The best bitcoin node? Here's what I did, comments? \ stacker news ~bitcoin

I Built a Bitcoin Node with Umbrel and Connected Sparrow Wallet Bitcoin is a revolutionary technology that allows individuals to take control of their financial sovereignty. Running your own Bitcoin node is one of the best ways to participate in the network, verify transactions independently, and contribute to its decentralization. In this first part of our three-part series, I’ll walk you through how I set up a Bitcoin node using Umbrel on an old desktop PC with a fast M.2 drive and connected it to Sparrow Wallet for secure transactions.

Why Run a Bitcoin Node? Running a Bitcoin node has several benefits:

Privacy: Verify your own transactions without relying on third parties. Security: Ensure that the Bitcoin network remains decentralized and censorship-resistant. Advanced Features: Unlock features like connecting wallets directly to your node and using the Lightning Network. Setting Up Umbrel on an Old Desktop PC While many people use a Raspberry Pi to run Umbrel, I decided to repurpose an old desktop PC. It had a fast M.2 SSD, which is perfect for storing the Bitcoin blockchain and ensuring quick read/write speeds. Here’s how I set it up:

What You’ll Need: An old desktop PC with at least 8GB of RAM and a fast M.2 SSD (1TB or larger recommended). A reliable internet connection. A USB drive or external SSD (optional, for additional storage). Umbrel OS. Steps to Install Umbrel: Prepare the PC:

Install a lightweight Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu Server or Debian) on the desktop PC. This ensures the system runs efficiently. Update the operating system and install Docker, as Umbrel runs on Docker containers. Download and Install Umbrel:

Visit Umbrel’s website and follow the instructions for installing Umbrel on Linux. Open a terminal on your PC and run the following commands to install Umbrel: curl -L https://umbrel.sh | bash sudo ./umbrel start Umbrel will now start running on your PC. Access the Umbrel Dashboard:

Open a web browser on a device connected to the same network and navigate to http://<your-pc-ip>:3000. Follow the setup instructions to initialize your node. Sync the Blockchain:

Umbrel will begin downloading the Bitcoin blockchain, which is over 500GB in size. This process can take several days, depending on your internet speed and the performance of your M.2 SSD. Connecting Sparrow Wallet to Your Umbrel Node Once your Bitcoin node is up and running, the next step is to connect a wallet. I chose Sparrow Wallet because of its advanced features, privacy focus, and seamless integration with Bitcoin nodes.

Why Sparrow Wallet? Sparrow Wallet is a desktop wallet designed for power users. It supports connecting to your own node, ensuring that your transactions are private and verified directly by your node.

Steps to Connect Sparrow Wallet: Install Sparrow Wallet:

Download Sparrow Wallet from sparrowwallet.com and install it on your computer. Configure Node Connection:

Open Sparrow Wallet and go to Preferences > Server. Select Bitcoin Core as the server type. Enter your Umbrel node’s IP address and port (default: 8332). Use the RPC username and password from your Umbrel settings. You can find these in the bitcoin.conf file on your Umbrel dashboard. Test the Connection:

Click Test Connection to ensure Sparrow Wallet is successfully connected to your node. Create or Import a Wallet:

Create a new wallet in Sparrow or import an existing one using your seed phrase. Sparrow Wallet will now use your Umbrel node to verify transactions and broadcast them to the Bitcoin network. Why This Setup Works Using an old desktop PC with a fast M.2 SSD for Umbrel ensures that the blockchain syncs quickly and the node operates efficiently. Connecting Sparrow Wallet to your node gives you full control over your Bitcoin transactions, enhancing both privacy and security.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @DarthCoin 25 Mar

Just for using Sparrow wallet, you do not need all the hassle with Umbrel. Umbrel is just a fancy UI.

You could just install https://bitcoincore.org/ and Sparrow on a simple PC (Linux, Windows, Mac) and done. Nothing else.

And btw, just for using Sparrow, you do not need to keep that BTC node online 24/7. You don't even need to fully sync, you could use a pruned node.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Lightwavewebservice OP 25 Mar

I quite like running the full node to service Bitcoin and I keep online as I run Lightning node and btcpay server for my website shops, all works well and as u pointed out looks nice :) is there a disadvantage to a pruned node? Maybe just can't go all way back through transactions

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 25 Mar

Running a BTCPpay server with a LN node behind is totally something else than just using Sparrow with a BTC node. I was commenting only about your OP, using Sparrow.

Even for a shop, you can run easily a LND node with Neutrino, as I explained here: #439263 And you don't even need an Umbrel UI.

A pruned node yes, is just showing the period you select, but that doesn't mean is ignoring all the previous blocks. Is more for a personal use, when you really do not need the whole blockchain history and use it for specific use cases.

Neutrino on the other side, is providing all blocks, but the client do not have to download them. Read more here:

There are many ways to run a LN node for a shop and there's a misconception that you need a full BTC and public LN node in order to do that. Wrong. You can run perfectly fine a private LN node with few channels, with a neutrino sync on a VPS (without even downloading the whole blockchain).