<p>As I know bitcoin has about 10K full nodes. And the question is in my mind is that: This number is not huge! If someone has 6K servers, Can control the bitcoin via 51% attack? </p>

<p>I was thinking if bitcoin had millions of nodes everything was ok but 10K is enough? What is the magic here that people trust bitcoin with 10K nodes?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-13T12:54:39.960Z
Note that it's not about the number of full nodes but the computing power that can influence such an attack
Cedric Martens
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-13T13:48:56.957Z
I know, But that full nodes are not special powerful computers. I know it costs too much but I'm thinking if someone want to destroy bitcoin, It seems it's possible. Just need a few thousands PC's with good GPU. I mean "someone" like Russia, China or... they have that money and power
Fcoder
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-13T16:03:13.160Z
@Fcoder you are confusing 'network full nodes' with 'miners'. Running 10k full nodes has nothing to do with a 51% attack. GPUs are useless when mining bitcoin, specialized ASIC hardware is required.
chytrik
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-13T18:46:27.860Z
A few thousand PCs with GPUs will not even make a dent in the total hashrate. 10000 GPUs, assuming the best available hardware, can hash at around 10 Thash/s. The global hashrate is approximately a million times more than that.
Pieter Wuille
<bitcoin-core><nodes><full-node><majority-attack>
Is 10K full nodes enough to bitcoin to avoid 51% attack?
Fcoder
# Is 10K full nodes enough to bitcoin to avoid 51% attack?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-13)

As I know bitcoin has about 10K full nodes. And the question is in my mind is that: This number is not huge! If someone has 6K servers, Can control the bitcoin via 51% attack?

I was thinking if bitcoin had millions of nodes everything was ok but 10K is enough? What is the magic here that people trust bitcoin with 10K nodes?

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, nodes, full-node, majority-attack

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Note that it's not about the number of full nodes but the computing power that can influence such an attack  
> **username_0**: I know, But that full nodes are not special powerful computers. I know it costs too much but I'm thinking if someone want to destroy bitcoin, It seems it's possible. Just need a few thousands PC's with good GPU. I mean "someone" like Russia, China or... they have that money and power  
> **username_2**: @username_0 you are confusing 'network full nodes' with 'miners'. Running 10k full nodes has nothing to do with a 51% attack. GPUs are useless when mining bitcoin, specialized ASIC hardware is required.  
> **username_3**: A few thousand PCs with GPUs will not even make a dent in the total hashrate. 10000 GPUs, assuming the best available hardware, can hash at around 10 Thash/s. The global hashrate is approximately a million times more than that.  

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