Gday Alex, sorry mate I skim read some of that, so maybe I’m off the mark, but I think I get the gist.
Obviously you’re after technical info for setting up a node and mining. But at the same time, just in case you haven’t yet digested these, here’s some books (all also audiobooks) that can give you a whole lot of context for any tech knowledge to slot into. They’re not all essential, but will help with broader understanding and therefore your ability to make your own decisions around btc. Some authors have more biases than others, so don’t take all these books as gospel.
In no particular order.
The Price of tomorrow Jeff Booth (nprofile…rgyv)
The Bitcoin Standard saifedean (nprofile…mp4l)
The Blocksize War by Jonathon Bier
The Book of Satoshi Phil Champagne
Hidden Cost of Money sebbunney (nprofile…kt05)
Broken Money LynAlden (nprofile…8qv9)
Check Your Financial Privilege by Alex Gladstein
In terms of the tech side. Realistically you solo mining today is a solid up front cost, that won’t decentralise network mining by much, and wont exactly be earning you much. It’s not much bang for your buck so I wouldn’t start there.
I’d start with just running a full node, playing with that. Then mining after if you’re still keen.
In terms of a node, you can kind of set it up how you like, but it’s kinda common for easy nodes to be set up on a raspberry pi and external ssd or an old lappy or desktop with external ssd. External ssd is because the blockchain is large, and growing - so it takes up a bit of space. If you use old equipment, just make sure you’ve wiped it clean before you run a node.
Then you’ve got to decide what to run. If you haven’t heard about the core version 30 v knots debate, then you should look into it - because you running a node will be you casting a vote on the debate. So do yourself a favour and run a version of Core from before Version 30 (the contentious version) until you decide to either update to the latest core, or use knots. Personally, I’d avoid getting the latest of anything until it’s had time to iron out any issues. I’d also argue that core version 30 is not aligned with the original intent or ongoing idea of btc, and actually provides an attack vector on your btc. But that’s up to you.
You can figure out how to run it as a newbie by using some setup platforms like Umbrel, Raspiblitz, MyNode, Start9.. those are the ones I know of.. they are all open source. But they’re not all the same. There’ll be more out there too. Check them out and go from there. They’ll all have instructions and different pros and cons.
Don’t forget the ways of supporting a btc ecosystem goes far beyond running a node or mining. So if you want to be more involved, but mining isn’t your thing, there’s all sorts of other ways to support. Accepting btc payments, avoiding custodial wallets, buying from btc economies, pay in btc, run or use lightning, education or discussions with people not exposed to it (respectfully!), support infrastructure and privacy tools, HODL responsibly, and participate in the culture around it.
Also, good on ya for taking steps to support everyone by running a node 💪🏼
/ Chicken Legs
npub1et…qkgwe
2025-11-07 23:42:19 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…cx23
Author Public Key
npub1etnx68u8v4n2smwaavwl7ulkh6ec7rxgu80ltdrl482xc009qvpq3qkgwePublished at
2025-11-07 23:42:19 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Gday Alex, sorry mate I skim read some of that, so maybe I’m off the mark, but I think I get the gist.\n\nObviously you’re after technical info for setting up a node and mining. But at the same time, just in case you haven’t yet digested these, here’s some books (all also audiobooks) that can give you a whole lot of context for any tech knowledge to slot into. They’re not all essential, but will help with broader understanding and therefore your ability to make your own decisions around btc. Some authors have more biases than others, so don’t take all these books as gospel.\nIn no particular order.\nThe Price of tomorrow nostr:nprofile1qqsg86qcm7lve6jkkr64z4mt8lfe57jsu8vpty6r2qpk37sgtnxevjcpramhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0v3jhyatwdejhyuewdejhgam0wf4sz8thwden5te0dehhxarj94c82c3wwajkcmr0wfjx2u3wdejhgftrgyv \nThe Bitcoin Standard nostr:nprofile1qqsyx708d0a8d2qt3ku75avjz8vshvlx0v3q97ygpnz0tllzqegxrtgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs7amnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3wd4hk6gemp4l \nThe Blocksize War by Jonathon Bier\nThe Book of Satoshi Phil Champagne\nHidden Cost of Money nostr:nprofile1qqs9a486n5w72dsn72tyentdrj08ppqk2yyq707qdmlm347lkl6jmpgprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuumwdae8gtnnda3kjctvqyf8wumn8ghj7ur4wfcxcetsv9njuetn8ykt05 \nBroken Money nostr:nprofile1qqsw4v882mfjhq9u63j08kzyhqzqxqc8tgf740p4nxnk9jdv02u37ncpz4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezumtpd35kutn0dekqz9thwden5te0wfjkccte9e4kzmts9eekjar9y08qv9 \nCheck Your Financial Privilege by Alex Gladstein\n\nIn terms of the tech side. Realistically you solo mining today is a solid up front cost, that won’t decentralise network mining by much, and wont exactly be earning you much. It’s not much bang for your buck so I wouldn’t start there.\n\nI’d start with just running a full node, playing with that. Then mining after if you’re still keen. \nIn terms of a node, you can kind of set it up how you like, but it’s kinda common for easy nodes to be set up on a raspberry pi and external ssd or an old lappy or desktop with external ssd. External ssd is because the blockchain is large, and growing - so it takes up a bit of space. If you use old equipment, just make sure you’ve wiped it clean before you run a node.\n\nThen you’ve got to decide what to run. If you haven’t heard about the core version 30 v knots debate, then you should look into it - because you running a node will be you casting a vote on the debate. So do yourself a favour and run a version of Core from before Version 30 (the contentious version) until you decide to either update to the latest core, or use knots. Personally, I’d avoid getting the latest of anything until it’s had time to iron out any issues. I’d also argue that core version 30 is not aligned with the original intent or ongoing idea of btc, and actually provides an attack vector on your btc. But that’s up to you.\n\nYou can figure out how to run it as a newbie by using some setup platforms like Umbrel, Raspiblitz, MyNode, Start9.. those are the ones I know of.. they are all open source. But they’re not all the same. There’ll be more out there too. Check them out and go from there. They’ll all have instructions and different pros and cons.\n\nDon’t forget the ways of supporting a btc ecosystem goes far beyond running a node or mining. So if you want to be more involved, but mining isn’t your thing, there’s all sorts of other ways to support. Accepting btc payments, avoiding custodial wallets, buying from btc economies, pay in btc, run or use lightning, education or discussions with people not exposed to it (respectfully!), support infrastructure and privacy tools, HODL responsibly, and participate in the culture around it.\n\nAlso, good on ya for taking steps to support everyone by running a node 💪🏼",
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