The True Guarantors of Decentralization
While miners or validators propose new blocks, it is independent full nodes that hold the ultimate power on a blockchain. If a miner produces an invalid block containing fake coins or violating protocol rules, every full node instantly rejects it.
Types of Nodes
- Full Nodes: Maintain a local copy of the blockchain and independently verify every block and transaction against network consensus rules.
- Pruned Nodes: Full validating nodes that verify all history from genesis, but delete older transaction witness data to save disk space after verification.
- Archive Nodes: Store every historical state trie at every block height, allowing instant queries for any past state without replay.
- Light Nodes (SPV): Rely on Simplified Payment Verification (SPV), downloading block headers only and verifying Merkle proofs without verifying the full chain.
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