And nodes create the network and enforce the rules.
"So, who secures Bitcoin?!
If securing Bitcoin requires consensus on what Bitcoin is, and Bitcoin is a database of values assigned to keys, and Bitcoin has a protocol for reassignment of keys, then securing Bitcoin can only be done by … your node!
Nodes! Nodes! Nodes!
In the end, YOU secure Bitcoin, but the only time that matters is when you agree with someone else on what Bitcoin is, and the only way that you can express yourself to others is via your node.
You can try to abstract this and say that hodlers of last resort secure it, or that you can express yourself by buying or selling, but the only way you can actually communicate yourself is via enforcement of the protocol.
What about Miners?
Miners are suppliers of blocks, nothing more. Nodes demand consensus-compatible blocks as a vessel for key reassignment. Miners’ ability to influence the protocol is limited to the wiggle room within the protocol’s magic numbers.
For example, they can limit blocksize if they can cooperate and coordinate over shared incentives, and they can exclude transactions in the same way. But when a miner exercises any power that is detrimental to consensus they approach high risks at a quick pace.
This same dynamic applies to re-orgs, 51% attacks, etc. These attacks are not only risks to miners in that there is a cost in sacrificing blocks or failing probabilities, they run the higher-level risk of being entirely ignored and excluded from extra-protocol consensus, the market itself.
Nodes actually define what a “miner” is."
Full text here:
https://medium.com/bitcoinerrorlog/who-secures-bitcoin-95b19bbcda3c
BitcoinIsFuture /
npub1wl…5caw8
2025-05-03 21:51:12
in reply to nevent1q…3wn6
Author Public Key
npub1wl6kysagynfz2ulmw4wa2trnc9ycd52upjv9zt297n0tpr5ls7dqk5caw8Published at
2025-05-03 21:51:12Event JSON
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"content": "And nodes create the network and enforce the rules.\n\n\"So, who secures Bitcoin?!\n\nIf securing Bitcoin requires consensus on what Bitcoin is, and Bitcoin is a database of values assigned to keys, and Bitcoin has a protocol for reassignment of keys, then securing Bitcoin can only be done by … your node!\nNodes! Nodes! Nodes!\n\nIn the end, YOU secure Bitcoin, but the only time that matters is when you agree with someone else on what Bitcoin is, and the only way that you can express yourself to others is via your node.\n\nYou can try to abstract this and say that hodlers of last resort secure it, or that you can express yourself by buying or selling, but the only way you can actually communicate yourself is via enforcement of the protocol.\nWhat about Miners?\n\nMiners are suppliers of blocks, nothing more. Nodes demand consensus-compatible blocks as a vessel for key reassignment. Miners’ ability to influence the protocol is limited to the wiggle room within the protocol’s magic numbers.\n\nFor example, they can limit blocksize if they can cooperate and coordinate over shared incentives, and they can exclude transactions in the same way. But when a miner exercises any power that is detrimental to consensus they approach high risks at a quick pace.\n\nThis same dynamic applies to re-orgs, 51% attacks, etc. These attacks are not only risks to miners in that there is a cost in sacrificing blocks or failing probabilities, they run the higher-level risk of being entirely ignored and excluded from extra-protocol consensus, the market itself.\n\nNodes actually define what a “miner” is.\"\n\nFull text here:\nhttps://medium.com/bitcoinerrorlog/who-secures-bitcoin-95b19bbcda3c",
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