Reachable Bitcoin Nodes Number Dropped By 19% In 2018

According to data collected from multiple sources, the number of reachable nodes on the Bitcoin blockchain dropped by 19 percent this year (2018) down to 9,597 and in today’s bitcoin news we try to find out why.

The number of reachable nodes was 11,845 and it has now reached 9,597 but the number of unreachable nodes also dropped by 33 percent going down to 65,500 from the previous 98,000.

The node that sends and receives connections from the bitcoin network is the reachable node. The unreachable node is the one that only makes outgoing connections. These nodes don’t accept incoming nodes mainly because they are shielded behind a firewall.

A high number of unreachable nodes is a good thing because this way the network is more secure which makes it harder for a hacker to breach the network. However, the reachable nodes are also important because they can function as full nodes thus keeping full records of the transactions conducted on the blockchain.

If the number of the reachable nodes drops, it could centralize the network because very few nodes will operate and it will be easier to be controlled by a few entities. This could also lead to a 51 percent attack and could demolish Bitcoin’s credibility.

Because the crypto market went through a lot this year, all of the crypto miners are selling their expensive machines and are leaving the business because of the negative profit margins. Bitcoin was heavily affected by the decline in mining interest as DC Forecasts previously reported, dropped by 7 percent.

We can only wait and see whether 2019 will have improved conditions and encourage miners to return profitable mining.