Part 4/12:
Privacy Benefits: Using a personal node means you don't have to rely on third-party blockchain explorers or services that can see which addresses you're querying or inspecting. Instead, your queries are private, reducing information leaks about your holdings and activity.
Self-Sovereignty: By running a node, you are taking responsibility for your bitcoin, maintaining full control over your keys, transactions, and verification process.
Technical Components of Running a Node
What is a node doing?
A node runs software (most commonly Bitcoin Core) that:
Maintains a full copy of the blockchain.
Validates every transaction and block based on the consensus rules.
Propagates valid transactions and blocks to other nodes.