While getting introduced to Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies, or blockchain, in general, might seem a bit difficult and even intimidating at first, a lot of services have been developed over the years, aiming at making the process easier for the new users. NOWNodes by ChangeNOW is one of them: it has been made specifically with this purpose. What exactly does it do? Here is some theory at first.
What is a node in terms of blockchain? Blockchain process can be roughly explained as transferring encrypted data between electronic devices (this process, in turn, is known as transactions) that have an IP address and Internet connection. Basically, each of these devices is a node, the most essential component of the whole process: the nodes support it by having access to a copy of the blockchain. Its structure can be described as a network, namely a P2P (peer to peer) network — it is decentralized, which means that all participants, or nodes, have equal rights.
However, the decentralization doesn’t mean all blockchain nodes are exactly the same. They can be divided into two main categories: full and lightweight nodes. A full node is a device that has 24/7 access to blockchain and stores a complete copy of the whole transaction history. A certain amount of full nodes is crucial for a blockchain network to exist. Lightweight, or light nodes, on the other hand, download only block headers rather than the whole blockchain and are not that important for the blockchain networks to function.
While being significantly easier for the user to run and maintain, light nodes have a number of serious downsides: for example, a user risks to be paid with invalid or fake bitcoins, since light nodes don’t validate cryptocurrency (e.g. bitcoin) rules. User’s transactions can be spied on by a third party. Generally, they are just more vulnerable than full node users. Running the latter guarantees the user won’t face any of these situations. However, not every beginner could be bothered to go all out and run a full node since their first day in the blockchain: it requires time and costs money. And the most important thing is, there is a solution to this problem.
NOWNodes is an innovative service from the creators of ChangeNOW that allows you to connect to the blockchain via a public full node without having to pay a fee. You can choose from a wide range of the most popular cryptocurrencies. The service offers unlimited access to German-located full nodes of these cryptos and claims to provide secure and reliable connection via RPC protocol. NOWNodes has recently announced the launch of supporting the Groestlcoin and Verge full nodes.
The creators of NOWNodes suggest that their service will be of use for young entrepreneurs, students and blockchain beginners, who often have limited resources. Without having to spend anything on running their own full node, they can put their time and money into “making their project the best it can be”. Among NOWNodes’ claimed key features, there are also powerful servers that work non-stop, a high connection speed (1GB per second), and the possibility to start working with the service immediately.
The full list of cryptocurrencies supported by NOWNodes includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), DigiByte (DGB), Dogecoin (DOGE), Verge (XVG), Groestlcoin (GRS), ZCoin (ZXC), Bitcoin SV (BSV), and Dash (DASH). The service’s accounts can be found on most popular social media and blogging platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Discord, Medium), the SMM management being active and helpful, always ready for feedback. While the platform hasn’t gotten much development yet, it is important to remember it is relatively new — moreover, it has already gained a few positive reviews in the blockchain enthusiast community.
Getting started with NOWNodes is easy: just connect to the full node of your choice and start working. The service claims to offer security and reliability and sounds like a good way to try and find out if you like working with blockchain without having to put much effort into setting up your own cryptocurrency full node.
Originally published at https://nownodes.io.
