal storage and bandwidth.
• Fast to set up: Can be ready in seconds instead of hours/days.
• Trust trade-off: Relies on full nodes for transaction data — cannot independently verify all rules.
• Common in: Mobile wallets (like BlueWallet, Muun).

Comparison Table

Type	Storage	Verification	Trust Required
Full Node	600+ GB	Complete	None
Pruned Node	5-50 GB	Complete (during sync)	None
SPV Client	~100 MB	Partial	Some (trusts full nodes)