Synchronizing the blockchain

We learned earlier that a blockchain is a transaction database duplicated by all computers on the network. We need to sync a huge amount of data (>200 GB) to enable the sending or receiving of bitcoins.

However, there are two workarounds to this:

• Enabling pruning for a full-node client such as Bitcoin Core
• Using a thin (SPV) client such as Electrum, which fetches blockchain information from Electrum servers instead of having a local copy

We will look at both solutions. Nonetheless, it's always advisable to use a bitcoin full-node client to benefit from the power of blockchain.