<p>I found this post by Jeff Garzik (one of the developers):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Initial blockchain download occurs from one peer at a time.  If that
  peer is slow, then your entire blockchain download is slow.
  Yes, it's stupid and yes it needs fixing (patches welcome).</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-11T13:27:53.677Z
2013-05-11T13:27:53.677Z
Maestro
<p>Bitcoin blockchain download is slow because on default bitcoind will connect to random nodes (home connections for example).</p>

<p>See <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/12001/what-is-the-fastest-possible-way-to-download-the-blockchain">What is the fastest possible way to download the blockchain?</a></p>

<p>.... too accelerate the download.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-18T04:30:39.103Z
Bitcoin and torrent are two different things, there are no trusted sources for the blockchain in the torrent network as im aware - INSTEAD  you can predefine trusted node servers in the bitcoin.conf which can be found on various "trusted sites"
Aurigae
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-05T20:34:54.037Z
2013-07-05T20:34:54.037Z
2017-04-13T12:47:33.583Z
Aurigae
<p>If you download a bootstrap copy of the blockchain through torrents, it will be faster than getting that same data through the Bitcoin network. </p>

<p>Ofcourse the BitTorrent protocol is more optimized for bulk data transfer, but is there any other reason for the huge difference in bandwidth? Is it artificially limited in the client right now, or by design?</p>

<blockchain><protocol><synchronization>
What makes the initial download of the blockchain so slow?
Maestro
# What makes the initial download of the blockchain so slow?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-05-11)

If you download a bootstrap copy of the blockchain through torrents, it will be faster than getting that same data through the Bitcoin network.

Ofcourse the BitTorrent protocol is more optimized for bulk data transfer, but is there any other reason for the huge difference in bandwidth? Is it artificially limited in the client right now, or by design?

**Tags:** blockchain, protocol, synchronization


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2013-05-11. Score: 4

I found this post by Jeff Garzik (one of the developers):

> Initial blockchain download occurs from one peer at a time. If that
> peer is slow, then your entire blockchain download is slow.
> Yes, it's stupid and yes it needs fixing (patches welcome).


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### Answer by username_1 on 2013-07-05. Score: 0

Bitcoin blockchain download is slow because on default bitcoind will connect to random nodes (home connections for example).

See [What is the fastest possible way to download the blockchain?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/12001/what-is-the-fastest-possible-way-to-download-the-blockchain)

.... too accelerate the download.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Bitcoin and torrent are two different things, there are no trusted sources for the blockchain in the torrent network as im aware - INSTEAD  you can predefine trusted node servers in the bitcoin.conf which can be found on various "trusted sites"  

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