<p>It isn't easy to tell for a number of reasons.</p>
<ul>
<li>The network protocols don't explicitly distinguish between full-nodes, SPV wallets or other types of software that communicate with full nodes.</li>
<li>Many lightweight wallets only connect to predetermined non-public servers, as Murch pointed out.</li>
<li>Just finding approximately all the current nodes in the network is itself difficult
<ul>
<li>Some nodes are only intermittently present. Consider a node that is only connected for 10 minutes a week.</li>
<li>The network is a gossip network. It isn't intended that anyone needs a list of all nodes. Therefore finding all nodes isn't explicitly catered for.</li>
<li>Many nodes are likely to be relatively passive and may not accept inbound connections.</li>
<li>Privacy is an important issue. This probably affects the amount of information leaked by software - even if that information seems innocuous to many.</li>
<li>Nodes that use security measures such as Tor may be hard to count accurately - they might each appear as multiple nodes.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>related:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/115323/13866">Are all wallets always considered nodes?</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-11T18:13:53.387Z
Additionally a lot of light clients only connect to predetermined non-public endpoints
Murch
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-11T19:13:55.263Z
@Murch: Thanks, I've added that point to the answer.
RedGrittyBrick
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-11T19:36:01.977Z
Perhaps that's a semantics issue, but if a (lightweight) wallet connects to a non-public wallet service, I wouldn't refer to that as a P2P node at all. So if the question is about lightweight *nodes*, they don't matter. Of course, perhaps OP's question is really about lightweight wallets in a more general sense.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-11T16:41:37.837Z
2023-04-11T19:13:53.190Z
2023-04-11T19:13:53.190Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>I'm curious, how many lightweight nodes are there on the network? Is this easy to tell?</p>

<network><nodes><peer-discovery><thin-clients>
How many lightweight nodes vs full nodes are there on the network?
bitcoinluvr6969
# How many lightweight nodes vs full nodes are there on the network?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-04-11)

I'm curious, how many lightweight nodes are there on the network? Is this easy to tell?

**Tags:** network, nodes, peer-discovery, thin-clients


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-04-11. Score: 3

It isn't easy to tell for a number of reasons.

* The network protocols don't explicitly distinguish between full-nodes, SPV wallets or other types of software that communicate with full nodes.
* Many lightweight wallets only connect to predetermined non-public servers, as username_2 pointed out.
* Just finding approximately all the current nodes in the network is itself difficult
  + Some nodes are only intermittently present. Consider a node that is only connected for 10 minutes a week.
  + The network is a gossip network. It isn't intended that anyone needs a list of all nodes. Therefore finding all nodes isn't explicitly catered for.
  + Many nodes are likely to be relatively passive and may not accept inbound connections.
  + Privacy is an important issue. This probably affects the amount of information leaked by software - even if that information seems innocuous to many.
  + Nodes that use security measures such as Tor may be hard to count accurately - they might each appear as multiple nodes.

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related:

* [Are all wallets always considered nodes?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/115323/13866)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Additionally a lot of light clients only connect to predetermined non-public endpoints  
> **username_1**: @username_2: Thanks, I've added that point to the answer.  
> **username_3**: Perhaps that's a semantics issue, but if a (lightweight) wallet connects to a non-public wallet service, I wouldn't refer to that as a P2P node at all. So if the question is about lightweight *nodes*, they don't matter. Of course, perhaps OP's question is really about lightweight wallets in a more general sense.  

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